****SPOILERS**** John Steinbeck's novel about a Norwegian town's resistance against its Nazi occupiers that ends up with it being blown to smatterings by the Norwegian freedom fighters to keep it out of the Nazis control. It's the town mayor Orden, Henry Travers, who's anything but heroic who in the end shows his fellow Norwegians how to stand up to their Nazi occupiers by going proudly to his death-by hanging-singing together his fellow townspeople the Norwegian national anthem. For a movie made in the US during WWII "The Moon is Down" doesn't show the Nazis or Germans as pure evil but with, I know this is hard to take, having human feeling even for those, the members of the Norwegian resistance, out to kill them and kick them out of the country.
There's the touching story of German Army Let. Tonder, Peter Van Eyck, who was in charge of the execution squad that gunned down Norwegian Alex Morden,William Post Jr., for cracking open German Capt. Bentick's, Hans Schumm, skull after he spat in his face. The home as well as love sick Let. Tonder fell in love with Morden's wife Molly,Dorris Bowdon, and tried to make it with her as her new boyfriend only to be tricked by Molly to have his back turned to her and get it, with a pair of scissors, in the spine. You couldn't help but feel sorry for Tonder in that his feelings for Molly were truly genuine and what he did in having her husband shot was the result which became a very popular defense during at Nurenburg and ever since among war criminal, except the top men,of just following orders .
****SPOILERS**** The explosive ending to the movie has the scheduled mass execution of the leaders of the village interrupted by an massive number of explosions that levels the entire town before the executions can be carried out. That has those including Mayor Orden who were about to be hanged get the last laugh in knowing that their sacrifices in standing up to Nazi aggression was not in vain. There's also in the film the low down rotten swine and traitor George Corell, E.J Ballintine, who's soon to get all that's coming to him, off camera, from his Nazi masters as well as the Norwegian people by him unwittingly encouraging the townspeople, by having them abused and shot, to stand up and fight back with a fighting fury they, in being peaceful and non violent, never up until then thought that they had in them.
There's the touching story of German Army Let. Tonder, Peter Van Eyck, who was in charge of the execution squad that gunned down Norwegian Alex Morden,William Post Jr., for cracking open German Capt. Bentick's, Hans Schumm, skull after he spat in his face. The home as well as love sick Let. Tonder fell in love with Morden's wife Molly,Dorris Bowdon, and tried to make it with her as her new boyfriend only to be tricked by Molly to have his back turned to her and get it, with a pair of scissors, in the spine. You couldn't help but feel sorry for Tonder in that his feelings for Molly were truly genuine and what he did in having her husband shot was the result which became a very popular defense during at Nurenburg and ever since among war criminal, except the top men,of just following orders .
****SPOILERS**** The explosive ending to the movie has the scheduled mass execution of the leaders of the village interrupted by an massive number of explosions that levels the entire town before the executions can be carried out. That has those including Mayor Orden who were about to be hanged get the last laugh in knowing that their sacrifices in standing up to Nazi aggression was not in vain. There's also in the film the low down rotten swine and traitor George Corell, E.J Ballintine, who's soon to get all that's coming to him, off camera, from his Nazi masters as well as the Norwegian people by him unwittingly encouraging the townspeople, by having them abused and shot, to stand up and fight back with a fighting fury they, in being peaceful and non violent, never up until then thought that they had in them.