Review – 49th Parallel

The setting alone makes this an odd piece of propaganda from the early days of World War Two. Usually when Canadians show up in these things at all it’s because a character needs to be a member of the British military but he’s being played by an actor from the United States who can’t manage an English accent. Here, however, the whole thing is set in Canada. The crew of a U-boat gets stranded on the east coast, and the evil Huns proceed to murder their way across the continent. Along the way they encounter the likes of Laurence Olivier, Leslie Howard, Glynis Johns, and Raymond Massey, all playing characters who in one way or another extol the virtues of democratic society in the face of the fascist menace from abroad. Howard’s part is especially bizarre. He plays a college professor living in the wilderness while working on some research. When he unknowingly invites the evil krauts into his tepee for a spot of tea, he shows off the paintings by Picasso and Matisse and the first edition Thomas Mann he’s brought along to preserve the comforts of home. Oh lucky Nazi swine! There’s a campfire right there in the middle of the tent. Most of the action and dialogue are similarly ham-handed. But overall this picture is strange enough to make it entertaining. Mildly amusing