![49th Parallel (1941) [The Criterion Collection #376]](https://pixhost.icu/avaxhome/40/45/001d4540_medium.jpeg)
49th Parallel (1941) [The Criterion Collection #376]
![49th Parallel (1941) [The Criterion Collection #376]](https://pixhost.icu/avaxhome/40/45/001d4540.jpeg)
49th Parallel (1941) [The Criterion Collection #376]
2xDVD9 | ISO+MDS | NTSC 4:3 (720x480) | HQ Cover + Booklet -> 19 Mb | 02:02:01 | 7,72 Gb + 6,08 Gb
Audio: English AC3 1.0 @ 192 Kbps + Commentary track | Subtitles: English SDH
Genre: Drama, War, Thriller | Won Oscar | UK
2xDVD9 | ISO+MDS | NTSC 4:3 (720x480) | HQ Cover + Booklet -> 19 Mb | 02:02:01 | 7,72 Gb + 6,08 Gb
Audio: English AC3 1.0 @ 192 Kbps + Commentary track | Subtitles: English SDH
Genre: Drama, War, Thriller | Won Oscar | UK
At once a compelling piece of anti-isolationist propaganda and a quick-witted wartime thriller, 49th Parallel is a classic early work from the inimitable British filmmaking team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. When a Nazi U-boat crew, headed by the ruthless Eric Portman, is stranded in Canada during the thick of World War II, the men evade capture by hiding out in a series of rural communities, before trying to cross the border into the still-neutral United States. Both soul-stirring and delightfully entertaining, 49th Parallel features a colorful cast of characters played by larger-than-life actors Laurence Olivier, Raymond Massey, Anton Walbrook, and Leslie Howard.
IMDB
Criterion
DVDBeaver
In the early 1940s, everyone was expected to pitch in for the war effort, and that included film actors and behind-the-scenes personnel. No longer could entertainment simply be a diversion, but the best creative minds put their talents toward rousing the populace for the mission at hand.![49th Parallel (1941) [The Criterion Collection #376]](https://pixhost.icu/avaxhome/94/45/001d4594_medium.jpeg)
49th Parallel (1941) [The Criterion Collection #376]
![49th Parallel (1941) [The Criterion Collection #376]]()
49th Parallel was released in 1941 to show the moviegoing public that the war was something that could touch people from all walks of life. The title refers to the border between the United States and Canada, which the voiceover claims is the last border in the world that doesn't require the line to be defended. That is, until a German U-boat gets sunk in Canadian waters while a search party of six Nazi soldiers is looking for fuel and supplies on land. Stranded in a country hostile to their point of view, these soldiers must find a way to get out of North America and back to the Motherland.![49th Parallel (1941) [The Criterion Collection #376]](https://pixhost.icu/avaxhome/95/45/001d4595_medium.jpeg)
49th Parallel (1941) [The Criterion Collection #376]
![49th Parallel (1941) [The Criterion Collection #376]]()
Twice before their collaboration on 49th Parallel, Emeric Pressburger had written scripts that Michael Powell directed. It would be with this and their next wartime effort, One of Our Aircraft is Missing, that the pair would solidify their partnership as the Archers, writing, directing, and producing some of Britain's best films together. Aircraft actually has a similar central plot to 49th Parallel, though in that film British troops shot down in Europe would have to work their way out of enemy territory to rejoin the fight of the righteous. The Archers were hoping to inspire their audience to root for our side, while in 49th Parallel, they were encouraging us to root against the others.![49th Parallel (1941) [The Criterion Collection #376]](https://pixhost.icu/avaxhome/96/45/001d4596_medium.jpeg)
49th Parallel (1941) [The Criterion Collection #376]
![49th Parallel (1941) [The Criterion Collection #376]]()
As the renegade Nazis trek across Canada, they will succumb one by one under the nationalism of the Canadian citizenry. Pushed on by the ruthless and cold Lieutenant Hirth (Eric Portman, an Archers regular appearing in both Aircraft and A Canterbury Tale), the Germans are taken down by bullets, swayed by the wholesomeness of a quiet life, and betrayed by their own inability to maintain their stoic goose-stepping. From one town to the other, they encounter religion, native pride, culture, and the promise of democracy–all things Hitler encourages them to stamp out, and all things that are too strong to bow under heel. The final blow is struck in the name of good, old-fashioned North America spirit, with Raymond Massey delivering the knock-out punch. The year before, the Canadian-born Massey had played Abraham Lincoln in Abe Lincoln in Illinois. You can't get more American than that.![49th Parallel (1941) [The Criterion Collection #376]](https://pixhost.icu/avaxhome/97/45/001d4597_medium.jpeg)
49th Parallel (1941) [The Criterion Collection #376]
![49th Parallel (1941) [The Criterion Collection #376]]()
49th Parallel is propaganda of the first order, and no one will mistake it for a sophisticated war-time thriller. It's not that the movie isn't well done. On the contrary, the story is expertly structured and the journey of the Nazi sailors compelling. The Archers even give the Germans some sympathetic elements, most obviously in Vogel (Niall MacGinness, Powell's The Edge of the World), whose dormant Christian tendencies get the better of him. Funnily enough, it's this element that is oddly lopsided, with the Nazis being more complex than the patriotic Canadians they encounter. It's hard to forget the misdeeds of the bad guys, such as pounding a man with a rifle when he's already been knocked down and shooting unarmed citizens in the back, but for some reason, Pressburger avoided making them sinister through and through.![49th Parallel (1941) [The Criterion Collection #376]](https://pixhost.icu/avaxhome/98/45/001d4598_medium.jpeg)
49th Parallel (1941) [The Criterion Collection #376]
![49th Parallel (1941) [The Criterion Collection #376]]()
So, the real propaganda comes through in how the common Canadian folk are unbending in their opposition to the foreign invaders and how the travels of the Nazis fomented the hatred amongst those they wished to rally and conquer, supporting the movie's central message that no one could assume they were out of range to be affected by the war. The underlying message seems to be that the Allies of 49th Parallel have the indomitable will and that the Axis army was populated with men who didn't have the courage of their convictions and were prone to bend. Lending a hand to show what the good guys were made of were top actors Laurence Olivier (here playing a French Canadian with a somewhat amusing accent), Anton Walbrook (The Red Shoes), Glynis Johns (The Sundowners), and Leslie Howard (Of Human Bondage) as an intellectual who Lt. Hirth accuses of cowardice and who naturally proves the Nazi wrong. (Another famous name in the credits: David Lean was the editor of 49th Parallel.) When the film is at its most rah-rah, it can come off as a little stiff now that over sixty years have passed, but with the right historical perspective, it's easy to see past where the participants were excessively encumbered by their good intentions.![49th Parallel (1941) [The Criterion Collection #376]](https://pixhost.icu/avaxhome/9b/45/001d459b_medium.jpeg)
49th Parallel (1941) [The Criterion Collection #376]
![49th Parallel (1941) [The Criterion Collection #376]]()
And, of course, there are certainly plenty of other wartime cinematic efforts that have aged far more poorly than 49th Parallel. What this movie has going for it that the others don't are the burgeoning talents of two master storytellers who were finally gravitating toward each other's orbits. Their natural way with the fabric of film was already in evidence, and it's what keeps 49th Parallel crackling even after its necessity has long passed.![49th Parallel (1941) [The Criterion Collection #376]](https://pixhost.icu/avaxhome/99/45/001d4599_medium.jpeg)
49th Parallel (1941) [The Criterion Collection #376]
![49th Parallel (1941) [The Criterion Collection #376]]()
As usual, Criterion gives Powell and Pressburger the red carpet treatment. Their edition of 49th Parallel restores the WWII vehicle's picture quality, giving modern audiences a chance to see the kind of stories the UK film industry made during the conflict to try to keep people's hearts in the effort. Boasting a strong cast of some of the best actors of the time, the tale of Nazi soldiers on the run still works thanks to the unsinkable storytelling instincts of the writer and director. Criterion's slick double-disc also offers excellent bonus features. Highly Recommended.
![49th Parallel (1941) [The Criterion Collection #376]](https://pixhost.icu/avaxhome/94/45/001d4594.jpeg)
![49th Parallel (1941) [The Criterion Collection #376]](https://pixhost.icu/avaxhome/95/45/001d4595.jpeg)
![49th Parallel (1941) [The Criterion Collection #376]](https://pixhost.icu/avaxhome/96/45/001d4596.jpeg)
![49th Parallel (1941) [The Criterion Collection #376]](https://pixhost.icu/avaxhome/97/45/001d4597.jpeg)
![49th Parallel (1941) [The Criterion Collection #376]](https://pixhost.icu/avaxhome/98/45/001d4598.jpeg)
![49th Parallel (1941) [The Criterion Collection #376]](https://pixhost.icu/avaxhome/9b/45/001d459b.jpeg)
![49th Parallel (1941) [The Criterion Collection #376]](https://pixhost.icu/avaxhome/99/45/001d4599.jpeg)
![49th Parallel (1941) [The Criterion Collection #376]](https://pixhost.icu/avaxhome/9a/45/001d459a_medium.jpeg)
49th Parallel (1941) [The Criterion Collection #376]
![49th Parallel (1941) [The Criterion Collection #376]](https://pixhost.icu/avaxhome/9a/45/001d459a.jpeg)
SPECIAL EDITION DOUBLE-DISC SET:
• New, restored high-definition digital transfer
• Audio commentary by film and music historian Bruce Eder
• The Volunteer, a 1943 Powell and Pressburger war-effort short starring Ralph Richardson
• A Pretty British Affair, a BBC documentary on the careers of Powell and Pressburger, which considers their WWII-era collaborations and features rare footage of the filmmakers together
• Excerpts from Michael Powell's audio dictations for his autobiography
• Original theatrical trailer
• 20-page liner notes booklet with essay by film scholar Charles Barr and Powell's 1941 premiere speech
![49th Parallel (1941) [The Criterion Collection #376]](https://pixhost.icu/avaxhome/9c/45/001d459c_medium.jpeg)
49th Parallel (1941) [The Criterion Collection #376]
![49th Parallel (1941) [The Criterion Collection #376]](https://pixhost.icu/avaxhome/9c/45/001d459c.jpeg)
Many Thanks to raminmehr.
No More Mirrors.