None Shall Escape
Encyclopedia
None Shall Escape is a 1944
war film
. Even though the film was made during World War II
, the setting is a post-war Nuremberg
-style war crimes trial. Alexander Knox
plays a Nazi officer who is on trial, and the story unfolds through the eyes of several witnesses, including a Catholic priest, Father Warecki (Henry Travers
), Grimm's brother Karl (Erik Rolf), and Marja Paeierkowski (Marsha Hunt
), a woman that he was once engaged to.
Alfred Neumann
and Joseph Than were nominated for an Academy Award for Best Story
.
and lost a leg in battle, returns after the war to the small German village (now in newly-independent Poland) where he had been a teacher. Despite the recent hostilities, he is welcomed back into the community and resumes his teaching. He also resumes his relationship with Paeierkowski, a local Polish girl to whom he had become engaged before the war.
He is bitter about Germany losing the war and it is obvious he has been changed by the experience. He treats the villagers with disdain, and his upcoming marriage is cancelled. Taunted by the school's pupils, he rapes one of them, who subsequently kills herself. After a trial fails to convict him, he returns to Germany after borrowing money from the priest, joins the Nazi Party, and rises through the ranks of the party.
When the Nazis come to power, he even sends his brother Karl to a concentration camp and gets his brother's son into the Hitler Youth
. When World War II
starts, Grimm becomes the commander of the occupying force of the same village where he had previously lived. He treats the villagers brutally, including Father Ezekiel and his former fiancée. His nephew eventually turns against Grimm's brutality and renounces his Nazi allegiance, with tragic results.
1944 in film
The year 1944 in film involved some significant events, including the wholesome, award-winning Going My Way plus popular murder mysteries such as Double Indemnity, Gaslight and Laura.-Events:*July 20 - Since You Went Away is released....
war film
War film
War films are a film genre concerned with warfare, usually about naval, air or land battles, sometimes focusing instead on prisoners of war, covert operations, military training or other related subjects. At times war films focus on daily military or civilian life in wartime without depicting battles...
. Even though the film was made during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the setting is a post-war Nuremberg
Nuremberg Trials
The Nuremberg Trials were a series of military tribunals, held by the victorious Allied forces of World War II, most notable for the prosecution of prominent members of the political, military, and economic leadership of the defeated Nazi Germany....
-style war crimes trial. Alexander Knox
Alexander Knox
Alexander Knox was a Canadian actor and author of adventure novels set in the Great Lakes area during the 19th century.-Biography:...
plays a Nazi officer who is on trial, and the story unfolds through the eyes of several witnesses, including a Catholic priest, Father Warecki (Henry Travers
Henry Travers
Henry Travers was an English actor. His most memorable role was that of the angel, Clarence, in the 1946 motion picture It's A Wonderful Life.-Early life:...
), Grimm's brother Karl (Erik Rolf), and Marja Paeierkowski (Marsha Hunt
Marsha Hunt (actress)
Marsha Hunt is an American film, theater, and television actress who was blacklisted by Hollywood movie studio executives in the 1950s.-Career:...
), a woman that he was once engaged to.
Alfred Neumann
Alfred Neumann (writer)
Alfred Neumann was a German writer of novels, stories, poems, plays, and films, as well as a translator into German. He was a recipient of the Kleist Prize in 1926 and his writings were banned during the Third Reich. He became a US citizen after moving to Los Angeles in 1941 where he stayed until...
and Joseph Than were nominated for an Academy Award for Best Story
Academy Award for Best Story
The Academy Award for Best Story was an Academy Award given from the beginning of the Academy Awards until 1957, when it was eliminated in favor of the Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay, which had been introduced in 1940.-1920s:...
.
Plot
In the trial, it is revealed that Grimm (Alexander Knox), who fought for Germany in World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and lost a leg in battle, returns after the war to the small German village (now in newly-independent Poland) where he had been a teacher. Despite the recent hostilities, he is welcomed back into the community and resumes his teaching. He also resumes his relationship with Paeierkowski, a local Polish girl to whom he had become engaged before the war.
He is bitter about Germany losing the war and it is obvious he has been changed by the experience. He treats the villagers with disdain, and his upcoming marriage is cancelled. Taunted by the school's pupils, he rapes one of them, who subsequently kills herself. After a trial fails to convict him, he returns to Germany after borrowing money from the priest, joins the Nazi Party, and rises through the ranks of the party.
When the Nazis come to power, he even sends his brother Karl to a concentration camp and gets his brother's son into the Hitler Youth
Hitler Youth
The Hitler Youth was a paramilitary organization of the Nazi Party. It existed from 1922 to 1945. The HJ was the second oldest paramilitary Nazi group, founded one year after its adult counterpart, the Sturmabteilung...
. When World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
starts, Grimm becomes the commander of the occupying force of the same village where he had previously lived. He treats the villagers brutally, including Father Ezekiel and his former fiancée. His nephew eventually turns against Grimm's brutality and renounces his Nazi allegiance, with tragic results.