This lavish World War II propaganda piece is melodramatic I'm here from the very start which has an unseen, ranting Hitler pounding on a map of Norway and making commands in German. The film opens with a group of Norwegian use having a get-together and witnessing the parachuting of Nazi soldiers out of their planes, and the dramatic rival General Sir Cedric Hardwicke into their town. Their major source of income comes from Iron Mine that the Germans want access to in order to utilize the iron for their weapons of war. Mayor Henry Travers realizes immediately who betrayed them to the Nazis, and the guilty party simply claims that he was following his beliefs. But when beliefs result in the deaths of fellow countrymen, then. Quisling / Trader must be eradicated!
"Let them look to Norway", Franklin Delano Roosevelt said in a speech that ended the same years' "Edge of Darkness", which dealt with a coastal town in Norway taken over by Nazis. This is a very different film, having similar ideals but focusing on different types of events, so the two actually make good companion pieces together. From the very beginning, Hardwicke insists that they are not there as enemies, only in need of the iron and willing to keep peace as long as they are allowed to do what they need to do. But the Norwegians are not a people who are used to being told what to do by outsiders which results very quickly in systematic executions. Radios, gun weapons are removed from the homes, and this results in the Norwegian villagers to take courageous matters into their own hand.
This is a terrific Ensemble piece with no real lead actors, but Hardwicke, Travers and Margaret Wycherly as Traver's wife are among the top billed. It is lavish, well photographed and certainly patriotic for the message it was trying to display for audiences in America at the time. It's a nice follow-up for Travers who won acclaim the previous year creating a rose just for Greer Garson in "Mrs. Miniver". While they're certainly are many unpleasant moments showing the Nazi atrocities, there are quiet moments that show the reasons why the Norwegians values are freedom and will risk everything to fight for it. A German soldier in love with a Norwegian girl finds this out the hard way when she invites him into her room. The direction by Irving Pichel exists in fulfilling each of its goals, and this is exciting and riveting from start to finish.
"Let them look to Norway", Franklin Delano Roosevelt said in a speech that ended the same years' "Edge of Darkness", which dealt with a coastal town in Norway taken over by Nazis. This is a very different film, having similar ideals but focusing on different types of events, so the two actually make good companion pieces together. From the very beginning, Hardwicke insists that they are not there as enemies, only in need of the iron and willing to keep peace as long as they are allowed to do what they need to do. But the Norwegians are not a people who are used to being told what to do by outsiders which results very quickly in systematic executions. Radios, gun weapons are removed from the homes, and this results in the Norwegian villagers to take courageous matters into their own hand.
This is a terrific Ensemble piece with no real lead actors, but Hardwicke, Travers and Margaret Wycherly as Traver's wife are among the top billed. It is lavish, well photographed and certainly patriotic for the message it was trying to display for audiences in America at the time. It's a nice follow-up for Travers who won acclaim the previous year creating a rose just for Greer Garson in "Mrs. Miniver". While they're certainly are many unpleasant moments showing the Nazi atrocities, there are quiet moments that show the reasons why the Norwegians values are freedom and will risk everything to fight for it. A German soldier in love with a Norwegian girl finds this out the hard way when she invites him into her room. The direction by Irving Pichel exists in fulfilling each of its goals, and this is exciting and riveting from start to finish.