Hitler's Madman

John Carradine is at his absolute best and Sirk uses the Poverty Row sets expertly - his camera soars. The matching death scenes of a Czech and a Nazi one after another is quite a humanizing and horrifying moment.

Sirk's first Hollywood film--about the Nazi massacre of Lidice--is definitely low-budget but directed with elegance and passion by the recent German expatriate. John Carradine gives one of his iciest performances as Heydrich, the Nazi "protector' of the Czechs, a man with a dreamy sadistic smile. Ralph Morgan--Frank's brother--gets a great part for a change, and even Edgar Kennedy is given a touch of dignity amid the foolery. The final scenes--of the massacre--are harrowing and inspiring.

I don't mind propaganda films but holy hell some of the dialogue in this is too much. Sirk is a master with that camera tho just beautiful shot after shot. The end will stick with you for a while. Great performance by Carradine

thanks shotcontext.blogspot for getting me to watch and appreciate this movie

This was Sirk's first movie as an expatriate in Hollywood, and can be interpreted as either prostrating or bold, maybe both. While violin-laden character drama bookends screen-friendly displays of Nazi cruelty, and Heydrich's portrayal isn't very menacing, it isn't cringe. There is an underlying urgency in the Jewish writers' script that's quite moving.

The madmen of Hitler going up against the folks of a Czechoslovakia church and gets a toucher opposition than expected. John Carradine was lovely Nazi sneak. Other veteran actors also helped make the story come alive. With that said, I was not as drawn in as I should have been. Perhaps it was the religious aspect. Perhaps it was taking the visual of Edgar Kennedy as the local trouble maker. I don't know. The plot was interesting, but for me it didn't unravel in a captivating enough manner.