49th Parallel
Short description
At the start of the Second World War, a German U-boat is destroyed in Canada's Hudson Bay. A small group of surviving sailors, led by the committed Nazi officer Lieutenant Hirth, sets out across the Canadian wilderness with the aim of reaching the United States, which is still neutral and not yet in the war. Their journey turns violent as they take what they need to survive and move on, while the people they encounter along the way, among them a French-Canadian fur trapper and the leader of a Hutterite farming community, are drawn into the pursuit.
Michael Powell directed and produced the film, with Emeric Pressburger writing the screenplay. It followed Powell's work on The Thief of Bagdad and preceded The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, A Matter of Life and Death, Black Narcissus and The Red Shoes. The cast includes Leslie Howard as the writer Philip Armstrong Scott, Laurence Olivier as the trapper Johnnie, Raymond Massey as the soldier Andy Brock, Adolf Wohlbrück as Peter and Eric Portman as Lieutenant Hirth, with 33 credited performers in all.
Released in late 1941, the film combines thriller and war elements across a 123-minute running time, and it took about 5 million dollars worldwide, a substantial return for its period. On IMDb it holds 7.3 out of 10 from roughly 8,500 votes, while on TMDB it sits at 7 out of 10 from 129 votes. A critics' rating of 6.7 out of 10 from 16 reviews places it slightly below the audience scores on both sites.
What's left behind the scenes
- The submarine shown in the opening scenes is a mock-up built at shipyards in Halifax. The Canadian government refused the filmmakers' request to provide a real submarine for filming (they were all engaged in patrolling).
- All the initial scenes were filmed by Freddie Young (1902-1998) with a hand-held camera from airplane windows and the windows of trains and cars.
- Director and producer Michael Powell (1905-1990) forgot that Newfoundland was an independent dominion of Britain, not part of Canada, and when a full-scale submarine model was taken to the island, it was detained by customs officials who demanded duty. Powell had to appeal to the island's governor, whom he informed that the film was also part of the general effort for the front and victory. In 1949, Newfoundland became part of Canada as a result of a referendum.
- During the filming of the scene where the plane crashes and falls into the lake, Raymond Lovell (1990-1953) nearly drowned because he couldn't swim, and the plane sank much faster than anyone expected.
- Before the war, Peter Cushing (1913-1994) went to Hollywood, but his career didn't take off there, and he began to do all sorts of things, including making props for this film (although he didn't appear in it himself).
- Elizabeth Bergner (1897-1986) was initially cast in the role of Anna, a Hutterite (Hutterites are a branch of Anabaptism that originated in the 16th century, whose followers are distinguished by communal ownership of property). Initially, the Hutterites had nothing against the filming and even helped as much as they could, but one day one of their women noticed that Bergner was smoking and painting her nails. She furiously slapped the actress. Filming had to be interrupted. It was resumed only after Michael Powell managed to persuade the Hutterite community to allow them to finish working on the film. Bergner was replaced by the younger actress Glynis Johns, although Bergner can still be recognized in some scenes. It also turned out that Bergner had joined the film's cast only to move to America. A German-born Jew living in Britain, she wanted to get as far away from the Third Reich as possible and chose America.
- Raymond Massey (1896-1983), Leslie Howard (1893-1943), and Sir Laurence Olivier (1907-1989) agreed to work on this film for half their usual fee. This was their contribution to the common cause of defeating the enemy.
- Niall McGinnis (1913-1977) was returning home to Wales when he was stopped and searched by police. In McGinnis's wallet, they found a photograph of him in a German naval uniform next to what appeared to be a submarine, and McGinnis was arrested, mistaken for a German spy. In reality, it was a photograph of McGinnis in a role he played in this film. The actor spent several days in jail until documents arrived from London confirming his identity and the fact that he was filming a movie.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
