The Moon Is Down *** (1943, Cedric Hardwicke, Henry Travers, Lee J Cobb, Dorris Bowden, Margaret Wycherly) – Classic Movie Review 11,332

‘John Steinbeck’s story of your kind of courage…that freedom-loving spirit…which cannot be conquered by treachery or ruled by terror! Told in today’s greatest drama…brought unforgettably to the screen’.

Director Irving Pichel’s 1943 The Moon Is Down is a powerful World War Two wartime resistance film, set in Norway where the Nazis have invaded a small town.

Cedric Hardwicke stars as the German commander Colonel Lanser and Henry Travers plays the town’s mayor Orden – two men having to make the best of a tragic situation, with the townsfolk facing a choice between collaboration and sabotage armed resistance.

The Moon Is Down is a grim, but realistic and distinguished look at what happens during occupation, with a fluent screenplay by Nunnally Johnson, based on John Steinbeck’s novel.

Also in the cast are Lee J Cobb, Dorris Bowden, Margaret Wycherly, Peter van Eyck, John Banner, William Post Jr, Henry Rowland, E J Ballantine, Hans Schumm, and Ernst Deutsch.

The Moon Is Down is directed by Irving Pichel, runs 90 minutes is made and released by 20th Century Fox, is written by Nunnally Johnson, is shot in black and white by Arthur Miller, is produced by Nunnally Johnson and scored by Alfred Newman.

© Derek Winnert 2021 Classic Movie Review 11,332

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