Commandos Strike at Dawn

COMMANDOS STRIKE AT DAWN 1942 This one is a John Farrow directed flag-waver put out by Columbia Pictures in 1942. It deals with a group of Norwegian civilians who decide to fight back against the German occupiers. Headlining the cast is Paul Muni with support from Anna Lee, Lillian Gish, Cedric Hardwicke, Rod Cameron, Alexander Knox, Jean Louis Heydt, George Macready, Ray Collins and Robert Coote. Norway has fallen to the invading Nazis and a small fishing village on the coast has been occupied by a battalion of Germans. The German's are under the command of Art Margetson and Alexander Knox. The two are perfect Nazi swine who have no problem shooting civilians for the slightest reason. The locals soon grow tired of this, and decide to throw a monkey wrench into the German's operations. A bit of sabotage here, a train derailed there, a fuel dump destroyed etc soon has the Nazis angry as hornets. Hostages are taken and several locals are soon placed in front of that old standard, the firing squad. There is also a Quisling among the villagers. Jean Louis Heydt passes info to the German Captain, Knox. The swine is discovered and meets a watery grave as several of the townsfolk decide to sail to England. They are picked up by a British submarine and delivered to England. As it so happens, Muni knows an Admiral in the Royal Navy, Cedric Hardwicke. He tells Hardwicke about the German's building a secret airfield near the village. The Navy quickly lays on a Commando raid in order to destroy the base. Muni leads a shallow draft Navy ship to the site. The Commandos launch a swift assault catching the German types with their drawers down. After disposing of the airfield Nazis, the Commandos storm the village and knock off Knox and the rest of the Huns. The villagers are then loaded up on the ship and the whole group sets out back to England. Muni however buys the big one leading a charge on a German machine gun. The slam bang ending helps to make up for the rather slow pace of the early parts. Director John Farrow also helmed the wartime films, WAKE ISLAND and CHINA. His other work includes, FIVE CAME BACK, CALCUTTA, THE BIG CLOCK, NIGHT HAS 1000 EYES, ALIAS NICK BEAL, WHERE DANGER LIVES, JOHN PAUL JONES, HONDO, THE SEA CHASE and PLUNDER OF THE SUN. The d of p was 4 time Oscar nominated and 2 time winner, William Mellor. His film work includes, A PLACE IN THE SUN, GIANT, TOO LATE FOR TEARS, WESTWARD THE WOMEN, THE UNKNOWN MAN, MY FAVORITE BLONDE, THE NAKED SPUR and THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK. The screenplay was by Irwin Shaw based on a story from C.S. Forester. Forester of course wrote the H. Hornblower series of novels, as well as THE African QUEEN. Look close and you can see Lloyd Bridges in an unbilled bit as a German soldier. The production was made on Vancouver Island in the province of British Columbia, Canada. The inlets and such stood in quite well for the Norwegian fjords. On a personal note, I had an uncle who was a crewman on the armed merchant ship that was used in the film.

Reading the title, I'll bet you're waiting for a rip-roaring war picture, with fight scenes, explosions and guns blazing. But you would very mistaken, since this is a placid character study with a great deal of dialogue. There is a battle scene towards the end of the picture, but Director John Farrow was sorely in need of a competent second unit director. The battle has an artificial look to it and the explosions are small in scale. In one scene an allied soldier throws a Nazi to the ground, and plainly stabs the ground next to him, lending an amateurish quality to a heretofore passable film. The story itself is good and depicts the Nazi onslaught into Norway, in particular a small hamlet in a spot of strategic interest to the Nazis. The acting is top shelf, with Paul Muni, Anna Lee, Cedric Hardwicke and Robert Coote in prominent roles. There are a few instances of suspense and tension but none are sustained. It's a good movie - but not if you're looking for a conventional war picture. ****** 6 of 10

Poor Norway suffered from particularly phoney depiction after Hollywood joined the war effort; and although shot in British Columbia the sunshine still looks more like California. A young, dashing and tousle-haired Paul Muni adds a Norwegian to his gallery of foreigners, Alexander Knox is wasted in an under-written part, and twenty-five years after 'The Little American' Lillian Gish is cowering from modern Nazis rather than pickle-helmeted Huns.

Although another of the "common folk against Nazi invasion and occupation" films, this one is better than most. The acting on all levels ranges from good to superior. The plot is complete and dynamic, and the technical elements, like music and setting, are extremely good. Amazingly, the accomplishments of Norway's underground during World War Two are more dramatic than those portrayed in the film. In addition to sabotage, the underground was able to cross and recross the Swedish border, many times to save Nordic Jews. In this instance, reality exceeds the fictional world of the movie industry. This is a well written dramatic film, well worth seeing and preserving!

Hollywood sure made a slew of war films during World War Two, didn't they? Commandos Strike at Dawn falls into the niche of "Norwegian fishing village films", like Edge of Darkness, The North Star, and This Land Is Mine. I've seen all four, and this one isn't the best, even with its handsome leading man, Paul Muni. Paul plays a peaceful widower with a young daughter, who slowly gets drawn into the underground resistance after the Nazis occupy his village and kill his friends. I've never seen Paul in a film with young kids before, and with the amount of affection he placed on Ann Carter, I thought she might have been his real daughter! She wasn't, but he just wanted to show the audience what a devoted dad his character was. If you're going to watch one of these Norwegian fishing village movies, rent Edge of Darkness, even though it's upsetting. This movie is just too predictable, and it feels a little cheap.

That's what this Norwegian fishing village is told by the arriving Nazis within minutes after being informed it would be "life as normal". Nazi normal means giving up all of your extra blankets, not being allowed to sing your own national anthem and allowing the Nazis access to your place of residence any time they knock (if they knock). Practically the same story as Warner Brothers' slightly better "Edge of Darkness", this was made first, and is an entertaining resistance drama with a superb cast, some patriotic speeches and a rousing finale. What I noticed is that much of the dialog has the innocence of a child's prayer with many of the adults speaking as if they were pre-teens while the adults of "Edge of Darkness" were clearly more mature and less stereotypical provincial. Still, with Paul Muni as the leading head of the resistance, there are some gripping moments, particularly the scene where Muni discovers that one of the Norweigans plans to use a dog whistle to notify the Nazis of their intended escape to England. Then there is the tense moment where Muni and his daughter hide in the well of a Norwegian woman who has been informed by the Nazis that her own grandson will be executed if Muni isn't caught. The lovely Anna Lee plays a British noblewoman who is visiting the town in the opening scene for a wedding and encounters Muni when he makes it to England. To think that this lovely actress (around in British films since the 1930's) wouldn't become a superstar until she took on the long-role of the beautiful Lila Quartermain on "General Hospital" is hard to believe. Her on-screen charm is winning and her film career is certainly worth a further look at outside the overly friendly neighbor from "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane" and the cheery nun in "The Sound of Music". The silent screen legend Lillian Gish is wasted in a pointless role as the long-suffering wife of the independent thinking Ray Collins who is extremely moving in a scene where he is released from a Nazi prison. (Gish's role is basically the same as Ruth Gordon's devoted wife in "Edge of Darkness", with less screen time.) Sir Cedric Hardwicke, who would be leading the Nazis into Norway in 1943's "The Moon is Down", plays the British leader here who happens to be Lee's father. Here, the villain is Alexander Knox who would go onto be an American hero in title title role of "Wilson". My personal favorite moments are the book-burning sequence where one of the Norweigans tells the Nazi standing over the burning pages that he too has written a book and hopes that one day they'll burn that one (a real slap in the face to the Nazi standing there) and the giggling children who refuse to stop singing their National Anthem as the Nazis raise their flag.

During the war years, Hollywood made a bazillion war films. Compared to the rest, "Commandos Strike at Dawn" is better than average. However, what keeps it from being a great film is the dialog...which could have been better. What I mean by this is that the actors try to sound Norwegian...but come off much more like they are acting and putting on a broad accent instead of being believable Norwegians. My wife was shocked, as she'd always heard what a brilliant actor Paul Muni was...and she thought he and the other actors were awfully broad...and I would agree. The story itself is a very good in that unlike many war films, this one portrays the Germans as being vicious...but not cartoonish as many films portrayed the enemy. Tough, believable and a good story....and improved considerably by a rousing finale. It's very good....but is at its best when it's not trying to be too faux Norwegian.