5 films about Nazis from the 1940s

Man Hunt (1943)

"British hunter Thorndike vacationing in Bavaria has Hitler in his gun sight. He is captured, beaten, left for dead, and escapes back to London where he is hounded by German agents and aided by a young woman."

The first of four war films directed by Fritz Lang. Hitler in the sight of a scope!

Hangmen Also Die! (1943)

"After the Nazi administrator of Czechoslovakia is shot, his assassin tries to elude the Gestapo and struggles with his impulse to give himself up as hostages are executed."

Directed by Fritz Lang, based on the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich.



Ministry of Fear (1944)

"Stephen Neale has just been released from an asylum during World War 2 in England when he stumbles on a deadly Nazi spy plot by accident, and tries to stop it."

A quirky film noir directed by Fritz Lang involving a psychic, asylum and Nazis.



Rome, Open City (1945)

"During the Nazi occupation of Rome in 1944, the Resistance leader, Giorgio Manfredi, is chased by the Nazis as he seeks refuge and a way to escape."

An Italian film directed by Roberto Rossellini; considered a neorealism classic, it's quite different in style from the other Hollywood films on the list and the best.


The Stranger (1946)

"An investigator from the War Crimes Commission travels to Connecticut to find an infamous Nazi."

Directed by and starring Orson Welles, with Edward G. Robinson. Although not one of Welles' top films, it encompasses the very real fear of post-war Nazis hiding out in America.