49th Parallel/The Invaders (1941) - Michael Powell 

The dynamic duo of Powell and Pressburger got off to a resounding start with this wartime film that would be very indicative of their early work. Both men were coming from their own worlds, Powell was steadily growing as one of Britain's best directors and Pressburger was known for his screenwriting. The two had previously worked together on The Spy in Black in 1939, but this was their triumphant start to a decade long run of classic film after classic film. Pressburger fled Nazi Germany where he worked as a screenwriter at UFA following Hitler's rise. This gave a first hand account of what supposedly real German citizens thought of Hitler. So this translated easily to a tale that constantly pits us against Germans. Rarely has a film shown a protagonist for its duration lose all of our sympathy. It is almost arbitrary to side with whoever is on screen the most, but here an all star parade of British stars get us to systematically despise these cruel would be conquerors. In one of the film's very deliberate moments the German's refuse to save shipwrecked Canadians and this is our first glimpse of them. Along the way they meet a French Canadian trapper, a community of German immigrants whose religion resembles Mormons, a reclusive artist, and an AWOL soldier. They all rebuff the attempts at conversion of these Germans and gradually thin out their ranks. It is hard to watch the film out of context. 

*The Invaders was nominated for best picture and best screenplay. It won for best original story.