Hangmen Also Die

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Hangmen Also Die

1943,

2h 14m,

War

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88%

16 Reviews

Tomatometer

68%

250+ Ratings

Popcornmeter

88%

Tomatometer

16 Reviews

68%

Popcornmeter

250+ Ratings

During the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia, insurgent Franticek Svoboda (Brian Donlevy) assassinates the brutal German leader Reinhard Heydrich (Hans Heinrich von Twardowski). Svoboda escapes with the aid of history professor Stephen Novotny (Walter Brennan), but Novotny is then captured, along with 400 other Czechs, through the machinations of Nazi sympathizer Emil Czaka (Gene Lockhart). The Czech prisoners are then told that if Svoboda does not surrender, they will all be executed.

TIME Magazine

Feb 25, 2013

Although Director Fritz Lang gives this familiar material occasional touches of distinction, the picture still misses Grade A rank.

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Variety Staff

Variety

Feb 25, 2013

From a directorial standpoint this is a triumph for Fritz Lang, who succeeds with singular success in capturing the spirit of the Czech people in the face of the Nazi reign of terror.

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Theodore Strauss

New York Times

Feb 25, 2013

2.5/5

For all of Mr. Lang's finesse, his film is too patient -- it runs well over two hours -- too ponderous to hit its stride as melodrama. Nor does it match in emotional power and conviction its heroic theme.

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Sean Axmaker

Stream on Demand

Jul 29, 2026

Where it’s most effective is when [Lang] plays the up to the heroism of everyday citizens, driven less by altruism than hatred for the enemy, and in the telling little touches strewn through the film...

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Joshua Polanski

Midwest Film Journal

Jul 4, 2024

Still inspiring as text, the choir of voices of the oppressed victims of fascism transforms the resistance poetry into a marvelous song that matches nearly anything in Lang’s filmography.

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T.C. Kemp

Birmingham Post

Feb 19, 2022

The picture is brilliantly produced and acted. Theatricalism is notably absent. It is sufficient in a film of this sort to allow the facts to speak -- and here, action is eloquent beyond words.

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Han W

Jul 9, 2017

A Czech perspective on Nazi occupation. Well made, but a little long.

Han P

Feb 24, 2017

Donlevy stiff. Obvious propaganda film doesn't hold up well, as sympathetic to the cause as I am!

Poe S

Feb 11, 2017

saw on pbs tv 2-2017: Anthropoid 1943 movie "Hangmen also die"...starring Ryan Donlevy Brian Dunlevy and Walter Brennan! As. European. About Nazi Reinhold Heydrich About his assassination, but before it was actually known??

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Fritz Lang

Director

Brian Donlevy

Dr. Franticek Svoboda

Walter Brennan

Prof. Stephen Novotny

Anna Lee

Nasha Novotny

Gene Lockhart

Emil Czaka

Dennis O'Keefe

Jan Horak

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Hangmen Also Die: Trailer 1

1:43

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Synopsis

During the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia, insurgent Franticek Svoboda (Brian Donlevy) assassinates the brutal German leader Reinhard Heydrich (Hans Heinrich von Twardowski). Svoboda escapes with the aid of history professor Stephen Novotny (Walter Brennan), but Novotny is then captured, along with 400 other Czechs, through the machinations of Nazi sympathizer Emil Czaka (Gene Lockhart). The Czech prisoners are then told that if Svoboda does not surrender, they will all be executed.

Director: Fritz Lang
Producer: Fritz Lang, Arnold Pressburger
Screenwriter: John Wexley
Distributor: United Artists
Production Co: Arnold Pressburger Films
Genre: War
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Apr 15, 1943, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 9, 2014
Runtime: 2h 14m

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