Commandos Strike at Dawn
Directed by John Farrow
Written by Irwin Shaw from a story by C.S. Forester
1942/USA
Columbia Pictures Corporation
First viewing/Amazon Instant Video
[box] Erik Toresen: …I’ve lived a quiet life. The Germans have not lived quiet lives. We must learn from them how to become gangsters, thugs, useful with knife, dynamite, poison![/box]
I was not looking forward to watching a combat movie with Paul Muni. I was pleasantly surprised.
Eric Toreson (Muni) is a quiet, scholarly man who does some kind of fisheries research in his native Norwegian coastal village. He is a widower who lives with his mother (Lillian Gish) and is raising his small daughter. Lately, a British admiral (Sir Cedric Hardwicke) and his daughter Judith (Anna Lee) have been holidaying in the village. Eric has fallen in love with Judith. We see the peaceful village life and traditions of the people through a wedding that Eric and Judith attend.
The British return home before Erik works up the courage to ask Judith to marry him. Then the Nazis arrive. They say their only purpose is to free the Norwegians from the “British invador” but soon reveal their utter brutality. All but the local intellectual (Ray Collins) initially try to cooperate. Eventually, even Eric comes to believe that the only answer is to adopt the Nazi philosophy of “kill or be killed.”
When Eric is rightly suspected of killing the German colonel, he flees to England and tells them that the Germans are building an aerodrome near the village. He returns to guide British commandos to the spot.
This is so much more than a combat picture. Most of it is scenes of life under the Nazis in Norway. The fantastic cast brings the situation to life. This well made in every respect and reminded me more of the British war pictures of this year than of the American ones I have seen up until now.
Commandos Strike at Dawn was nominated for Best Music, Original Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture.
Trailer
