49th Parallel is about a German U-Boat which has entered Canadian waters, intent on sinking ships taking supplies to the troops. A group of six sailors from the sub are sent ashore to pick up supplies and while they're on land, the U-Boat is spotted and sunk in Hudson Bay by an RCAF bomber. Undetected, the six Nazis on shore decide to travel across Canada and enter the States, where they'll be on neutral ground.
Sunday, since Remembrance Day is this week, we watched a movie set- and filmed during- World War II. It is a Powell & Pressburger movie called 49th Parallel and was released in 1941, after Britain- and Canada- had entered the war, but the United States had not. 49th Parallel is about a German U-Boat which has entered Canadian waters, intent on sinking ships taking supplies to the troops. A group of six sailors from the sub are sent ashore to pick up supplies and while they're on land, the U-Boat is spotted and sunk in Hudson Bay by an RCAF bomber. Undetected, the six Nazis on shore decide to travel across Canada and enter the States, where they'll be on neutral ground. Led by the two highest ranking officers still surviving- Lieutenants Hirth and Kuhnecke- they make their way to a Hudson Bay Company outpost. There they take the post's manager- Eskimo Nick- and a visiting French Canadian trapper named Johnnie hostage. They also break into the post's store and take supplies and civilian clothes. Although treated brutally, Johnnie and Nick manage to get out word by radio that something is wrong and a float plane is dispatched to investigate. When it lands, the Germans shoot and kill the pilot as well as several Inuit who are on the shore. They steal the plane and take off, though an Inuit hunter manages to shoot and kill one of the Nazis, leaving five. Since the plane hadn't been refueled, it runs out of gas over Manitoba and crashes into a lake, killing Kuhnecke. The other four struggle to shore and start walking. They come upon a Hutterite farming community and pass themselves off as Hutterites from another part of the province. They stay for several days, and one of the men- Vogel- begins to like the life they live there and think about staying. Meanwhile, Lt. Hirth assumes that since the Hutterites are of German heritage, they will sympathize with the Nazi aims. He gives a speech to the assembled Hutterites, urging them to rise up against the Canadian government. Peter, the leader of the community, tells Hirth that they came to Canada to get away from that sort of thing, and so that their children could grow up in freedom. He orders the Nazis to leave their community, although he tells Vogol that he can stay and take up their way of life if he wants. Vogol intends to do so, but Hirth finds out and, accusing Vogol of desertion, executes him. The three remaining Nazis make their way to Winnipeg where they trade binoculars for some food. They also learn that the police, aware of their presence in the country and expecting them to make for the U.S., are watching the border. In view of this, Hirth decides that they will make for Vancouver, hoping to find a Japanese freighter which will take them to Russia. They start walking along, but soon murder a motorist and steal his car. Being tracked by the Mounties, they make it as far as Banff, Alberta. There, they are spotted by citizens who have been given their description by the police, and one of them is taken into custody though the other two get away. The last two Nazis- Hirth and Lohrmann- escape into the woods and decide to cross the Rockies into the States. Not long after they start the ascent, they stumble upon the camp of British intellectual Philip Armstrong Scott, who is living in the Canadian wilderness to research a book he's writing on the history of the Blackfoot Sioux. Taking them for lost tourists, he invites them into his luxurious tent where, of course, they take him captive, steal supplies for their journey, then leave. Furious, Scott gets his men together and gives chase through the woods in the dark. Lohrmann panics and attacks Hirth, knocking him out and running off alone. He is cornered by Scott and his men in a cave and starts shooting at them. Scott, though wounded, enters the cave and eschews using a gun in favour of delivering a pummeling to Lohrmann with his fists. Hirth wakes up and stumbles off alone, eventually hopping onto the freight car of a passing train headed for the American border. In the car he meets Andy Brock, a Canadian soldier headed back to his regiment after having been AWOL on a bender. Having no idea who Hirth is, the gregarious Brock makes conversation, grousing about his regiment being stuck guarding the border when they want to be sent overseas to where the action is. As they approach the border, Hirsh grabs Brock's gun and makes him give him his uniform, intending to masquerade as a Canadian soldier when he disembarks. Once over the border, the custom inspectors enter the car, and Hirth demands to be taken to the German embassy. Telling the inspectors that Hirth is one of the escaped Nazis that the Mounties have been tracking, Brock pleads with them to return them to the Canadian side of the border so that Hirth can be taken into custody. The inspectors are sick at the thought of aiding the Nazi, but say that they have to follow the rules and take Hirth to the embassy. Brock points out that, speaking of rules, he and Hirth aren't listed on the freight manifest. The inspectors, happy to have a legitimate excuse, order the car sent back over the border into Canada, due to the presence of "improperly manifested freight". Hirth panics, shouting demands that he be released on the American side but the inspectors ignore him and tell Brock that his gun, which they've confiscated, will be mailed back to Canada, care of the RCMP. Brock grins and says that's O.K.: he doesn't need it. As the car starts moving, he turns menacingly toward an aghast Hirth and tells him to put his fists up... he wants his pants back, and he isn't asking.
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