Main Cast: Michael Redgrave, Margaret Lockwood, Emlyn Williams, Nancy Price, Edward Rigby
Release Year: 1939
Country: UK
Run Time: 96 minutes
Plot
A. J. Cronin's novel was brought to the screen by director Carol Reed. The film is set in a northern England mining town (far more realistically depicted than the back-lot Welsh village in John Ford's How Green Was My Valley. The parents of Michael Redgrave have labored long and hard so that their son can escape his grimy environs and make something of himself. While away at school, Redgrave is trapped into marriage by Margaret Lockwood, previously the lady friend of ill-tempered Emlyn Williams (the actor was himself a product of the Welsh mining community). When Lockwood and Williams resume their romance, the disillusioned Redgrave returns home, where he becomes deeply involved in a labor dispute. He ultimately decides that it is best for all if he remains in the village of his birth, working tirelessly on behalf of his friends, relatives and neighbors. Denied the larger budgets indigenous to Hollywood films, Carol Reed invested a gritty documentary "feel" into The Stars Look Down; the film brought him international acclaim, serving as a stepping stone for even greater cinematic accomplishments. Curiously, Reed himself didn't subscribe to A. J. Cronin's opinions vis-a-vis the nationalization of the coal mines; he was simply attracted to the dramatic possibilities of the tale. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
The Stars Look Down is a prime example of the sort of working-class drama that generations of filmmakers have tried to tackle with often mixed results. Such films are often overburdened by their own seriousness, but The Stars Look Down holds up remarkably well. Like many films of this genre, it can be accused of romanticizing the people it portrays, and there are some scenes that descend into blatant soapbox preaching. But the film also possesses a sincerity that helps it to overcome these distracting episodes. There is not a false note in the scene where the striking miners riot in the shop of the butcher opposed to the strike. Nor is there when the mine inevitably floods, which leads to an extended -- and emotionally gripping -- finale. It is at these moments that you can forgive director Carol Reed and the writers for indulging in the predictable domestic misfortunes of Davey and Jenny. Their story feels like a commercial concession, and their scenes distract from the more dramatically compelling story of the miners and their fight for safe working conditions. Nancy Price and Edward Rigby stand out as Davey's parents, using their body language and facial movements as much as their dialogue. And the presence of Michael Redgrave and Margaret Lockwood, as Davey and Jenny, makes for interesting casting since just the year before, they were teamed as the bickering leads in Alfred Hitchcock's The Lady Vanishes. Their roles here are miles from that film and speak well of their diversity as actors. The Stars Look Down may not be fully successful in avoiding some of the clichés of the working-class drama, but it also continues to hold the power of its message. ~ Bob Mastrangelo, All Movie Guide
James A. Carter - Art Director, Hal Mason - First Assistant Director, Carol Reed - Director, Reginald Beck - Editor, Hans May - Composer (Music Score), Mutz Greenbaum - Cinematographer, Henry Harris - Cinematographer, Ernest Palmer - Cinematographer, Isadore G. Goldsmith - Producer, Maurice J. Wilson - Producer, J.B. Williams - Screenwriter, A.J. Cronin - Screenwriter, A.J. Cronin - Book Author
The Stars Look Down is a 1940 film based on A. J. Cronin's novel of the same title, initially published in 1935, which chronicles various injustices in a mining community in North East England. The film, co-scripted by Cronin and directed by Carol Reed, stars Michael Redgrave as Davey Fenwick and Margaret Lockwood as Jenny Sunley. The American release includes narration by Lionel Barrymore. It is a New York Times Critics' Pick and is listed in The New York Times Guide to the Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made.
There was a week of filming at St Helens Siddick Colliery at Workington in Cumberland, followed by seven weeks of shooting at London's Denham and Twickenham Studios, where an elaborate mine-head was simulated. Later the set was moved to Shepperton Studios for an additional week of shooting. The original set of the mine-head was used to make up a huge composite set of 40,000 square yards, the largest exterior set ever constructed for a British film at the time. The set consisted of an exact replica of the Workington mine where the location work had been done, including a pit-head complete with cage, ramp, outer buildings, and rows of miners' cottages. To ensure authenticity, pit ponies from the Cumberland mines were used and the miners' costumes were clothes purchased from colliery workers.
Bibliography
Vermilye, Jerry. The Great British Films. Citadel Press, 1978, pp 49–51. ISBN 080650661X
