The heroic resistance of the occupied Norway attracted, for some reason, a fair amount of interest, in "The Commandos Strike At Dawn,"
"The Moon Is Down," and "Edge of Darkness."
Lewis Milestone, who has made the pacifist "All Quiet on the Western Front, is a key figure in crusading films about war..
His "Edge of Darkness" is a brave and interesting film ,and a touching tribute to Norwegian courage during the Nazi occupation...
The characterization is cleverly drawn: Errol Flynn, the fisherman who assumes command of the resistance in his small Norwegian village; Ann Sheridan, the willful and obstinate daughter of the respected physician Walter Huston who didn't want to know but is led inexorably to aid the resistance after his innocent daughter is brutally raped by a German soldier; Ruth Gordon, his shy retiring wife, as the neurotic mother who lives in dreams of the past; her greedy brother, the opportunistic businessman Charles Dingle who owns the cannery which employs most of the villagers, a traitor who "deals in facts... The future is with the New Order."
After the battle between the German garrison and the townspeople, when all his hopes and dreams are shattered, he wanders through the devastated village claiming it as his own: "It's mine, it's all mine", he cries with mad irrational eyes to a German patrol... Of course he is shot down...
Another characters in the movie: John Beal, the weak and traitorous son; an innkeeper (Judith Anderson) whose hatred of the enemy is intensified by their killing of her husband; and a courageous schoolmaster (Morris Carvosky), whose ivory tower is completely smashed...
The most interesting feature of the film is in its declination of social structure... The capitalist Dingle, is recognized by the brutal Nazis; the humble fisherman Flynn becomes the leader of the underground movement...
All the peacetime hierarchies are overturned: the lovely Ann Sheridan is capable to fall in love with Flynn, who, in peacetime, would have been untouchable..
Decision-making is no longer the exclusive right of the town elders, but of everybody... All the villagers must be involved... In the church they gather to decide whether or not to accept British guns and bullets... It is a matter for the villagers to decide by concord of opinion... They talk until they have agreed..
The film ends with the marching into the hills to continue their resistance... Walter Huston stumbles and falls... Flynn and his fiancée rush to help him up... He protests, "I can manage alone!" They persist, and as they hold him between them, Flynn says, "There is no need to walk alone."
"The Moon Is Down," and "Edge of Darkness."
Lewis Milestone, who has made the pacifist "All Quiet on the Western Front, is a key figure in crusading films about war..
His "Edge of Darkness" is a brave and interesting film ,and a touching tribute to Norwegian courage during the Nazi occupation...
The characterization is cleverly drawn: Errol Flynn, the fisherman who assumes command of the resistance in his small Norwegian village; Ann Sheridan, the willful and obstinate daughter of the respected physician Walter Huston who didn't want to know but is led inexorably to aid the resistance after his innocent daughter is brutally raped by a German soldier; Ruth Gordon, his shy retiring wife, as the neurotic mother who lives in dreams of the past; her greedy brother, the opportunistic businessman Charles Dingle who owns the cannery which employs most of the villagers, a traitor who "deals in facts... The future is with the New Order."
After the battle between the German garrison and the townspeople, when all his hopes and dreams are shattered, he wanders through the devastated village claiming it as his own: "It's mine, it's all mine", he cries with mad irrational eyes to a German patrol... Of course he is shot down...
Another characters in the movie: John Beal, the weak and traitorous son; an innkeeper (Judith Anderson) whose hatred of the enemy is intensified by their killing of her husband; and a courageous schoolmaster (Morris Carvosky), whose ivory tower is completely smashed...
The most interesting feature of the film is in its declination of social structure... The capitalist Dingle, is recognized by the brutal Nazis; the humble fisherman Flynn becomes the leader of the underground movement...
All the peacetime hierarchies are overturned: the lovely Ann Sheridan is capable to fall in love with Flynn, who, in peacetime, would have been untouchable..
Decision-making is no longer the exclusive right of the town elders, but of everybody... All the villagers must be involved... In the church they gather to decide whether or not to accept British guns and bullets... It is a matter for the villagers to decide by concord of opinion... They talk until they have agreed..
The film ends with the marching into the hills to continue their resistance... Walter Huston stumbles and falls... Flynn and his fiancée rush to help him up... He protests, "I can manage alone!" They persist, and as they hold him between them, Flynn says, "There is no need to walk alone."