49th Parallel ( The Invaders (The Forty-Ninth Parallel) )

49th Parallel (DVD) (*)

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Alternate Title: The Invaders (The Forty-Ninth Parallel)
Screened, competed or awarded at:
Oscar Academy Awards

Language Selections:
English ( Dolby Digital 2.0 )
English ( Mono )
Spanish ( Dolby Digital 2.0 )
Spanish ( Subtitles )

Product Origin/Format:
Spain ( PAL/Region 2 )

Running Time:
117 min

Aspect Ratio:
Fullscreen

Special Features:
Interactive Menu
Scene Access
Trailer(s)
Black & White

Movie filmed in 1941 and produced in:
United Kingdom ( Great Britain, Ireland )

Directed By:
Michael Powell

Written By:
Rodney Ackland (dialogue)
Emeric Pressburger (also story)

Actors:
Leslie Howard ..... Philip Armstrong Scott
Laurence Olivier ..... Johnnie, the Trapper
Raymond Massey ..... Andy Brock
Anton Walbrook ..... Peter
Eric Portman ..... Lieutenant Hans Hirth
Glynis Johns ..... Anna
Niall MacGinnis ..... Vogel
Finlay Currie ..... Albert, the Factor
Raymond Lovell ..... Lieutenant Kuhnecke
John Chandos ..... Lohrmann
Basil Appleby ..... Jahner
Eric Clavering ..... Art
Charles Victor ..... Andreas
Ley On ..... Nick, the Eskimo
Richard George ..... Kommandant Bernsdorff

Synopsis:

49th Parallel is a British wartime entreaty for Empire solidarity, concentrating on rousing the patriotic fervor of the citizens of Canada. A group of Nazi naval officers and crewmen are stranded on Canadian soil (we have no sympathy for the castaways, inasmuch as we have just seen them refusing food and water to a group of torpedoed British seamen). Led by lieutenant Eric Portman, the Nazis try to stir up sympathy amongst the Canadians, beginning with apolitical Quebeckian trapper Laurence Olivier. Failing to convert Olivier--even by force--the Germans move on to a Hutterite farming community, where again they are unsuccessful in winning adherents (though, conversely, German seaman Niall Mac Ginnis defects to the other side). They then cross the path of professorial author Leslie Howard, who is living amongst the Indians to soak up 'local color'. Even Howard proves too formidable for the Nazis, and by film's end the surviving invaders are hiding out in a train, where they are discovered and captured by AWOL Canadian soldier Raymond Massey. Most TV viewers know 49th Parallel under its alternate title, The Invaders.

When a German U-Boat is bombed and destroyed in 1940 after sailing up to Hudson Bay after raiding Canadian shipping, the six-man shore party finds itself with no easy means of escape. They take over the local Hudson Bay Company trading post, than a company seaplane after killing several people. Their plan is to fly south to the still neutral United States in order to get to a Germany Embassy. Several members of the crew are killed on the way as the plane runs out of gas and they crash land. The remaining Nazis make their way to Winnipeg where their leader (Lieutenant Hirth) decides they should make their way to Vancouver, BC to catch a boat sailing to Japan. Along the way, they meet a Hutterite community and learn that their views aren't very popular in this German-Canadian community. As they leave, they execute one of their own who wants to stay instead of returning to Nazi Germany. Now down to three, one of them is captured in Banff by the RCMP and another is over powered in the woods leaving only the Lieutenant. Word of this trek gets to Hitler himself, who praises the evasive Lieutenant and awards his with the Iron Cross. Now on his own, Lieutenant Hirth makes one last attempt to get to the border and reach the still neutral United States. But he is foiled by a Canadian soldier and two US Customs Agents.

In the early years of World War II, a German U-boat (U-37) sinks Allied shipping in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and then tries to evade Canadian Military Forces seeking to destroy it by sailing up to Hudson Bay. The U-boat's Fanatical Nazi captain sends some members of his crew to look for food and other supplies at a Hudson Bay Company outpost. No sooner than the shore party (lead by Lieutenant Hirth) reaches the shore, the U-boat is spotted and sunk by the Canadian Armed Forces leaving the six members of the shore party stranded in Canada. The Nazi Lieutenant then starts to plan his crews' return to the Fatherland. He needs to reach the neutral United States or be captured. Along the way they meet a variety of characters each with their own views on the war and nationalism. In this film Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger show their ideas of why the United States should join the Allied fight against the Nazis.

This product was added to our catalog on Tuesday 15 November, 2005.

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