49th Parallel is a powerful and important piece of World War 2 propaganda which controversially was filmed from the point of view of a group of German soldiers. Asked to make a flag waver by the Ministry of Information the brilliantly gifted film-making team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger elected to set the action in Canada. The film features a stellar cast who all waived their fees in the interests of the war. A Nazi U-boat is sunk by the Canadian Air Force and all the crew are lost except six men who had been sent ashore before the attack. They stumble... across an Eskimo village where Scott Peter and his Eskimo servant Martin live. Also present is a French trapper Johnnie (played by Laurence Olivier) who panics when held at gunpoint and is shot by one of the Nazis. After this the Allies send an S.O.S. plane and it is the intention of the Nazis to hijack it and fly to neutral America. When the plane arrives there is a scuffle but they manage to take off. Will they be caught before they kill again? [show more]
A brilliant and effective wartime propaganda effort from Powell and Pressburger that manages to enliven prosaic Nazi stereotypes with good character performances, in particular from Eric Portman as the Nazi Lieutenant and Niall McGinnis as the reluctant Nazi who wants to go back to his pre-war job as a baker. There are some tremendous appearances from actors including Leslie Howard, Raymond Massey - who provides a wonderful last line for the film - Anton Walbrook who gives a moving and sincere speech against Nazism, Glynis Johns, only let down by Laurence Olivier with a terrible French accent.
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