The Moon Is Down (film)
The Moon Is Down | |
---|---|
Directed by | Irving Pichel |
Written by | Nunnally Johnson |
Based on | the novel The Moon Is Down by John Steinbeck |
Produced by | Nunnally Johnson |
Starring | Cedric Hardwicke Henry Travers |
Cinematography | Arthur Miller |
Edited by | Louis Loeffler |
Music by | Alfred Newman |
Production company | |
Distributed by | 20th Century-Fox |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 90 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $1.7 million[1] |
Box office | $1.2 million (US rentals)[2] |
The Moon Is Down is a 1943 American war film starring Cedric Hardwicke and Henry Travers and directed by Irving Pichel. It is based on the 1942 novel of the same name by John Steinbeck.
Plot[edit]
During World War II, German soldiers occupy a small Norwegian town.
Cast[edit]
- Sir Cedric Hardwicke as Col. Lanser
- Henry Travers as Mayor Orden
- Lee J. Cobb as Dr. Albert Winter
- Dorris Bowdon as Molly Morden
- Margaret Wycherly as Sarah Orden
- Peter van Eyck as Lt. Tonder
- William Post, Jr. as Alex Morden
- Henry Rowland as Capt. Loft
- E. J. Ballantine as George Corell
- Hans Schumm as Capt. Bentick
- Frederic Brunn as German Soldier (as Frederick Brunn)
- Ernst Deutsch as Maj. Hunter (as Ernest Dorian)
- Ludwig Donath as Hitler's Voice (as Louis Donath)
- John Banner as Lt. Prackle (uncredited)
- Jeff Corey as Albert (uncredited)
- Ludwig Hardt as Elderly Man (uncredited)
Production[edit]
The set of How Green Was My Valley was reused for this film.[3]
Reception[edit]
Bosley Crowther, the film reviewer for The New York Times, gave The Moon Is Down a mixed verdict. He lauded screenwriter Nunnally Johnson for creating a "clear and incisive screen version" of the book, resulting in "a picture which is the finest on captured Norway yet and a powerful expression of faith in the enduring qualities of a people whose hearts are strong." He also praised "Irving Pichel's superlative direction and a generally excellent cast". However, Crowther also observed that "the intellectual nature of this picture—its very clear and dispassionate reasoning—drain it of much of the emotion that one expects in such a story at this time."[3]
References[edit]
- ^ "Top Coin Pix Minus Stars". Variety. March 1943. p. 3.
- ^ "Top Grossers of the Season", Variety, 5 January 1944 p 54
- ^ a b Bosley Crowther (March 27, 1943). "'The Moon Is Down,' the Film Version of Steinbeck's Novel and Play, Starring Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Opens at Rivoli". The New York Times.
External links[edit]
- The Moon Is Down at IMDb
- The Moon Is Down at the American Film Institute Catalog
- The Moon Is Down at the TCM Movie Database
- The Moon Is Down at AllMovie
- 1943 films
- 1940s American films
- 1940s English-language films
- 1943 war films
- 20th Century Fox films
- American black-and-white films
- American World War II propaganda films
- Films about Norwegian resistance movement
- Films based on American novels
- Films based on works by John Steinbeck
- Films directed by Irving Pichel
- Films produced by Nunnally Johnson
- Films scored by Alfred Newman
- Films set in Norway
- Films with screenplays by Nunnally Johnson
- World War II films made in wartime
- World War II film stubs