49Th Parallel

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Downtown 1st Floor 1-week checkout	DVD War Forty	1-week checkout	Due 05-04-2024

Originally released as a motion picture in 1941.
Special features: Restored high-definition digital transfer; audio commentary by film and music historian Bruce Eder; "The volunteer"; a 1943 Powell and Pressburger war-effort short staring Ralph Richardson; "A pretty British affair": a BBC documentary on the careers of Powell and Pressburger, which consider 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; new essay by fil scholar Charles Barr and Powell's 1941 premiere speech.
Leslie Howard, Laurence Olivier, Raymond Massey, Anton Walbrook, Eric Portman, Raymond Lovell, Niall MacGinnis, Glynis Johns, Finlay Currie.
When a Nazi U-boat crew headed by the ruthless Lieutenant Hirth 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.
DVD, region 1, full screen (1.33:1) presentation; Dolby Digital 1.0 mono, restored high-definition transfer.

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

Great! submitted by 0liviap0pp on August 22, 2011, 8:15am This is a great historical WWII film.

Nazis in Canada submitted by amy on June 15, 2014, 8:23am A film by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger is always a treat - the exotic settings, the intelligent writing, the lush cinematography, the quirky details. You never quite know what's going to happen and it's all a bit hypnotic. Which is all the more amazing for an unabashed propaganda film such as this. Made in 1941 with the clear aim of luring the Americans into WWII, 49th Parallel tells the story of a handful of German survivors of a U-boat battling the forces of nature, multiculturalism, religion, intellectualism, and plenty more that would seriously try any Nazi's patience as they make their way across the Canadian countryside hoping to find a way back to Germany. And memorable cameo performances from some of Britain's and Canada's best actors - Laurence Olivier, Leslie Howard, Raymond Massey - make all this Nazi comeuppance a lot of fun.