49th Parallel

A stranded U-boat crew navigate a hostile Canada in this propaganda odyssey starring Laurence Olivier.

This deft propaganda film, in which a stranded U-boat crew endure a perilous Canadian odyssey en route to the neutral USA, was Pressburger’s attempt to outshine Goebbels. While Powell rhapsodises over the Canadian wilderness, Pressburger’s fierce, humane script takes a scalpel to Nazi ideology. By way of thanks, because he was classified an ‘enemy alien’, Emeric was not allowed to go to Canada.