Man Hunt (1941-Fritz Lang) has just been issued in a beautifully prepared, nearly pristine transfer to DVD of the movie. It includes a featurette on the making of the film, production stills and a commentary track by Patrick McGilligan, the author of the excellent biogaphy of the director, “Fritz Lang: The Nature of the Beast”. You can read a good assessment of this DVD here and a quick internet search will yield a variety of prices for this disc.

Thanks for your thoughtful tribute. Susan Freedman-Varbero

Mr. 666,
Thanks for mentioning the great “comic” performance of the addled Pidgeon in White Cargo, which I actually saw the night before completing this article. My jaw-dropping enjoyment of this piece of amusing claptrap, complete with Hedy Lamarr swathed in dark makeup and half-light that made her more mysterious and alluring—at least what I could see of her Tandelayo, thanks to the gifted Harry Stradling, Jr.’s fondness for extreme chiaroscuro in this flick! Don’t you think it’s odd that no one suggested sending for the stretcher bearers to take Walter’s sweat-soaked carcass back to the cool green fields of England?

Nasusnam,
If Winter Comes (l947) works best when it concentrates on Pidgeon’s characterization of this ordinary fellow discovering just what he’s capable of once his life starts to come undone as he attempts to help the very touching Janet Leigh, whose work with Pidgeon in The Red Danube was also quite good around the same time. I think that Walter Pidgeon was secure enough in his own skills to allow others to shine within his films, which is one of the reasons he may be best remembered in supporting roles and as a part of an ensemble—though I hope that the less well known movies mentioned here brought his good work as a lead to the attention of other Pidgeon watchers!

To the person commenting on the historical accuracy of Dark Command:
Since the movie clearly is fiction, the filmmakers have used the elements surrounding the historical reality of Quantrill’s Raiders to construct an interesting entertainment, not a Civil War history lesson. If you notice, I included a link within the article to a web page with information on the real story as well to try to guide readers to this factual background.

Thank you all for taking the time to write your comments, especially those of you who pointed out his good additional work in such films as the underrated The Rack and Advise and Consent as well as his best known movies such as Mrs. Miniver, and It’s a Date.