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Best movie of this year hands down!

Fresh and Exciting

A Masterpiece!

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

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

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.

It is easy to overlook COMMANDOS STRIKE AT DOWN as just one out of many, many other propaganda-films against Nazism made in Hollywood during the war. In fact, this seems to be pretty much what has happened, because despite starring Paul Muni, the for his time unusually versatile and complex actor, and co-starring the legend of the silent screen Lillian Gish (I wish she was given more screen time!), this film rarely gets any mention at all, even in discussion of the aforementioned performers. Yet, among the films of this kind I have seen, this one is, despite some obvious short-comings, by far one of the most exciting, touching and enjoyable.The film covers the story of a few Norwegian people deciding to actively fight against the occupation, Eric Toresen (Muni) being among them. As is to be expected, Muni is the strongest aspect of the film, as he is always able to make the best out of what he's got to deal with; unlike many of his contemporaries, Muni never leaned towards a particular screen image, choosing instead to examine his character for each situation he had to encounter. He never expresses the different emotions that erupt from his character through one particular viewpoint; anger and joy is evoked to various degrees, always depending on the circumstances. The result is that, although there's never any doubt about our sympathy towards Ericson as an honest, good-natured man, he comes across as being quite complex at the same time. In a propaganda-film of this kind, it could be expected, perhaps even accepted, that the definite hero of the film gets sugarcoated throughout, but I never felt that way about Ericson which should say a lot about Muni's talent as an actor.The ability to show various aspects of conditions in this film is not solely thanks to Muni, however. There is one fact which Norwegians are not fond of talking about, but which I, being a Norwegian myself, think would be pointless to avoid mentioning here; during World War II, most Norwegians never dared to speak up against a Nazi. Hitler had given special orders to treat Norway nicely as long as the people didn't protest, and for the most part my country responded to this by not protesting at all. There were only a few like Ericson who eloped to England in order to fight the war from there. In a film like this one, one could expect such aspects of the story to be overlooked, but to my amazement it did occur at least once that even an anti-Nazi suggested to give up the fight, and enjoy the "good things" he expected to get under an occupation.Also as mere entertainment, COMMANDOS is pretty good; California landscape makes pretty well up for the absence of accurate "Norwegian fjords," and there are quite a few touching scenes, especially the one involving Ericson hiding from Nazis in a well with his daughter. There are some instances of overly theatrical dialogue, which doesn't come as a surprise considering how quickly these films were made. All in all, however, COMMANDOS STRIKE AT DAWN holds up well, both as a reminder and as entertainment.A final note -- it was an absurd experience to me hearing the Norwegian national song being sung in American!

With the action coming in the last 20 minutes this isn't just a film about commandos. It is also a film about the Norwegians and how they, without commandos or training, but rather through gumption and nous, became a thorn in the side of the German occupation.The simple plot of how a mild mannered Norwegian becomes a patriot is well told and they are many nice touches showing the Norwegian life at the time.All in all a good war film, and one that while typical of the period has a heart and spirit about it that make it good viewing.If it comes around and you like WWII films then catch it, it's well worth the time.