49th Parallel
Reviews
CinemaSerf
A quirky war film for various reasons, this one. A Nazi submarine crew are raiding North Atlantic shipping when their submarine is destroyed near the Canadian coast. The crew of survivors - led by a curiously cast Eric Portman - take over an Hudson's bay Company post frequented by a French-Canadian Laurence Olivier and Finlay Currie - a redoubtable Scot who is determined not to to stand for this "invasion". What follows is a sightly haphazard series of stories depicting their attempt to make it back to the Fatherland - by just about every means of transport - barring an hot air balloon - known to man at the time. The last half hour picks up the pace cleverly - with a typically civilised performance from Leslie Howard, as the survivors near their goal, demonstrating that the pen may well be mightier than the sword before a final encounter with Raymond Massey. The cast behind the camera is just as notable - Freddie Young and David Lean (editor) work on Emeric Pressberger's story, under Michael Powell's direction to bring the full effects of the wonderful Canadian scenery; light/shades and hues - as well as a good, taut dialogue - much less trite than in some early, more propagandist efforts.
drystyx
An incredible journey with the antagonists being the stars. Most WWII films about men behind enemy lines depict the "good guys" I dare say, in the Allies, behind enemy lines. Here, we get the exact opposite, with six Uboat survivors from Germany stuck behind enemy lines. There is so much that is outstanding about this film that it would take pages to explain. It's likely the very film that caused Hitler to put a bounty on Leslie Howard, who ridiculed him with great aplomb, a bounty that may have been the cause of Howard's real life death. Many other behind the scenes ironies in this film. Foremost, it is made in 1941, before December 7, and depicts the U.S. as a neutral nation that the six Germans try to reach. In fact, much of the motif of this film is how Canada was just recently brought into the war. The score is perhaps the greatest in film History. The scenery is spectacular. The beginning narration is superb and dramatic. While the film follows the bafdy guys, we come upon many good guys who meet them one by one, which illustrates the characters of each. What I find remarkable about this film is the insight into what made the German war machine work. The six UBoat survivors are totally unique characters, each of whom is a cog in the machine, with different motivations. The leader of the Germans is played by Eric Portman, and he does an incredible job as a materialistic atheist who actually thinks his inhumanity is Humanity. Second in command is a proud aristocrat who brags about being one of the first in the Nazi party. Third is the one German who actually has a morality and presents the best of the Germans. He regularly saves the others from harm and could be a hero on another team, but his questioning of the Nazi ideology puts him lower and lower on the scale of the men whose lives he saves, and whom he is clearly better than in every way. This one, Vogel, played by Niall MacGinnis, dominates the meat of the story which occurs in a religious commune in Canada, and his story gives this film an amazing depth which I won't spoil. The fourth soldier is a brute, just a total brute. A willing pawn of Nazi brutality. The fifth is a career soldier, older than the others, who is one of the braver ones when in uniform, but totally loses his composure when he must traipse through Canada in civilian garb. The sixth soldier is the most humorous, a total opportunist with no real morals other than survival. We get a great look at the difference between him and the leader when they are in an outdoor shower with hot and cold water. The leader arrogantly uses cold water to prove he is tough, while this soldier gives him a comical "what an idiot" look while using hot water for himself. He adds very credible comic relief. The six soldiers and their personalities give a very in depth look at what made the Nazi war machine work for so long a time. Meanwhile, some of the heroes on the Canadian side include pilots who bomb the Uboat, a Scotsman keeping a trading post, a French trapper, an Eskimo who tries to help the trapper, two men arriving by plane to find what is wrong at the trading post, another Eskimo who shoots one of the Germans dead after the Germans massacre civilians at the post, a 15 year old girl who falls in love with Vogel, the leader of the religious commune, mounties who chase the Germans, Indians who help flush them out, Leslie Howard as Philip Armstrong Scoott who has an interesting interplay with them, a deserter aboard a train, and two freight inspectors. In other words, an entire team of free people willing to work together for the good of every human being, as opposed to the Nazi materialistic ideology. This film will always be a classic. God help the world if people decide it isn't one. The messages are just too great to ignore.
Movie Recommendation
The Lady Eve1941-02-25It's no accident when wealthy Charles falls for Jean. Jean is a con artist with her sights set on Charles' fortune. Matters complicate when Jean starts falling for her mark. When Charles suspects Jean is a gold digger, he dumps her. Jean, fixated on revenge and still pining for the millionaire, devises a plan to get back in Charles' life. With love and payback on her mind, she re-introduces herself to Charles, this time as an aristocrat named Lady Eve Sidwich.More...
Pygmalion1939-03-03When linguistics professor Henry Higgins boasts that he can pass off Cockney flower girl Eliza Doolittle as a princess with only six months' training, Colonel George Pickering takes him up on the bet. Eliza moves into Higgins's home and begins her rigorous training after the professor comes to a financial agreement with her dustman father, Alfred. But the plucky young woman is not the only one undergoing a transformation.More...
Sudden Fear1952-08-07Actor Lester Blaine has all but landed the lead in Myra Hudson's new play when Myra vetoes him because, to her, he doesn't look like a romantic leading man. On a train from New York to San Francisco, Blaine sets out to prove Myra wrong...by romancing her. Is he sincere, or does he have a dark ulterior motive?More...
Cairo Station1958-07-31Qinawi, a physically challenged peddler who makes his living selling newspapers in the central Cairo train station, is obsessed with Hanuma, an attractive young woman who sells drinks. While she jokes with him about a possible relationship, she is actually in love with Abu Siri, a strong and respected porter at the station who is struggling to unionize his fellow workers to combat their boss' exploitative and abusive treatment.More...
Ragtime1981-11-20A young black pianist becomes embroiled in the lives of an upper-class white family set among the racial tensions, infidelity, violence, and other nostalgic events in early 1900s New York City.More...
Graffiti Bridge1990-11-02It's got that Purple Rain feeling through and though. And it's got The Kid, too! For the first time since Purple Rain, Prince is back as The Kid. And where he goes , there's music! With Thieves in the Temple, New Power Generation, Elephants and Flowers and more red-hot Prince tunes from the Platinum-selling Graffiti Bridge soundtrack. What time is it? Party time! Morris Day and the Time play Release It, Shake! and more. And you'll also see and hear George Clinton, Tevin Campbell, Robin Power, Mavis Staples and other hot performers, too. Graffiti Bridge is where the movie meets the music. Cross over on it now.More...
The Spiral1976-04-27Documentary on the events provoked by the systematic attack of imperialism on the Popular Unity government in Chile, presided by Salvador Allende.More...
Cast a Dark Shadow1955-09-20Edward "Teddy" Bare is a ruthless schemer who thinks he's hit the big time when he kills his older wife, believing he will inherit a fortune. When things don't go according to plan, Teddy sets his sights on a new victim: wealthy widow Freda Jeffries. Unfortunately for the unscrupulous criminal, Freda is much more guarded and sassy than his last wife, making separating her from her money considerably more challenging.More...
Weekend at Bernie's1989-07-05Two young insurance corporation employees try to pretend that their murdered employer is alive by puppeteering his dead body, leading a hitman to attempt to track him down to finish him off.More...
Out of Africa1985-12-20Tells the life story of Danish author Karen Blixen, who at the beginning of the 20th century moved to Africa to build a new life for herself. The film is based on her 1937 autobiographical novel.More...
Return of the Tooth Fairy2020-06-15The Tooth Fairy is back. 15 years after the events of the first movie, Corey, now grown up but mentally scarred has gone to a class reunion. However, the Tooth Fairy is back, and this time - You better have flossed properly.More...
Airplane!1980-07-02An ex-fighter pilot forced to take over the controls of an airliner when the flight crew succumbs to food poisoning.More...
Casablanca1943-01-15In Casablanca, Morocco in December 1941, a cynical American expatriate meets a former lover, with unforeseen complications.More...
Rear Window1954-08-01A wheelchair-bound photographer spies on his neighbors from his apartment window and becomes convinced one of them has committed murder.More...
Parasite2019-05-30All unemployed, Ki-taek's family takes peculiar interest in the wealthy and glamorous Parks for their livelihood until they get entangled in an unexpected incident.More...
Marriage Story2019-09-28A stage director and an actress struggle through a grueling, coast-to-coast divorce that pushes them to their personal extremes.More...
12 Angry Men1957-04-10The defense and the prosecution have rested and the jury is filing into the jury room to decide if a young Spanish-American is guilty or innocent of murdering his father. What begins as an open and shut case soon becomes a mini-drama of each of the jurors' prejudices and preconceptions about the trial, the accused, and each other.More...
Back to the Future1985-07-03Eighties teenager Marty McFly is accidentally sent back in time to 1955, inadvertently disrupting his parents' first meeting and attracting his mother's romantic interest. Marty must repair the damage to history by rekindling his parents' romance and - with the help of his eccentric inventor friend Doc Brown - return to 1985.More...
Alien1979-05-25During its return to the earth, commercial spaceship Nostromo intercepts a distress signal from a distant planet. When a three-member team of the crew discovers a chamber containing thousands of eggs on the planet, a creature inside one of the eggs attacks an explorer. The entire crew is unaware of the impending nightmare set to descend upon them when the alien parasite planted inside its unfortunate host is birthed.More...
Home Alone1990-11-16Eight-year-old Kevin McCallister makes the most of the situation after his family unwittingly leaves him behind when they go on Christmas vacation. When thieves try to break into his home, he puts up a fight like no other.More...
Similar Movies
Pearl Harbor
2001-05-21The lifelong friendship between Rafe McCawley and Danny Walker is put to the ultimate test when the two ace fighter pilots become entangled in a love triangle with beautiful Naval nurse Evelyn Johnson. But the rivalry between the friends-turned-foes is immediately put on hold when they find themselves at the center of Japan's devastating attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.For Your Eyes Only
1981-06-24A British spy ship has sunk and on board was a hi-tech encryption device. James Bond is sent to find the device that holds British launching instructions before the enemy Soviets get to it first.Licence to Kill
1989-06-13After capturing the notorious drug lord Franz Sanchez, Bond's close friend and former CIA agent Felix Leiter is left for dead and his wife is murdered. Bond goes rogue and seeks vengeance on those responsible, as he infiltrates Sanchez's organization from the inside.D-Day: The Untold Sto...
2019-06-02To commemorate the 75th anniversary of D-Day, this special presents the key events of the Allied invasion of Nazi-held Europe and the subsequent battles that captured the control of the Normandy coast. Some of the last surviving veterans recall in detail the terror, patriotism and drama from the frontlines of war. This special also honors the diverse backgrounds of all who served.Alone
1959-03-12A group of partisans fight to the last man to cover a retreat, leaving only five, who take the newborn child of a dead woman with them. Based on the novel by Mihajlo Ranovcevic.Grand Illusion
1937-06-04A group of French soldiers, including the patrician Captain de Boeldieu and the working-class Lieutenant Maréchal, grapple with their own class differences after being captured and held in a World War I German prison camp. When the men are transferred to a high-security fortress, they must concoct a plan to escape beneath the watchful eye of aristocratic German officer von Rauffenstein, who has formed an unexpected bond with de Boeldieu.Closely Watched Train...
1966-11-18At a village railway station in occupied Czechoslovakia, a bumbling dispatcher’s apprentice longs to liberate himself from his virginity. Oblivious to the war and the resistance that surrounds him, this young man embarks on a journey of sexual awakening and self-discovery, encountering a universe of frustration, eroticism, and adventure within his sleepy backwater depot.The Bridge on the Riv...
1957-10-11The classic story of English POWs in Burma forced to build a bridge to aid the war effort of their Japanese captors. British and American intelligence officers conspire to blow up the structure, but Col. Nicholson, the commander who supervised the bridge's construction, has acquired a sense of pride in his creation and tries to foil their plans.Enemy at the Gates
2001-02-28A Russian and a German sniper play a game of cat-and-mouse during the Battle of Stalingrad in WWII.Saving Private Ryan
1998-07-24As U.S. troops storm the beaches of Normandy, three brothers lie dead on the battlefield, with a fourth trapped behind enemy lines. Ranger captain John Miller and seven men are tasked with penetrating German-held territory and bringing the boy home.Dominique
2024-10-11Dominique, a well-trained assassin, flees from her troubled past in an attempt to begin a new life in South America. However, she soon finds herself in a town plagued with violence and corruption. Facing brutal attacks from the police and mafia, Dominique must decide whether to protect herself or an innocent family that has taken her in.Goldfinger
1964-09-20Special agent 007 comes face to face with one of the most notorious villains of all time, and now he must outwit and outgun the powerful tycoon to prevent him from cashing in on a devious scheme to raid Fort Knox -- and obliterate the world's economy.The Tin Drum
1979-05-02Oskar Matzerath is a very unusual boy. Refusing to leave the womb until promised a tin drum by his mother, Agnes, Oskar is reluctant to enter a world he sees as filled with hypocrisy and injustice, and vows on his third birthday to never grow up. Miraculously, he gets his wish. As the Nazis rise to power in Danzig, Oskar wills himself to remain a child, beating his tin drum incessantly and screaming in protest at the chaos surrounding him.The Master Race
1944-09-22When allied troops liberate a small battle-scarred Belgium town in 1944 the American and British commanders do all they can to help the war-weary people back on their feet. There are mental and physical wounds to heal, fields to plough, the church to rebuild. But a top Nazi, knowing the War is lost, has infiltrated the town and is fostering dissent and disunity.Little Boy
2015-04-23An eight-year-old boy is willing to do whatever it takes to end World War II so he can bring his father home. The story reveals the indescribable love a father has for his little boy and the love a son has for his father.Heroes of the Undergr...
1976-01-27Besides martial arts, Bruce Lee's contribution to Chinese society was instilling a strong sense of nationalism. After his death, anti-Japanese films found new breathe especially in Taiwan. Based on a King Hu’s script, Heroes Of The Underground tapped into Lee's nationalistic fervor and the Confucian ethic of country above family and starred the popular Ching Li as a World War II, Chinese secret agent planted into the Japanese Headquarters at Changsha. Tears flow in the name of country pride.The Good German
2006-12-15An American journalist arrives in Berlin just after the end of World War Two. He becomes involved in a murder mystery surrounding a dead GI who washes up at a lakeside mansion during the Potsdam negotiations between the Allied powers. Soon his investigation connects with his search for his married pre-war German lover.To Be or Not to Be
1942-03-06During the Nazi occupation of Poland, an acting troupe becomes embroiled in a Polish soldier's efforts to track down a German spy.Fighter Attack
1953-11-29World War II film set in German occupied Italy. A US fighter pilot is shot down in enemy territory during a raid against a German supply depot. He receives from Italian partisans in laying the groundwork for a new attack by his squadron.Judgment Night
1993-10-15Four young friends, while taking a shortcut en route to a local boxing match, witness a brutal murder which leaves them running for their lives.