This one is tough to watch -- as an earlier reviewer says. That is amazing considering the terrible films that came out right after WWII -- particularly the "liberation" of Dachau. It is clear that, as of the middle of the war, we knew exactly what was happening to the Jews. The sequence that shows a "transport" is vivid, almost as if based upon an actual newsreel (the Nazis liked to record their atrocities). Knox as the Nazi is brilliant. He charts the course of a Nazi career. That charting is particularly telling when contrasted with the reactions of other Germans, at first laughing at Hitler, then incredulous, and finally helpless. That contrast, however, permits us to believe in the "conversion" of one young Nazi officer to an anti-Nazi stance. That did happen, as witness the several attempts against Hitler, most notably the Staffenberg plot which occurred as this film was coming out. A strong film, effectively using flashbacks, accurately predicting the Nuremburg trails and others that would occur once the war ended.
21 Reviews
Great Classic Film
whpratt128 February 2007
Never viewed this film until recently on TCM and found this story concerning Poland and a small town which had to suffer with the Nazi occupation of the local towns just like many other European Cities for example: Norway. The First World War was over and people in this town were still suffering from their lost soldiers and the wounded which War always creates. Alexander Knox, ( Wilhelm Gimm)"Gorky Park" returns from the war with a lost leg and was the former school teacher in town. He was brought up a German and was not very happy with the Polish people and they in turn did not fully accept him either. As the Hitler party grew to power Wilhelm Grimm desired to become a Nazi in order to return and punish this small Polish town for their treatment towards him which was really all in his mind. Marsha Hunt,(Marja Pacierkowski),"Chloe's Prayer", played an outstanding role as a woman who lost her husband and was romantically involved with Whilhelm Gimm. There are many flashbacks and some very real truths about how the Nazi destroyed people's families and their entire lives. The cattle cars are shown in this picture with Jewish people heading to the Nazi gas chambers. If you have not seen this film, and like this subject matter, give it some of your time; this film is very down to earth for a 1944 film and a story you will not forget too quickly.
A Good Little Unknown Movie
brackenhe26 February 2007
The only reason I give this movie an 8 out of 10 is because there are few movies, in my opinion, that are perfect. This little B picture is a taut story, well told. I've always been intrigued by Alexander Knox, but have seen him very few movies. Here he plays Wilhelm Grimm, a sad little man who turns into a monster. He betrays everything and everybody without an ounce of remorse. The performance is one of the most chilling performances I've ever seen. Since World War 2, actors who played Nazis or other evil types in films have occasionally been nominated for Oscars. I imagine that since this was made during the war, the Academy felt like honoring a performance like this would have been like honoring evil. But Knox puts in that kind of performance--a man so bitter and consumed by guilt that he thinks nothing of making others suffer. I still can't get over it.
Marsha Hunt, who usually plays the filbert gibbet or social butterfly, is cast against type in probably the best performance I've ever seen her give, too. Maybe not Oscar worthy, but the best of her career. Nothing against her; I have enjoyed her in those "slight" roles she often played. But here she proves she up to the task of heavier drama.
If you like human drama stories, or stories about the fates of those who suffered at the hands of the Nazis, I highly recommend this fine little film.
Marsha Hunt, who usually plays the filbert gibbet or social butterfly, is cast against type in probably the best performance I've ever seen her give, too. Maybe not Oscar worthy, but the best of her career. Nothing against her; I have enjoyed her in those "slight" roles she often played. But here she proves she up to the task of heavier drama.
If you like human drama stories, or stories about the fates of those who suffered at the hands of the Nazis, I highly recommend this fine little film.
Judgment at Warsaw
dbdumonteil23 September 2014
Warning: Spoilers
A title borrowed from Bible (book of Jeremy).This is an unique movie among the propaganda movies which were made in those dark years :history-fi best describes its screenplay ,for it depicts events that are still to come,predating Nürnberg (and the movie which dealt with the trials).The ending is astounding ,as the judge leaves the verdict to all of us.
The screenplay is very intelligent since it follows a man's destiny since the end of WW1 and the doomed Traité De Versailles and explains WHY an embittered crippled man can turn into a Nazi.When the first world war is over ,Wilhem's (a sensational portrayal by Alexander Knox) fight has just begun:his fiancée Marja (a sensitive Marsha Hunt)feels it " so she walks out on me and makes me the town's laughingstock".
Admirable sequences : -The two women in the tall grass:Marja trying to learn what really happened to Anna.
-Karl at the ceremony :Wilhem,following Cain's and Joseph's brothers ' footsteps ,sends his own brother to a concentration camp,because he may endanger his career.
-Some may regret the romantic affair between Marja's daughter and Wilhem's nephew ,call it corny :but it gives the movie its apex: Willie ,walking down the Church aisles while throwing his Nazis emblems on the ground ,a scene you will always remember.
The screenplay is very intelligent since it follows a man's destiny since the end of WW1 and the doomed Traité De Versailles and explains WHY an embittered crippled man can turn into a Nazi.When the first world war is over ,Wilhem's (a sensational portrayal by Alexander Knox) fight has just begun:his fiancée Marja (a sensitive Marsha Hunt)feels it " so she walks out on me and makes me the town's laughingstock".
Admirable sequences : -The two women in the tall grass:Marja trying to learn what really happened to Anna.
-Karl at the ceremony :Wilhem,following Cain's and Joseph's brothers ' footsteps ,sends his own brother to a concentration camp,because he may endanger his career.
-Some may regret the romantic affair between Marja's daughter and Wilhem's nephew ,call it corny :but it gives the movie its apex: Willie ,walking down the Church aisles while throwing his Nazis emblems on the ground ,a scene you will always remember.
Projecting the future
bkoganbing1 October 2018
This is a neat little B picture where World War II has already been one and Nuremberg
like trials are taking place. One such trial is that of SS officer Alexander Knox
and is told in flashback by several witnesses to his barbarism and cruelty.
Knox was a soldier in World War I and was wounded in the trenches and lost a leg. Before the war he lived in German occupied Poland as a school teacher and was not loved. Now that Poland has been reconstituted a nation Knox is even more unwelcome. So he makes his way to the new Weimar Republic in Germany and lives in Munich where another WW1 veteran is organizing a new Nazi party that excites Knox.
Even in this country many things can push someone into those kind of extreme political beliefs. Knox's individual story is never lost against the background of the historical events taking place. Knox is fascinating portrait of studied and carefully nurtured cruelty. As he rises in the party when war is declared and over in a manner of weeks in 1939 against Poland he makes sure he's assigned to that old village.
One thing that was most assuredly not true. The film notes the friendship of Catholic priest Henry Travers and Rabbi Richard Hale. The film deserves praise for recognizing what would later become the holocaust. But in pre WW2 Poland ain't no way Travers and Hale would be any kind of friends. The film was written by Lester Cole of the Hollywood 10 and it got an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay. On that point Cole was truly fantasizing.
Others to note in the cast are Marsha Hunt as the village schoolteacher who was a teen back when Knox was the teacher, Richard Crane as Knox's nephew whom he tries to create a mirror image of himself, and Trevor Bardette the grown version of a kid who hated Knox when he was the schoolteacher.
Maybe without big name stars this film has managed better than most wartime films to still be relevant today. Very relevant when looking at today's current climate.
Knox was a soldier in World War I and was wounded in the trenches and lost a leg. Before the war he lived in German occupied Poland as a school teacher and was not loved. Now that Poland has been reconstituted a nation Knox is even more unwelcome. So he makes his way to the new Weimar Republic in Germany and lives in Munich where another WW1 veteran is organizing a new Nazi party that excites Knox.
Even in this country many things can push someone into those kind of extreme political beliefs. Knox's individual story is never lost against the background of the historical events taking place. Knox is fascinating portrait of studied and carefully nurtured cruelty. As he rises in the party when war is declared and over in a manner of weeks in 1939 against Poland he makes sure he's assigned to that old village.
One thing that was most assuredly not true. The film notes the friendship of Catholic priest Henry Travers and Rabbi Richard Hale. The film deserves praise for recognizing what would later become the holocaust. But in pre WW2 Poland ain't no way Travers and Hale would be any kind of friends. The film was written by Lester Cole of the Hollywood 10 and it got an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay. On that point Cole was truly fantasizing.
Others to note in the cast are Marsha Hunt as the village schoolteacher who was a teen back when Knox was the teacher, Richard Crane as Knox's nephew whom he tries to create a mirror image of himself, and Trevor Bardette the grown version of a kid who hated Knox when he was the schoolteacher.
Maybe without big name stars this film has managed better than most wartime films to still be relevant today. Very relevant when looking at today's current climate.
trial for war crimes
ksf-22 April 2020
None Shall Escape... a look back at stories from Germany during WW II, and those who need to by punished for their deeds during that time. Wilhelm Grimm is called to the stand, to defend his actions. Co-stars Henry Travers (Clarence, from Wonderful Life !) as Reverand Wareski, who is witness for the prosecution, from poland. but the real star of much of the action is the Wilhelm's nephew Will. under Wilhelm's teaching, he has become the perfect model german soldier. actor Erik Rolfe appears to have died young at 45, although the cause of death isn't explained anywhere. The film was made in 1944, so the war was still going on, which explains the over-the-top acting and extra strong patriotic commentary. it also shows that contrary to popular belief, they DID know as early as 1944 what was occurring to those people rounded up, or at least some of the atrocities. and even more interesting is that nazi soldiers would be held accountable in a trial. Directed by Andre DeToth. was nominated for Gunfighter, with Gregory Peck. it's pretty good. kind of serves as a how-to on putting those accused of war crimes on trial.
Better Than Judgment at Nuremburg - None Shall Escape
arthur_tafero22 January 2022
Judgment at Nuremburg was a very successful film of the early 1960s which brought the atrocities of the Nazis into clearer focus for millions. It won an Oscar for Maxmillan Schell, who did a very good job in the film. However, that film was executed with grand intellectual examination; a great deal of emotional dialogue, and a few illustrations of the hideous actions of the Third Reich. This film, None Shall Escape, is also fueled by a great performance by Alexander Knox as Grimm, but avoids the intellectualism of Judgment at Nuremburg. Instead, it focuses on the personal and visceral actions of those involved in the Polish occupation. Made some 20 years before the Schell film, and though a bit dated, it captures the visceral aspect of the inhumanity of the Nazis better than its successor. A highly underrated film.
The World Was Told but Did Not Want to Believe
LeonardKniffel1 January 2020
One can only wonder why this movie has been so little seen and given so little credit for its powerful message. This is the film Henry Travers (Clarence the angel in It's a Wonderful Life) should be remembered for; his portrayal of a Polish village priest is understated and unsentimental. Made in 1944, before World War II ended, it puts to rest the notion that the world did not comprehend the magnitude of Nazi evil. It's all here: Polish women forced into sexual slavery, Jews rounded up and murdered, young German men enamored with their cowardly power, the resistance, and the vain hope of ordinary people that such monstrous horror could never overtake a "civilized" world. The story is told in courtroom flashbacks comprising testimony during the trail of a Nazi officer, with convincing village scenes portraying life in the small town of Lidzbark, Poland, 70% of which was destroyed during the war. Made seventeen years before the release of the most widely recognized film about Nazi war crimes, "Judgment at Nuremburg," "None Shall Escape" is still difficult to find online, but it is one of the most astonishing screen achievements of World War II. Writers Alfred Neumann and Joseph Than were nominated for an Academy Award for Best Story ("Going My Way" won).
Flashback
kosmasp3 August 2013
Not only because this movie was made almost 70 years ago (at the time of writing/watching it the first time), but also because of the structure of the movie. It may feel a bit dated (no pun intended) and the effects certainly are, but the story is what counts and that is pretty strong indeed.
The acting is more than good, though you can see where it does lead to most of the time. So while there won't be too many surprises, hopefully the drama itself and maybe a bit of the back-story of this movie will entice you. Don't be appalled by the court aspect of the movie, because very little of it actually plays in it.
The acting is more than good, though you can see where it does lead to most of the time. So while there won't be too many surprises, hopefully the drama itself and maybe a bit of the back-story of this movie will entice you. Don't be appalled by the court aspect of the movie, because very little of it actually plays in it.
An amazing film that was ahead of its time
planktonrules3 March 2007
This was a wonderful little American propaganda film that is both highly creative AND openly discusses the Nazi atrocities before the entire extent of the death camps were revealed. While late 1944 and into 1945 would reveal just how evil and horrific they were, this film, unlike other Hollywood films to date, is the most brutally honest film of the era I have seen regarding Nazi atrocities.
The film begins in a courtroom in the future--after the war is over (the film was made in 1944--the war ended in May, 1945). In this fictitious world court, a Nazi leader is being tried for war crimes. Wilhelm Grimm is totally unrepentant and one by one witnesses are called who reveal Grimm's life since 1919 in a series of flashbacks. At first, it appears that the film is going to be sympathetic or explain how Grimm was pushed to join the Nazis. However, after a while, it becomes very apparent that Grimm is just a sadistic monster. These episodes are amazingly well done and definitely hold your interest and also make the film seem less like a piece of propaganda but a legitimate drama.
All in all, the film does a great job considering the film mostly stars second-tier actors. There are many compelling scenes and performances--especially the very prescient Jewish extermination scene towards the end that can't help but bring you close to tears. It was also interesting how around the same point in the film there were some super-creative scenes that use crosses in a way you might not notice at first. Overall, it's a must-see for history lovers and anyone who wants to see a good film.
FYI--This is not meant as a serious criticism of the film, but Hitler was referred to as "that paper hanger". This is a reference to the myth that Hitler had once made money putting up wallpaper. This is in fact NOT true--previously he'd been a "starving artist", homeless person and served well in the German army in WWI. A horrible person, yes, but never a paper hanger!
The film begins in a courtroom in the future--after the war is over (the film was made in 1944--the war ended in May, 1945). In this fictitious world court, a Nazi leader is being tried for war crimes. Wilhelm Grimm is totally unrepentant and one by one witnesses are called who reveal Grimm's life since 1919 in a series of flashbacks. At first, it appears that the film is going to be sympathetic or explain how Grimm was pushed to join the Nazis. However, after a while, it becomes very apparent that Grimm is just a sadistic monster. These episodes are amazingly well done and definitely hold your interest and also make the film seem less like a piece of propaganda but a legitimate drama.
All in all, the film does a great job considering the film mostly stars second-tier actors. There are many compelling scenes and performances--especially the very prescient Jewish extermination scene towards the end that can't help but bring you close to tears. It was also interesting how around the same point in the film there were some super-creative scenes that use crosses in a way you might not notice at first. Overall, it's a must-see for history lovers and anyone who wants to see a good film.
FYI--This is not meant as a serious criticism of the film, but Hitler was referred to as "that paper hanger". This is a reference to the myth that Hitler had once made money putting up wallpaper. This is in fact NOT true--previously he'd been a "starving artist", homeless person and served well in the German army in WWI. A horrible person, yes, but never a paper hanger!
Workmanlike
richard-17871 October 2018
This is not a great movie. You have only to compare it with another, later movie about the trial of Nazi war criminals, Judgement at Nuremberg (1961), which is a great if flawed movie, to see how far this one falls short of greatness.
That said, however, this movie is very workmanlike. There are no real surprises, but it moves along effectively and makes all the expected points. The war criminal here, Wilhelm Grimm, very well played by Alexander Knox, is an understated monster with no surprising complications. I suppose in 1944 there would have been no other way to depict him, but it makes his character predictable and not very interesting. Hannah Arendt's study of "the banality of evil" would later show that these monsters, though indeed true monsters, were often not monstrous in everything, which made their monstrosity harder to understand.
The final, short scene, in which the judges address the world after the war, might have made sense in 1944 before Germany had been defeated, but it seems very hokey now.
It's worth a watch, but it's not particularly memorable.
That said, however, this movie is very workmanlike. There are no real surprises, but it moves along effectively and makes all the expected points. The war criminal here, Wilhelm Grimm, very well played by Alexander Knox, is an understated monster with no surprising complications. I suppose in 1944 there would have been no other way to depict him, but it makes his character predictable and not very interesting. Hannah Arendt's study of "the banality of evil" would later show that these monsters, though indeed true monsters, were often not monstrous in everything, which made their monstrosity harder to understand.
The final, short scene, in which the judges address the world after the war, might have made sense in 1944 before Germany had been defeated, but it seems very hokey now.
It's worth a watch, but it's not particularly memorable.
Effective
AAdaSC9 February 2010
Warning: Spoilers
Wilhelm Grimm (Alexander Knox) stands trial for Nazi crimes. Three witnesses give evidence - Father Warecki (Henry Travers), Wilhelm's brother Karl (Erik Rolf) and Wilhelm's former lover Marja (Marsha Hunt) - before Wilhelm speaks in his own defense. The film ends after the court sums up....
The film is told in three flashback segments as each of the witnesses takes the stand. The story is mostly set in a small Polish village and memorable scenes include the village reaction to the death of Anna (Shirley Mills), who Wilhelm is accused of raping; the treatment of the Jewish villagers as they prepare to be moved to concentration camps; and the church service where Willie Grimm (Richard Crane) denounces his Nazi upbringing whilst mourning for his girlfriend Janina (Dorothy Morris), Marja's daughter, after she has been shot at a brothel.
Throughout the film, Knox is unrepentant and is very convincing as a bitter, resentful and evil man. Martha Hunt has some powerful moments and matches him with her strength and Henry Travers is also very good in his role as a priest. This film delivers an effective story that stays with you once it has finished.
The film is told in three flashback segments as each of the witnesses takes the stand. The story is mostly set in a small Polish village and memorable scenes include the village reaction to the death of Anna (Shirley Mills), who Wilhelm is accused of raping; the treatment of the Jewish villagers as they prepare to be moved to concentration camps; and the church service where Willie Grimm (Richard Crane) denounces his Nazi upbringing whilst mourning for his girlfriend Janina (Dorothy Morris), Marja's daughter, after she has been shot at a brothel.
Throughout the film, Knox is unrepentant and is very convincing as a bitter, resentful and evil man. Martha Hunt has some powerful moments and matches him with her strength and Henry Travers is also very good in his role as a priest. This film delivers an effective story that stays with you once it has finished.
It's hard to watch...
AlsExGal29 December 2023
...not because it is boring and tedious, but because it spends the last 40 minutes of its 90 minute run showing the raw cruelty of Nazi rule over one Polish village - the Jews sent on railroad cars to concentration camps without food or water, the old men forced to do hard labor until they collapse and are shot, the girls put into forced prostitution at the Nazi officers' club.
What does the first 50 minutes do? It shows the creation of a monster - Wilhelm Grimm (Alexander Knox), a German who was teaching in Poland before WWI, went to fight with his fellow Germans and lost a leg, and returned from war a bitter man. He already felt superior to the Poles before he was bitter. His fiancee (Marsha Hunt) decides she doesn't want to marry him because he has returned from war with hate in his heart, and he becomes even more angry because he thinks she has rejected him because of his lost leg and his poverty. He then commits an unspeakable act, escapes to Germany, discovers Nazism, and the rest is literally history.
The entire story is told in flashback at a war crimes trial. It was inspired by FDR's promise to try those responsible for the evil they did during the war.
What is remarkable about this film besides the acting and the noirish cinematography is that this was made a year before the war was over in Germany. In fact it was released four months before D Day so there was no detailed information about what had happened in Europe, not even information about the fate of the Jews. So the whole production ends up being so oddly prescient.
Alexander Knox is terrific as Wilhelm Grimm, the Nazi officer who returns to this small Polish town, where he taught school years before, as a ruler representing the Third Reich. Knox played many roles as a good guy and protagonist, but he always had that school marm way about him in his performances, and it works for him here. As Grimm he's never playing a good guy, but he does go from bitter to evil very convincingly. Marsha Hunt - She's a revelation here. I had only seen her performances at MGM where she got roles that were rather bland and attenuated. She really breaks out of that MGM box in this film. I'd highly recommend this B film from little Columbia that packs an A list punch.
What does the first 50 minutes do? It shows the creation of a monster - Wilhelm Grimm (Alexander Knox), a German who was teaching in Poland before WWI, went to fight with his fellow Germans and lost a leg, and returned from war a bitter man. He already felt superior to the Poles before he was bitter. His fiancee (Marsha Hunt) decides she doesn't want to marry him because he has returned from war with hate in his heart, and he becomes even more angry because he thinks she has rejected him because of his lost leg and his poverty. He then commits an unspeakable act, escapes to Germany, discovers Nazism, and the rest is literally history.
The entire story is told in flashback at a war crimes trial. It was inspired by FDR's promise to try those responsible for the evil they did during the war.
What is remarkable about this film besides the acting and the noirish cinematography is that this was made a year before the war was over in Germany. In fact it was released four months before D Day so there was no detailed information about what had happened in Europe, not even information about the fate of the Jews. So the whole production ends up being so oddly prescient.
Alexander Knox is terrific as Wilhelm Grimm, the Nazi officer who returns to this small Polish town, where he taught school years before, as a ruler representing the Third Reich. Knox played many roles as a good guy and protagonist, but he always had that school marm way about him in his performances, and it works for him here. As Grimm he's never playing a good guy, but he does go from bitter to evil very convincingly. Marsha Hunt - She's a revelation here. I had only seen her performances at MGM where she got roles that were rather bland and attenuated. She really breaks out of that MGM box in this film. I'd highly recommend this B film from little Columbia that packs an A list punch.
I love the way this movie covers a rage of characters.
whitewater-413251 October 2018
Not many movies of Wold War 2 covers how a person comes to join a Nazi Patry. What makes someone turn to such extremes. I Think this movie doesn't get enough credit for that . I'm not sympathizing with any type of Nazi but this movie gives a wide range of outlooks. I think it's an excellent teaching tool of what can happen to all people when they become angry and frustrated. I wish more movies would cover this topic. Most of us know about the Jewish persecutions . I think it's import to understand the mind of people who are seemingly loving and normal to turn to a party with such hatred. I think a lot of them were tricked and we need to know about this so it can never happen again !! Because right now it's happening in the USA and it's horrifying . It does not happen overnight and this movie does a great job of building up to that !
An astonishing film, not only for its time; as relevant today as ever.
friedlandea9 February 2019
Inevitably, when one sees this film a comparison with "Judgment at Nuremburg" made twenty years later comes to mind. The second war crimes trial movie, of course, was a grand production peopled with star actors. It makes a powerful impact. It is a great film. But I find the impact of this earlier gem even more profound, not just because it was made while the war was still ongoing and not just because it was the first Hollywood production to admit, and show on screen, the genocide of Jewish people. That, of course, is a powerful reason to see the film. At the moment of its release the United States president and military high command declined to bomb rail lines leading to Auschwitz, being afraid of bad publicity if planes were shot down and pilots lost. It is extraordinary that Rabbi David in the film (Richard Hale) not only exhorts his people to resist - as in the Warsaw ghetto - but he recites, before dying, the words of the Kaddish, in Hebrew. All that is astonishing enough. But the true genius of "None Shall Escape" and its difference from "Judgment at Nuremburg" lie in the motivations of the characters. They are far deeper and more human here. In "Judgment" the accused criminal (Burt Lancaster) is a decent man. He never signed on to evil. He just went along. Now he is repentant. He has "made his life excrement," he laments. Certainly that was the case for masses of people. That is an ancient dilemma; what is a good person to do when his society turns evil? Resist and risk death? Or go along and repress any twinges of conscience? Socrates himself, the great philosopher, faced the dilemma when his own students overthrew Athenian democracy and turned it into a bloody dictatorship. (Spoiler: he did a Burt Lancaster) It is a vital question even today. "None Shall Escape" addresses a more fundamental question. What makes a society, or an individual, turn evil?
The movie, needless to say, has no answer. There is no answer. But it suggests and it probes. We see the proto-Nazi in his larval stage. We see his metamorphosis, then his emergence as a fully-formed monster. He is, unlike Burt Lancaster's later version, entirely unrepentant - a far more plausible end. His metamorphosis is gradual and subtle. Many currents feed it: a need to belong - the alienation he feels as an outsider in the Polish community; a feeling of inadequacy - he sees himself as half a man since his war wound, for which he compensates by rape and brutality; a fragile ego which requires to be fed - he incarcerates his brother and kills his own nephew when he fears their acts will reflect badly upon him. He pretends to be strong, but he is weak. His last two crimes, prostituting Marja's daughter and shooting down his nephew, are imposed upon him by the whispered words of his subordinate (Kurt Kreuger). We come perilously close to sympathy for the monster. But in the end he is irredeemable.
All this Alexander Knox brilliantly but subtly allows to come through. It is a marvelous performance. Note how, in the second half of his characterization he indulges more and more in alcohol, as if he needs to steady himself to keep his life going. Marsha Hunt too gives us a luminous and subtle portrayal. She is the heroine, to be sure. But she is more than a stereotypical steadfast figure. Slowly but surely she becomes beaten down. At first she presents us a strong, determined woman. She can tell him abruptly that he has changed for the worse and leave him jilted and morose. By the end she presents us a lost look. The horror of her life has been too much to bear. I see an earlier comment expresses surprise that Marsha Hunt could play such a serious role. Certainly she could. She was (or should I say, she is, since he I still with us at age 101) a hugely gifted character actress. See the depth of her performances in "Smash-Up" and "Raw Deal."
Marsha Hunt and Lester Cole the screenwriter (and also Art Smith who has a small role) were destroyed a few years later by the blacklist. Ayn Rand and her cohort, the Motion Picture Alliance for American Ideas made sure that groupthink prevailed in American ideas. They condemned all sorts of supposed socialist thought. They condemned "The Best Years of Our Lives" for some mild criticism of businessmen (allusions which if you reach for a handful of popcorn you'll miss entirely). They condemned "A Song to Remember" (biopic on he life of Frederic Chopin) because he sacrifices himself for his country - instead of, as Ayn insisted, putting individual interest ahead of "collectivist" ideology. But Ayn and company missed this one. Lester Cole slipped one through. Gauleiter Grimm's brother (Erik Rolf) says in so many words that he is a Socialist. That is the sin for which he rots in a concentration camp. Lester could have written in any number of reasons to have the character persecuted (or blacklisted) without mentioning the s-word. But he used it, and it wasn't whited out. Yet another reason to applaud the courage of "None Shall Escape."
The movie, needless to say, has no answer. There is no answer. But it suggests and it probes. We see the proto-Nazi in his larval stage. We see his metamorphosis, then his emergence as a fully-formed monster. He is, unlike Burt Lancaster's later version, entirely unrepentant - a far more plausible end. His metamorphosis is gradual and subtle. Many currents feed it: a need to belong - the alienation he feels as an outsider in the Polish community; a feeling of inadequacy - he sees himself as half a man since his war wound, for which he compensates by rape and brutality; a fragile ego which requires to be fed - he incarcerates his brother and kills his own nephew when he fears their acts will reflect badly upon him. He pretends to be strong, but he is weak. His last two crimes, prostituting Marja's daughter and shooting down his nephew, are imposed upon him by the whispered words of his subordinate (Kurt Kreuger). We come perilously close to sympathy for the monster. But in the end he is irredeemable.
All this Alexander Knox brilliantly but subtly allows to come through. It is a marvelous performance. Note how, in the second half of his characterization he indulges more and more in alcohol, as if he needs to steady himself to keep his life going. Marsha Hunt too gives us a luminous and subtle portrayal. She is the heroine, to be sure. But she is more than a stereotypical steadfast figure. Slowly but surely she becomes beaten down. At first she presents us a strong, determined woman. She can tell him abruptly that he has changed for the worse and leave him jilted and morose. By the end she presents us a lost look. The horror of her life has been too much to bear. I see an earlier comment expresses surprise that Marsha Hunt could play such a serious role. Certainly she could. She was (or should I say, she is, since he I still with us at age 101) a hugely gifted character actress. See the depth of her performances in "Smash-Up" and "Raw Deal."
Marsha Hunt and Lester Cole the screenwriter (and also Art Smith who has a small role) were destroyed a few years later by the blacklist. Ayn Rand and her cohort, the Motion Picture Alliance for American Ideas made sure that groupthink prevailed in American ideas. They condemned all sorts of supposed socialist thought. They condemned "The Best Years of Our Lives" for some mild criticism of businessmen (allusions which if you reach for a handful of popcorn you'll miss entirely). They condemned "A Song to Remember" (biopic on he life of Frederic Chopin) because he sacrifices himself for his country - instead of, as Ayn insisted, putting individual interest ahead of "collectivist" ideology. But Ayn and company missed this one. Lester Cole slipped one through. Gauleiter Grimm's brother (Erik Rolf) says in so many words that he is a Socialist. That is the sin for which he rots in a concentration camp. Lester could have written in any number of reasons to have the character persecuted (or blacklisted) without mentioning the s-word. But he used it, and it wasn't whited out. Yet another reason to applaud the courage of "None Shall Escape."
German accents?
gkhege1 October 2018
Scathing Profile of a Nazi
evanston_dad8 July 2020
"None Shall Escape" is a scathing investigation into the pysche of a Nazi. It explores the circumstances and personality traits of someone for whom the Nazi ideology would be welcome in an effort to explain how otherwise "normal" people could find themselves swept along by such a horrific movement. The Nazi at the film's center, played by Alexander Knox, finds himself drawn to the movement out of unresolved feelings of vengeance, a sense that he needs to get back at those who, in his mind, wronged him in some way. Basically it's the story of someone who has felt bullied himself becoming the bully, but on a monstrous scale.
I admired this film for trying to address Nazi atrocities as they were happening. For all of the hordes of Hollywood films made during WWII, I can't think of a single other one that actually showed Nazis gunning down Jews, or showed them being herded onto train cars for transportation to extermination camps. This film is also weirdly prescient; the framing device of the film is a fictional war crimes trial that anticipated the actual Nuremberg trials that would occur after the end of the war.
Knox gives a sterling and frightening performance. The film makes of his character a believable and very human brand of evil, so it's not easy to simply dismiss him as a beastly aberration.
"None Shall Escape" received an Oscar nomination for Best Motion Picture Story in 1944.
Grade: A-
I admired this film for trying to address Nazi atrocities as they were happening. For all of the hordes of Hollywood films made during WWII, I can't think of a single other one that actually showed Nazis gunning down Jews, or showed them being herded onto train cars for transportation to extermination camps. This film is also weirdly prescient; the framing device of the film is a fictional war crimes trial that anticipated the actual Nuremberg trials that would occur after the end of the war.
Knox gives a sterling and frightening performance. The film makes of his character a believable and very human brand of evil, so it's not easy to simply dismiss him as a beastly aberration.
"None Shall Escape" received an Oscar nomination for Best Motion Picture Story in 1944.
Grade: A-
A school teacher's involvement with Nazism
clanciai22 July 2023
The film charts with initiated scrutiny the psychological career of a typical first world war disillusioned wreck of a soldier with a wooden leg his way out of his bitterness by remorseless hunger and desire for revenge and retaliation against all humanity, finding Nazism his way of getting his way to some sort of satisfaction, which turns him quite logically unfortunately into a perfect monster of inhumanity. Alexander Knox makes his character completely credible, his ideal of perfectionism gives him no option but to proceed consistently the whole way on the line to his final stand as an accused of crimes against humanity at a formal trial. His realisation of the role is wholly admirable, and equally admirable is Marsha Hunt as his former Polish fiancée who at an early stage has to refuse to know him any more. The realism is formidable and perfect, there are many memorable scenes, particularly all the circumstances about his brother Karl's family, whose son becomes like his own. Alexander Knox always delivered excellent performances, but this should be one of his best, - and mind you, this film was made several years before the end of the war.
Remarkable AND ahead of its time
slayerholmes9 July 2022
It's War Tribunal in Poland after WW2 - which means the film is staggeringly ahead itself to say the least: a Nazi officer is rightly getting a death penalty, through the testimony of his former lover (Marsha Hunt), priest (Henry Travers) and his own leftist brother (Erik Rolf)...
A superb film by all accounts, and my kindest regards to Mrs Hunt - still alive at 104.
A superb film by all accounts, and my kindest regards to Mrs Hunt - still alive at 104.
A film Hitler didn't take to the bunker
tomsview5 February 2022
Warning: Spoilers
This was a pretty good stab at what was going to happen to the Nazis - if they lost the war. However, as the film was made at the end of 1943 and not released until 1944 that was not necessarily a forgone conclusion.
Wilhelm Grimm (Alexander Knox) faces a war crimes trial after Germany has lost the war. The film doesn't suggest how that happened, but Grimm must answer for crimes we see in flashback as witnesses from his past give testimony.
Hitler is only mentioned a few times in the film and there is only one Heil Hitler salute. In a way Grimm represents Hitler, especially in his bitterness that Germany lost WW1 and the way he blames certain groups in Germany for the loss.
Through flashback we see him return to Lidzbark, now part of the newly established nation of Poland where he was a schoolteacher before the war.
Lidzbark seems idyllic. The Catholic priest and the Rabbi are friends and the people welcome Grimm back. The complexity of the population of pre-war Poland is hardly touched upon. Grimm comes to despise just about everyone anyway, even his fiancée, Marja played by Marsha Hunt, a beautiful actress, now aged 104.
He leaves the village after an incident involving a schoolgirl, which is hard to follow in the film because of the censorship of the day.
Through flashbacks we see Grimm embrace Nazi ideology to the point where he sends his own brother to a concentration camp. Finally he returns to Lidzbark as the SS administrator, a Reinhard Heydrich-like figure. Here he orders the deportation of the Jews, which turns into a massacre.
The film has powerful performances. "None Shall Escape" presented what was thought, and sometimes known, to be happening in Nazi occupied Europe. It joined similar films made during the war: "The Mortal Storm", "Hangman Also Die" and "Address Unknown". However these days some of them seem oddly like alternate reality.
Much of the dialogue in the film was hard to disguise as anything but speeches. Many of the filmmakers and the stars ended up blacklisted when WW2 morphed into the Cold War. Maybe some of the points of view acceptable in one era were enough to get you into trouble in another.
However it would be hard to argue that the portrayal of the Nazi regime in the film only scratched the surface of the true scale of the horror.
Wilhelm Grimm (Alexander Knox) faces a war crimes trial after Germany has lost the war. The film doesn't suggest how that happened, but Grimm must answer for crimes we see in flashback as witnesses from his past give testimony.
Hitler is only mentioned a few times in the film and there is only one Heil Hitler salute. In a way Grimm represents Hitler, especially in his bitterness that Germany lost WW1 and the way he blames certain groups in Germany for the loss.
Through flashback we see him return to Lidzbark, now part of the newly established nation of Poland where he was a schoolteacher before the war.
Lidzbark seems idyllic. The Catholic priest and the Rabbi are friends and the people welcome Grimm back. The complexity of the population of pre-war Poland is hardly touched upon. Grimm comes to despise just about everyone anyway, even his fiancée, Marja played by Marsha Hunt, a beautiful actress, now aged 104.
He leaves the village after an incident involving a schoolgirl, which is hard to follow in the film because of the censorship of the day.
Through flashbacks we see Grimm embrace Nazi ideology to the point where he sends his own brother to a concentration camp. Finally he returns to Lidzbark as the SS administrator, a Reinhard Heydrich-like figure. Here he orders the deportation of the Jews, which turns into a massacre.
The film has powerful performances. "None Shall Escape" presented what was thought, and sometimes known, to be happening in Nazi occupied Europe. It joined similar films made during the war: "The Mortal Storm", "Hangman Also Die" and "Address Unknown". However these days some of them seem oddly like alternate reality.
Much of the dialogue in the film was hard to disguise as anything but speeches. Many of the filmmakers and the stars ended up blacklisted when WW2 morphed into the Cold War. Maybe some of the points of view acceptable in one era were enough to get you into trouble in another.
However it would be hard to argue that the portrayal of the Nazi regime in the film only scratched the surface of the true scale of the horror.
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