Hangmen Also Die
Encyclopedia
Hangmen Also Die! is a 1943 war film
directed by the Austrian director Fritz Lang
and written by John Wexley, Bertolt Brecht
and Lang. The film stars Hans Heinrich von Twardowski
, Brian Donlevy
, Walter Brennan
and Anna Lee
, and features Gene Lockhart
and Dennis O'Keefe
. The music is by Hanns Eisler
and James Wong Howe
served as cinematographer.
The film is loosely based on the 1942 assassination of Reinhard Heydrich
, the Nazi
Reich Protector of German-occupied Prague
, number-two man in the SS, and a chief architect of the Holocaust
, who was known as "The Hangman of Prague." The real Heydrich was assassinated by Czech resistance fighters parachuted from a British plane in Operation Anthropoid
, but in the movie, which was made during World War II
before the full story had become public knowledge, Heydrich's killer is depicted as a member of the Czech resistance with ties to the Communist Party.
Hangmen Also Die was Bertolt Brecht
's only script for a Hollywood film: the money he earned from the project enabled him to write The Visions of Simone Machard
, Schweik in the Second World War
and an adaptation of Webster
's The Duchess of Malfi
. Hanns Eisler
was nominated for an Academy Award
for his musical score. The collaboration of three prominent refugees from Nazi Germany –Lang, Brecht and Eisler – is an example of the influence this generation of German exiles had in American culture.
, surgeon Dr. Franticek Svoboda (Brian Donlevy
), a Czech patriot, assassinates the brutal "Hangman of Europe", Reichsprotektor Reinhard Heydrich
(Hans Heinrich von Twardowski
), and is wounded in the process. In his attempt to escape, he is helped by history professor Stephen Novotny (Walter Brennan
), who is himself under suspicion by the Nazis, and his daughter Mascha (Anna Lee
). As retaliation for the assassination, fifth-columnist Emil Czaka (Gene Lockhart
), a brewer, helps to arrange for 400 citizens of Prague, including Professor Novotny, to be executed if the assassin is not named. Through a complex series of events, the resistance manages to frame Czaka himself for the murder, but not before the Nazis have executed many of the hostages.
Cast notes
Teresa Wright
, John Beal
and Ray Middlelton were also considered at one point to appear in the film, which went into production in late October 1942 and wrapped in mid-December of that year.
Director Fritz Lang
had considered beginning the film with Edna St. Vincent Millay
's poem "The Murder of Lidice". He decided against it, but the poem does appear in MGM
's film about Heydrich, Hitler's Madman
(1943)
Hangmen was Brecht's only screen credit for an American film, although he supposedly worked on other scripts during his time in Hollywood, without receiving credit. He left the United States shortly after testifying before the House Un-American Activities Committee
. John Wexley received sole credit for writing the screenplay after giving evidence to the Writers Guild
that Brecht and Lang had only worked on the story. Wexley himself was blacklisted after he was named a Communist in HUAC hearings.
Hangmen Also Die premiered in New York City
on the 23rd or 24th of March 1943, and was then premiered again in Prague, Oklahoma
on 27 March, an event which featured Adolf Hitler being hanged in effigy. The film was generally released in the U.S. on 15 April 1943.
, Brecht's collaborator on a number of plays with music. Eisler only worked on a small number of American films, the most notable of which are Deadline at Dawn
(1946) and None But the Lonely Heart (1944), for which he was also nominated for an Oscar.
The song "No Surrender" in Hangmen was written by Eisler with lyrics by Sam Coslow
.
, for Hanns Eisler for "Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture", and for Jack Whitney
of Sound Services Inc. for "Best Sound, Recording".
Other films on this subject
War film
War films are a film genre concerned with warfare, usually about naval, air or land battles, sometimes focusing instead on prisoners of war, covert operations, military training or other related subjects. At times war films focus on daily military or civilian life in wartime without depicting battles...
directed by the Austrian director Fritz Lang
Fritz Lang
Friedrich Christian Anton "Fritz" Lang was an Austrian-American filmmaker, screenwriter, and occasional film producer and actor. One of the best known émigrés from Germany's school of Expressionism, he was dubbed the "Master of Darkness" by the British Film Institute...
and written by John Wexley, Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht was a German poet, playwright, and theatre director.An influential theatre practitioner of the 20th century, Brecht made equally significant contributions to dramaturgy and theatrical production, the latter particularly through the seismic impact of the tours undertaken by the...
and Lang. The film stars Hans Heinrich von Twardowski
Hans Heinrich von Twardowski
-Biography:Twardowski was born in Stettin , Pomerania. He made his first film appearance in the 1920 Robert Wiene-directed horror movie Das Kabinett des Doktor Caligari which starred Conrad Veidt, Werner Krauss and Lil Dagover. He would go on to appear in over 20 movies in Weimar Germany during...
, Brian Donlevy
Brian Donlevy
Brian Donlevy was an Irish-born American film actor, noted for playing tough guys from the 1930s to the 1960s. He usually appeared in supporting roles. Among his best known films are Beau Geste and The Great McGinty...
, Walter Brennan
Walter Brennan
Walter Brennan was an American actor. Brennan won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor on three separate occasions, which is currently the record for most wins.-Early life:...
and Anna Lee
Anna Lee
Anna Lee, MBE was an English actress.-Career:Lee studied at the Royal Albert Hall, then debuted with a bit part in the film His Lordship...
, and features Gene Lockhart
Gene Lockhart
Eugene "Gene" Lockhart was a Canadian character actor, singer, and playwright. He also wrote the lyrics to a number of popular songs.-Early life:...
and Dennis O'Keefe
Dennis O'Keefe
Dennis O'Keefe was an American actor. Born as Edward Vance Flanagan he was the son of Irish vaudevillians working in the United States...
. The music is by Hanns Eisler
Hanns Eisler
Hanns Eisler was an Austrian composer.-Family background:Eisler was born in Leipzig where his Jewish father, Rudolf Eisler, was a professor of philosophy...
and James Wong Howe
James Wong Howe
James Wong Howe, A.S.C. was a Chinese American cinematographer who worked on over 130 films...
served as cinematographer.
The film is loosely based on the 1942 assassination of Reinhard Heydrich
Reinhard Heydrich
Reinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich , also known as The Hangman, was a high-ranking German Nazi official.He was SS-Obergruppenführer and General der Polizei, chief of the Reich Main Security Office and Stellvertretender Reichsprotektor of Bohemia and Moravia...
, the Nazi
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
Reich Protector of German-occupied Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
, number-two man in the SS, and a chief architect of the Holocaust
The Holocaust
The Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...
, who was known as "The Hangman of Prague." The real Heydrich was assassinated by Czech resistance fighters parachuted from a British plane in Operation Anthropoid
Operation Anthropoid
Operation Anthropoid was the code name for the targeted killing of top German SS leader Reinhard Heydrich. He was the chief of the Reich Main Security Office , the acting Protector of Bohemia and Moravia, and a chief planner of the Final Solution, the Nazi German programme for the genocide of the...
, but in the movie, which was made during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
before the full story had become public knowledge, Heydrich's killer is depicted as a member of the Czech resistance with ties to the Communist Party.
Hangmen Also Die was Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht was a German poet, playwright, and theatre director.An influential theatre practitioner of the 20th century, Brecht made equally significant contributions to dramaturgy and theatrical production, the latter particularly through the seismic impact of the tours undertaken by the...
's only script for a Hollywood film: the money he earned from the project enabled him to write The Visions of Simone Machard
The Visions of Simone Machard
The Visions of Simone Machard is a play by the German modernist playwright Bertolt Brecht. Written in 1942, the play is the second of three treatments of the Joan of Arc story that Brecht created...
, Schweik in the Second World War
Schweik in the Second World War
Schweik in the Second World War is a play by German dramatist and poet Bertolt Brecht. It was written by Brecht in 1943 while in exile in California, and is a sequel to the 1923 novel The Good Soldier Švejk by Jaroslav Hašek. It is set in Prague and on the Russian Front during World War II...
and an adaptation of Webster
John Webster
John Webster was an English Jacobean dramatist best known for his tragedies The White Devil and The Duchess of Malfi, which are often regarded as masterpieces of the early 17th-century English stage. He was a contemporary of William Shakespeare.- Biography :Webster's life is obscure, and the dates...
's The Duchess of Malfi
The Duchess of Malfi (Brecht)
The Duchess of Malfi is an adaptation by the twentieth-century German dramatist Bertolt Brecht of the English seventeenth-century tragedy by John Webster....
. Hanns Eisler
Hanns Eisler
Hanns Eisler was an Austrian composer.-Family background:Eisler was born in Leipzig where his Jewish father, Rudolf Eisler, was a professor of philosophy...
was nominated for an Academy Award
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
for his musical score. The collaboration of three prominent refugees from Nazi Germany –Lang, Brecht and Eisler – is an example of the influence this generation of German exiles had in American culture.
Plot
During the Nazi occupation of CzechoslovakiaCzechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
, surgeon Dr. Franticek Svoboda (Brian Donlevy
Brian Donlevy
Brian Donlevy was an Irish-born American film actor, noted for playing tough guys from the 1930s to the 1960s. He usually appeared in supporting roles. Among his best known films are Beau Geste and The Great McGinty...
), a Czech patriot, assassinates the brutal "Hangman of Europe", Reichsprotektor Reinhard Heydrich
Reinhard Heydrich
Reinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich , also known as The Hangman, was a high-ranking German Nazi official.He was SS-Obergruppenführer and General der Polizei, chief of the Reich Main Security Office and Stellvertretender Reichsprotektor of Bohemia and Moravia...
(Hans Heinrich von Twardowski
Hans Heinrich von Twardowski
-Biography:Twardowski was born in Stettin , Pomerania. He made his first film appearance in the 1920 Robert Wiene-directed horror movie Das Kabinett des Doktor Caligari which starred Conrad Veidt, Werner Krauss and Lil Dagover. He would go on to appear in over 20 movies in Weimar Germany during...
), and is wounded in the process. In his attempt to escape, he is helped by history professor Stephen Novotny (Walter Brennan
Walter Brennan
Walter Brennan was an American actor. Brennan won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor on three separate occasions, which is currently the record for most wins.-Early life:...
), who is himself under suspicion by the Nazis, and his daughter Mascha (Anna Lee
Anna Lee
Anna Lee, MBE was an English actress.-Career:Lee studied at the Royal Albert Hall, then debuted with a bit part in the film His Lordship...
). As retaliation for the assassination, fifth-columnist Emil Czaka (Gene Lockhart
Gene Lockhart
Eugene "Gene" Lockhart was a Canadian character actor, singer, and playwright. He also wrote the lyrics to a number of popular songs.-Early life:...
), a brewer, helps to arrange for 400 citizens of Prague, including Professor Novotny, to be executed if the assassin is not named. Through a complex series of events, the resistance manages to frame Czaka himself for the murder, but not before the Nazis have executed many of the hostages.
Cast
- Hans Heinrich von TwardowskiHans Heinrich von Twardowski-Biography:Twardowski was born in Stettin , Pomerania. He made his first film appearance in the 1920 Robert Wiene-directed horror movie Das Kabinett des Doktor Caligari which starred Conrad Veidt, Werner Krauss and Lil Dagover. He would go on to appear in over 20 movies in Weimar Germany during...
as Reinhard Heydrich - Brian DonlevyBrian DonlevyBrian Donlevy was an Irish-born American film actor, noted for playing tough guys from the 1930s to the 1960s. He usually appeared in supporting roles. Among his best known films are Beau Geste and The Great McGinty...
as Dr. Franticek Svoboda - Walter BrennanWalter BrennanWalter Brennan was an American actor. Brennan won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor on three separate occasions, which is currently the record for most wins.-Early life:...
as Prof. Stephen Novotny - Anna LeeAnna LeeAnna Lee, MBE was an English actress.-Career:Lee studied at the Royal Albert Hall, then debuted with a bit part in the film His Lordship...
as Mascha Novotny - Gene LockhartGene LockhartEugene "Gene" Lockhart was a Canadian character actor, singer, and playwright. He also wrote the lyrics to a number of popular songs.-Early life:...
as Emil Czaka (brewer) - Dennis O'KeefeDennis O'KeefeDennis O'Keefe was an American actor. Born as Edward Vance Flanagan he was the son of Irish vaudevillians working in the United States...
as Jan Horak (Mascha's fiancé) - Nana BryantNana BryantNana Bryant was an American film actress. She appeared in over 100 films between 1935 and 1955.She was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, and died in Hollywood, California. Her grave is located at Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery....
as Mrs. Hellie Novotny - Margaret WycherlyMargaret WycherlyMargaret Wycherly was an English stage and film actress.-Early life:Wycherly was born Margaret De Wolfe in London, England of American parents, Dr. and Mrs. J. L. De Wolfe. She was married to writer Bayard Veiller in 1901. They had a son, Anthony Veiller , who also became a writer...
as Ludmilla Novotny - Tonio SelwartTonio SelwartTonio Selwart was a Bavarian actor and stage performer.-Biography:Named Antonio Franz Theus Selmair-Selwart at birth, Tonio Selwart was born in Wartenberg, Bavaria, Germany, and raised in Munich. After studying medicine like his father , he decided instead to become an actor, following a life-long...
as Chief of Gestapo Kurt Haas - Alexander GranachAlexander GranachAlexander Granach was a popular German actor in the 1920s and 1930s.- Biography :Granach was born Jessaja Granach in Werbowitz to Jewish parents and rose to theatrical prominence at the Volksbühne in Berlin...
as Gestapo Insp. Alois Gruber - Reinhold Schünzel as Gestapo Insp. Ritter
Cast notes
- One of von Twardowski's first film appearances was in the classic silent German expressionistGerman ExpressionismGerman Expressionism refers to a number of related creative movements beginning in Germany before the First World War that reached a peak in Berlin, during the 1920s...
horror filmHorror filmHorror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
The Cabinet of Dr. CaligariThe Cabinet of Dr. CaligariThe Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is a 1920 silent horror film directed by Robert Wiene from a screenplay by Hans Janowitz and Carl Mayer. It is one of the most influential of German Expressionist films and is often considered one of the greatest horror movies of the silent era. This movie is cited as...
(1920). - George IrvingGeorge Irving (American actor)George Henry Irving was an American film actor and director who made over 200 films in his lifetime. Some of his best known movies were Abe Lincoln in Illinois, Hearts Divided, A Night at the Opera, Son of Dracula, Hangmen Also Die!, Once Upon a Honeymoon, and Maid's Night Out.-Death:Irving...
, an actor and director who began in the early days of silent film – he directed 35 films, all silent, and appeared as an actor in 251 movies from 1914 to 1948 – has a small part as one of the hostages. - Gravel-voiced character actor Lionel StanderLionel StanderLionel Jay Stander was an American actor in films, radio, theater and television.-Early life and career:Lionel Stander was born in The Bronx, New York, to Russian Jewish immigrants, the first of three children...
has a small part as a taxi-driver. Stander's film career has a ten-year gap in it due to being blacklistBlacklistA blacklist is a list or register of entities who, for one reason or another, are being denied a particular privilege, service, mobility, access or recognition. As a verb, to blacklist can mean to deny someone work in a particular field, or to ostracize a person from a certain social circle...
ed after his Communist PartyCommunist Party USAThe Communist Party USA is a Marxist political party in the United States, established in 1919. It has a long, complex history that is closely related to the histories of similar communist parties worldwide and the U.S. labor movement....
membership was revealed during hearings of the House Un-American Activities CommitteeHouse Un-American Activities CommitteeThe House Committee on Un-American Activities or House Un-American Activities Committee was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives. In 1969, the House changed the committee's name to "House Committee on Internal Security"...
(HUAC).
Production
A number of different working titles have been reported for Hangmen Also Die: "Never Surrender", "No Surrender", "Unconquered", "We Killed Hitler's Hangman" and "Trust the People". It has also been known as "Lest We Forget". It has been reported that when a book with a similar title to "Never Surrender" or "No Surrender" was published while the film was in production, the producers held a contest for the cast and crew to suggest a new title. The contest was won by a production secretary who received the $100 prize.Teresa Wright
Teresa Wright
Teresa Wright was an American actress. She received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1942 for her performance in Mrs. Miniver. That same year, she received an Academy Award for Best Actress nomination for her performance in Pride of the Yankees opposite Gary Cooper...
, John Beal
John Beal (actor)
-Life and career:Beal was born James Alexander Bliedung in Joplin, Missouri. He originally went to New York to study art but a chance to understudy in a play made him change his mind. He began acting in the 1930s, opposite Katharine Hepburn , among others; one of his notable screen appearances was...
and Ray Middlelton were also considered at one point to appear in the film, which went into production in late October 1942 and wrapped in mid-December of that year.
Director Fritz Lang
Fritz Lang
Friedrich Christian Anton "Fritz" Lang was an Austrian-American filmmaker, screenwriter, and occasional film producer and actor. One of the best known émigrés from Germany's school of Expressionism, he was dubbed the "Master of Darkness" by the British Film Institute...
had considered beginning the film with Edna St. Vincent Millay
Edna St. Vincent Millay
Edna St. Vincent Millay was an American lyrical poet, playwright and feminist. She received the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, and was known for her activism and her many love affairs. She used the pseudonym Nancy Boyd for her prose work...
's poem "The Murder of Lidice". He decided against it, but the poem does appear in MGM
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
's film about Heydrich, Hitler's Madman
Hitler's Madman
Hitler's Madman is a 1943 World War II film about the assassination of Nazi Reinhard Heydrich and the revenge taken by the Germans. It was produced by Seymour Nebenzal for PRC and Angelus Pictures, Inc. The shooting of Hitler's Madman took place late in 1942 and early 1943...
(1943)
Hangmen was Brecht's only screen credit for an American film, although he supposedly worked on other scripts during his time in Hollywood, without receiving credit. He left the United States shortly after testifying before the House Un-American Activities Committee
House Un-American Activities Committee
The House Committee on Un-American Activities or House Un-American Activities Committee was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives. In 1969, the House changed the committee's name to "House Committee on Internal Security"...
. John Wexley received sole credit for writing the screenplay after giving evidence to the Writers Guild
Writers Guild of America
The Writers Guild of America is a generic term referring to the joint efforts of two different US labor unions:* The Writers Guild of America, East , representing TV and film writers East of the Mississippi....
that Brecht and Lang had only worked on the story. Wexley himself was blacklisted after he was named a Communist in HUAC hearings.
Hangmen Also Die premiered in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
on the 23rd or 24th of March 1943, and was then premiered again in Prague, Oklahoma
Prague, Oklahoma
Prague is a city in Lincoln County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 2,138 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Prague is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all of it land....
on 27 March, an event which featured Adolf Hitler being hanged in effigy. The film was generally released in the U.S. on 15 April 1943.
Music
The music for Hangmen Also Die was composed by Hanns EislerHanns Eisler
Hanns Eisler was an Austrian composer.-Family background:Eisler was born in Leipzig where his Jewish father, Rudolf Eisler, was a professor of philosophy...
, Brecht's collaborator on a number of plays with music. Eisler only worked on a small number of American films, the most notable of which are Deadline at Dawn
Deadline at Dawn
Deadline at Dawn is a 1946 film noir, the only film directed by stage director Harold Clurman. It was written by Clifford Odets and based on a novella by Cornell Woolrich . The RKO Radio Picture was the only cinematic collaboration between Clurman and his former Group Theatre associate,...
(1946) and None But the Lonely Heart (1944), for which he was also nominated for an Oscar.
The song "No Surrender" in Hangmen was written by Eisler with lyrics by Sam Coslow
Sam Coslow
Sam Coslow was an American songwriter, singer, film producer, publisher, and market analyst. Coslow was born in New York City. He began writing songs as a teenager...
.
Awards
Hangmen Also Die was nominated for two Academy AwardsAcademy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
, for Hanns Eisler for "Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture", and for Jack Whitney
Jack Whitney
Jack Whitney was an American sound engineer. He won two Academy Awards, one for Best Sound Recording and the other for Best Visual Effects. He was nominated six more times in the category Best Sound.-Selected filmography:Won...
of Sound Services Inc. for "Best Sound, Recording".
See also
- Operation AnthropoidOperation AnthropoidOperation Anthropoid was the code name for the targeted killing of top German SS leader Reinhard Heydrich. He was the chief of the Reich Main Security Office , the acting Protector of Bohemia and Moravia, and a chief planner of the Final Solution, the Nazi German programme for the genocide of the...
Other films on this subject
- Hitler's MadmanHitler's MadmanHitler's Madman is a 1943 World War II film about the assassination of Nazi Reinhard Heydrich and the revenge taken by the Germans. It was produced by Seymour Nebenzal for PRC and Angelus Pictures, Inc. The shooting of Hitler's Madman took place late in 1942 and early 1943...
(1943) - The Silent VillageThe Silent VillageThe Silent Village is a 1943 British propaganda short film in the form of a drama documentary, made by the Crown Film Unit and directed by Humphrey Jennings...
(1943) - AtentátAtentatAtentát is a 1964 black-and-white Czech film directed by Jiří Sequens. The World War II story depicts events before and after the assassination of top German leader Reinhard Heydrich in Prague .-Synopsis:...
(1964) - Operation DaybreakOperation DaybreakOperation Daybreak is a 1975 World War II film based on the true story of the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich in Prague - starring Anthony Andrews, Timothy Bottoms and Martin Shaw. It was directed by Lewis Gilbert and shot mostly on location in Prague. It was adapted from the book Seven Men...
(1975)