ironhorse_iv Review of Hitler--Dead or Alive

Hitler--Dead or Alive (1942)

Wanted: Dead or Alive, Hitler: Dead or Alive is a must-watch. A whacky WWII propaganda film that will make you laugh.

[5/10 · 10 August 2014]

One of the most unusual U.S. WWII propaganda films, Hitler, Dead or Alive isn't your typical wartime film. This movie is so over the top that it's so bad, it's good. Inspired on an actual true event, in which a businessman promised a reward of one million dollars to anyone to bring Adolf Hitler to justice, dead or alive. The movie took the idea and place a story about three gangsters, Steve Maschick (Ward Bond), Hans "Dutch" Havermann (Warren Hymer), and Joe "The Book" Conway (Paul Fix) accepting that challenge. Bond was the sturdy rock of the gang, Hymer the comic relief and Fix the brains. Seeing how film noir and Warner Bros gangster films were popular at the time; it was no surprised that the film director Nick Grinde & writer Sam Neuman made the controversial choice of portraying American criminals as heroes than the soldiers fighting overseas at the time. It's kinda upsetting in a way, as hundreds of servicemen were dying in the battlefields during the making of this film. You can tell that the movie is so absurd and preposterous, that the movie has a series of improbable scenes that lead them to Hitler (Bobby Watson) like jail-breaking and hijacking a plane. The gangsters are lump-heads idiots who somehow found a way, not to get themselves killed within 10 minutes in Germany. The Nazis in the film are portray like Col. Klink dummies, allowing them to last that long into 70 minute film. In real life, this movie would had ended, once they paratroop into Germany. The movie is full of dumb things happening like Ward Bond taking down an airplane with a tommy gun, while flying. Do not question the probability of one man standing in the open door of a flying aircraft and successfully shooting down another plane. Don't ask. Another highlight of the film is the gangsters shaving off Hitler's mustache and cut off that big lock of greasy hair that hangs in his face. It was funny as hell. The movie recent got back in the public eye, due to that director Quentin Tarantino quoting that he got some influence from this movie to help him make his masterpiece film, 2009's Inglourious Basterds. You can honestly, see the influences, as both movies have Americans going behind enemy lines, causing chaos like prison breaks, and trying to kill Hitler. There are also the same type of female German characters that helped the Americans get closer to Hitler, as in this film, it's Countess/ Dancer Greta (Fee 'Faye' Wall). What a dame! More dangerous than a pocketful of loose razor blades. The movie also influence Mel Brooks, whom got the idea for 1967's The Producers. The acting is mediocre. Ward Bond's pathos-laden delivery is laughable. The studio had to make due with Bruce Edwards who may look the part, but can't convincingly read dialogue. Bobby Watson, Hollywood's #1 Hitler. Between 1942 and 1962 Watson was cast a record ten times in the role of Best Fascist Dictator. Call about being typecast. Gees. He sounds like a cartoon, German stereotype. The professional good actors were either off fighting or unattainable due to budgetary limitations. The movie is bit dated even at the time. There was a pre-infamous Dachau scene; that was a bit haunting. It really shows that Americans really were that clueless on what was really happening in concentration camp around Europe. The quasi-comic tone of the film turns serious at the end, when a desperate Hitler got a weird irony death. I love that speech by the SS guard. "To think that Germany could produce a piece of filth like you". It made my day. The movie did had a bittersweet ending, but it was needed for the time. It still present a powerful war-time message. The movie had a low production budget, as there wasn't much action in this supposedly action pack film. Germany sure looks a lot like Southern California. Most of the sequences were taken from stock footage that didn't match well. The movie hasn't aged well. Since it's in the public domain, most DVDs that copy or transfer this footage had fuzzy or grainy condition. It's hard to find, a great copy of this. The audio is at less decent. You can also find this movie on Youtube or the Internet for free. Overall: Its hammer-over-the-head patriotism is indeed funny. It's a so bad, it's good type of a watch makes it appealing.