“Hangmen Also Die” (1943) directed by Fritz Lang, starring Brian Donlevy, Walter Brennon and Anna Lee / Z-View

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Hangmen Also Die (1943)

Director:  Fritz Lang

Screenplay: John Wexley; story by Fritz Lang, Bertolt Brecht

Stars:  Brian Donlevy, Walter Brennan, Anna Lee, Gene Lockhart, Dennis O’Keefe
and Alexander Granach.

Tagline: Fritz Lang’s masterpiece of intrigue and deception.

The Plot…

World War II rages.  Nazis control Czechoslovakia.  Reinhard Heydrich, the Nazi in charge of the occupation is so brutal he’s been given the nickname “The Hangman of Europe”.  The Czech resistance’s scheme to assassinate Heydrich is a success, but the escape plan goes sideways.

Dr. František Svoboda, the Hangman’s killer goes on the run.  As the Nazis close in, a young woman named Mascha helps hide Svoboda.  Unable to find their leader’s killer, the Nazis begin a door-to-door search.  They also round up civilians for executions.

With the Nazis closing in and the execution of innocents underway it appears all hope is lost…

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Hangmen Also Die! was nominated for two 1944 Academy Awards…

  • Nominee for Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture – Hanns Eisler
  • Nominee for Best Sound, Recording – Jack Whitney

There really was a Nazi named Reinhard Heydrich nicknamed “The Hangmen”.  Although Heydrich was assassinated, Hangmen Also Die! is a fictionalized account.

Hangmen Also Die! was made during the height of World War II.  Hangmen Also Die! went into production just four months after the death of Reinhard Heydrich.

The Nazi response to the assassination was…

  • to wipe the village of Lidice off the map.  They dynamited and bulldozed buildings and even plowed over the local cemetery.
  • All 173 men and teenage boys over the age of 15 were lined up and shot by an execution squad.
  • Out of 105 children, 82 were murdered in gas vans. A small handful were deemed “racially suitable for Germanization” and given to SS families.
    • The remaining women were sent to Ravensbrück concentration camp.
  • The village of Ležáky was also burned to the ground.  All men and women were killed and the children taken away.
  • The Czech Orthodox Church was banned and its property confiscated.  The Bishop Gorazd, the priests, and church lay leaders were arrested, tortured, and executed by firing squad.
  • The country was placed under martial law.  Executions were held daily with the names of those killed announced on the radio.   It was estimated that approximately 5,000 people were murdered or executed during the Nazi reprisals.

Hangmen Also Die (1943) rates 4 of 5 stars.