Word: portmans
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...resisting the ever-present temptation to saturate a war story with a strong solution of the spectacular, Korda deserves great praise. The success of this film hinges upon its able, all-British cast of Eric Portman, Hugh Williams, Godfrey Tearle, and Googie Withers, as well as the fact that its authentic action shots lend to the entire plot a reality that is more interesting than Errol Flynn fighting a thousand Nazis single-handed...
...survivors of the crew of the U-37, a Nazi submarine sunk by air bombs in Canadian waters, run a marathon across Canada (Hudson Bay to Alberta). One (Eric Portman) goes the distance; the others are killed or captured along the way. The survivor becomes, prematurely, the darling of the Nazi radio ("one Nazi against 11,000,000 Canadians"); a lone Canadian Army private (Mr. Massey), fed up with guarding the Chippawa Canal, polishes the Nazi off in democratic fashion (fists) before he can reach the sanctuary of U.S. soil...
...wilderness is the thread on which the picture's propa ganda pearls are strung. Best of them is a notable performance by Anton Walbrook as head of a Hutterite sect, of Germanic origin, who practice a kind of Christian communism in Canada's vast wheatlands. To Lieut. Portman's guttural plea that the Hutterites join their Nazi brothers in the war for Nordic supremacy, the leader replies: "Most of us are Germans, but we are not your brothers...
...decadent democrat against "one armed superman," purring Leslie Howard, talkily proficient, bags a Nazi. French-Canadian Trapper Olivier is less fortunate -the Nazis kill him. Invaders' star, Nazi Portman, is so good that his performance almost destroys the film's propaganda value. He and his arrogant, tough, single-purposed band struggle so well against such long odds that they become sympathetic instead of repulsive. By contrast, their democratic conquerors seem soft and befuddled...
...Lord Weir, president of the Air Council. People, and Hon. Violet Blanche particularly, wanted to know why. She refused to accept any other government post until her name had been cleared. She comes of potent family: her brother is Lord Penrhyn and she is related to Viscounts Falmouth and Portman, Sir W. E. Cuthbert-Quilter and Dudley M'Garel-Hogg, Lord Magheramorne. There were editorials in the newspapers and an investigation by the House of Lords Select Committee. Nothing came of it except a brief statement from the Attorney General in the House of Commons...