THE BLACK PARACHUTE – 1944
This one is a low budget flag-waver put out by "Columbia Pictures". The film is set in an unnamed country somewhere In the Balkans.
The Germans have occupied the country and are holding the King, Jonathan Hale, captive. They want Hale to publicly support the Germans. The Germans believe this will cut down on partisan activity. The German General in charge is John Carradine.
At the same time as this is going on, American news reporter, Larry Parks, is in Switzerland. He is approached by several men from the country in question. It seems that Hale has been making radio broadcasts asking his people to obey the Nazi occupiers. The men would like Parks to take part in a mission to rescue Hale. They figure that Hale is only doing the radio bit under pressure.
It seems that Parks' mother is a niece of the King and Parks knows him well. Needless to say Parks agrees to help out. He is decked out in a black parachute and dropped outside the capital city.
The man is quickly gobbled up by the local guerrilla leader and his party. The group is not sure if Parks is on the level, or a German agent. They soon decide that he is indeed on their side and offer to help.
Later that night, the party ambushes a German patrol and wipes them out. Parks finds some interesting documents on a dead German officer. The documents say that the German's have been using an impostor to fake the King's voice on the radio.
Parks now has a flash on how to gain entry into the German headquarters where the King is held. He takes the uniform of the dead officer and will pretend to be him. He joins another German patrol out looking for the first one.
He is soon shown in to see Carradine etc. The switch works because no one in the capital knows the voice impostor by sight. Also in the mix here is pretty Osa Massen. Massen is a local countess who now collaborates with the Germans.
Anyways, Parks manages to get in to see the King and lets him know they plan on springing him. Of course the plan falls to pieces forcing Parks and company to make it up as they go along. Now the countess, Massen appears to switch sides again and offers to help Parks. Of course this would be too simple and she is really a stooge working for Carradine. There is a chase through the countryside and several brisk gun battles needed before Hale can be whisked to safety in a waiting aircraft. Once Hale is safe in Switzerland he hits the airwaves and tells the world of the nasty Nazi types.
This low budget fare is handled by veteran B- helmsman, Lew Landers. The prolific Landers cranked this kind of stuff out by the barrel. The year this film was made, Landers directed nine features. He worked in every genre, from horror, westerns, noir and war. When film work dried up, he switched to television and directed several hundred episodes in that medium.
This one is a low budget flag-waver put out by "Columbia Pictures". The film is set in an unnamed country somewhere In the Balkans.
The Germans have occupied the country and are holding the King, Jonathan Hale, captive. They want Hale to publicly support the Germans. The Germans believe this will cut down on partisan activity. The German General in charge is John Carradine.
At the same time as this is going on, American news reporter, Larry Parks, is in Switzerland. He is approached by several men from the country in question. It seems that Hale has been making radio broadcasts asking his people to obey the Nazi occupiers. The men would like Parks to take part in a mission to rescue Hale. They figure that Hale is only doing the radio bit under pressure.
It seems that Parks' mother is a niece of the King and Parks knows him well. Needless to say Parks agrees to help out. He is decked out in a black parachute and dropped outside the capital city.
The man is quickly gobbled up by the local guerrilla leader and his party. The group is not sure if Parks is on the level, or a German agent. They soon decide that he is indeed on their side and offer to help.
Later that night, the party ambushes a German patrol and wipes them out. Parks finds some interesting documents on a dead German officer. The documents say that the German's have been using an impostor to fake the King's voice on the radio.
Parks now has a flash on how to gain entry into the German headquarters where the King is held. He takes the uniform of the dead officer and will pretend to be him. He joins another German patrol out looking for the first one.
He is soon shown in to see Carradine etc. The switch works because no one in the capital knows the voice impostor by sight. Also in the mix here is pretty Osa Massen. Massen is a local countess who now collaborates with the Germans.
Anyways, Parks manages to get in to see the King and lets him know they plan on springing him. Of course the plan falls to pieces forcing Parks and company to make it up as they go along. Now the countess, Massen appears to switch sides again and offers to help Parks. Of course this would be too simple and she is really a stooge working for Carradine. There is a chase through the countryside and several brisk gun battles needed before Hale can be whisked to safety in a waiting aircraft. Once Hale is safe in Switzerland he hits the airwaves and tells the world of the nasty Nazi types.
This low budget fare is handled by veteran B- helmsman, Lew Landers. The prolific Landers cranked this kind of stuff out by the barrel. The year this film was made, Landers directed nine features. He worked in every genre, from horror, westerns, noir and war. When film work dried up, he switched to television and directed several hundred episodes in that medium.