Talk:Man Hunt (1941 film)

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References to use[edit]

Please add to the list references that can be used for the film article.
  • Rubin, Martin (1999). "The Spy Thriller: Man Hunt (1941)". Thrillers. Genres in American Cinema. Cambridge University Press. pp. 226–241. ISBN 0521588391.

Set before or during the war?[edit]

The book was written and is clearly set before the war. Is the film actually set after war had broken out? Presumably this must mean some plot changes...--JBellis 17:56, 6 April 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I wrote that sentence and I'm really not sure. Not having seen the film (or read the book) I waas going off the AllMovie summary here [1] which describes it as a "WWII thriller". I've just re-read that summary and it's not explicit. If you know better, please edit the article accordingly. Thanks, Belovedfreak 19:37, 6 April 2007 (UTC)[reply]
The film is clearly set before the war. There is a scene roughly at 50 minutes, with the hunter being back in the UK and having to hide. A friend tells him that he has to be careful, as the British authorities will extradict him to Nazi Germany, so as not to give Nazi Germany a reason for war (Quote: Remember the Reichstag fire). Afroghost (talk) 21:38, 19 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Most of the film follows the timeframe of the novel, before WWII. The film has a short epilogue after the start of the war, showing the protagonist parachuting with his rifle to finish the "man hunt". Most movie catalogues or encyclopedias don't have a category for "pre-war stories" so movies like "Man Hunt" are typed as "war stories". Naaman Brown (talk) 19:31, 28 September 2009 (UTC) curse that cache thot I was logged in[reply]

A non-evil German[edit]

The article currently says:

Joseph Breen was alarmed by the script when he read it in 1941, calling it a "hate film." Breen felt in the Isolationist atmosphere of 1941 America, the film showed all Germans as evil, unlike other films showing both good non-Nazi Germans as well as evil National Socialists.

In the finished film there appears to be one good, non-Nazi German. He's the shopkeeper in London who sells Thorndike the arrow pin for Gerry. At least, it's made clear from the way he speaks that his native and preferred language is German, but we don't learn his actual nationality. I wonder if this character was originally an Englishman but was changed in response to Breen's objection. However, I don't suppose there'd be any source to tell us one way or another. --76.69.45.64 (talk) 13:01, 19 December 2015 (UTC)[reply]

There is no equivalent character to Gerry in the original novel, so obviously there the jeweler is unique to the film. In the book, though, there is a German angler who brusquely aids the Sir Robert during his escape, refusing any direct payment (the BBC version elaborates his character as being motivated more by being anti-Nazi than pro-British, which does not conflict with the novel). The shopkeeper character may be seen as a nod towards this one. Nick Cooper (talk) 16:33, 19 December 2015 (UTC)[reply]