49th Parallel - Trivia, Questions and Fun Facts

[bessie]

The British press complained about what it saw as the movie's sympathetic portrayal of Nazis. Screenwriter Emeric Pressburger's rebuttal was that there must be reasonable Germans, as well as ruthless ones. Producer and Director Michael Powell joined in by writing a letter to The Times, defending this movie's stance. At any rate, it didn't impede the movie's success. It was the biggest grossing movie in the U.K. in 1941, and the biggest grossing British movie to date in the U.S.

[nicholas]

The dedication states: "This film is dedicated to Canada, and to Canadians all over the Dominion who helped us to make it; to the Governments of the U.S.A., of the Dominion of Canada, and of the United Kingdom, who made it possible; and to the actors who believed in our story and came from all parts of the world to play in it."

[javier]

The book "The Film Business: History of the British Cinema 1896-1972" by Ernest Betts states that this movie "is one of the first large-scale attempts at fictional propaganda (by the British government during World War II). It was partly financed by the Government, and was given top priority and a prestige send-off by Vincent Massey, High Commissioner for Canada, where the film was made. No other project of the war was so boosted. Money, publicity and stars were unstintingly forthcoming, Sir Laurence Olivier, Eric Portman, Leslie Howard, Raymond Massey, Anton Walbrook, and Elisabeth Bergner. Of the film's budget of one hundred thirty thousand pounds sterling, forty thousand pounds sterling was supplied by the taxpayer. On-location, it soon ran into difficulties. Miss Bergner left the picture after a disagreement over the part she was playing. Efforts to persuade her to return were unsuccessful, and she was replaced by Glynis Johns."

[richard]

When releasing this movie for distribution in the U.S., Columbia Pictures changed the title to "The Invaders".

[ivan]

The submarine used in the opening scenes was a replica built in the Halifax shipyards. The Canadian government, although cooperative in the production, could not spare one of its own submarines, which were then patrolling waters in defense of its borders.

[melinda]

The depiction of U-37 in this movie is fictional. U-37 has no known sailings around Canada, or what was then still a Crown Colony, Newfoundland. The real U-37 was the sixth most successful boat of the war (U-48 having the highest score) and was eventually scuttled on May 8, 1945, at Sonderburg Bay in Denmark, despite the sinking depicted in this movie.

[bessie]

All of the opening travelogue was shot by Freddie Young with a handheld camera out the windows of planes, trains, and automobiles.

[richard]

The only Best Picture Oscar nominated film to be known by two different English language titles, '49th Parallel' and 'The Invaders'.