''The Stars Look Down'' is a British film from 1940, based on

A. J. Cronin Archibald Joseph Cronin (19 July 1896 – 6 January 1981), known as A. J. Cronin, was a Scottish physician and novelist. His best-known novel is ''The Citadel'' (1937), about a Scottish doctor who serves in a Welsh mining village before achievi ...

's 1935 novel of the same title, about injustices in a mining town in North East England. The film, co-scripted by Cronin and directed by

Carol Reed Sir Carol Reed (30 December 1906 – 25 April 1976) was an English film director and producer, best known for ''Odd Man Out'' (1947), '' The Fallen Idol'' (1948), ''The Third Man'' (1949), and '' Oliver!'' (1968), for which he was awarded the ...

, stars

Michael Redgrave Sir Michael Scudamore Redgrave CBE (20 March 1908 – 21 March 1985) was an English stage and film actor, director, manager and author. He received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in ''Mourning Becomes Elec ...

as Davey Fenwick and

Margaret Lockwood Margaret Mary Day Lockwood, Order of the British Empire, CBE (15 September 1916 – 15 July 1990), was an English actress. One of Britain's most popular film stars of the 1930s and 1940s, her film appearances included ''The Lady Vanishes (1938 ...

as Jenny Sunley. The film is a ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' Critics' Pick and is listed in ''The New York Times Guide to the Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made''.

Plot

Coal miners, led by Robert "Bob" Fenwick, go on strike, refusing to work in a particular section of the mine due to the great danger of flooding, despite their own union supporting Neptune Colliery's owner, Richard Barras. Tensions rise as the strikers go hungry. Finally, some of them break into a butcher's shop and loot it. Bob Fenwick tries to stop it, but ends up being arrested himself. The miners give in and go back to work. Bob's son "Davey" wins a scholarship and moves away to attend school. While studying, Davey runs into an old friend, Joe Gowlan, now a bookmaker and philanderer. They go to a restaurant together with one of Gowlan's girlfriends, Jenny Sunley, the daughter of Gowlan's landlady. She tries to make Gowlan jealous by pretending to be smitten with Davey, but he is not taken in. He obtains a much better job from Stanley Millington through the influence of Millington's wife Laura. In the process he desserts Jenny who easily courts Davey, getting him to abandon his university career for a teaching job. Jenny is dissatisfied with her life as homemaker on Davey’s low wages and is profligate. Davey has unconventional modern teaching methods which are not appreciated by his seniors and he is sacked. While tutoring Barras’s son he finds Gowlan making a secret deal with Barras to mine in the dangerous section of the pit. Outraged he tries to persuade the Trade Union to call a strike, but his motives are questioned after it becomes known that Gowlan has renewed acquaintance with Jenny. The new contract proceeds and disaster strikes at the mine.

Cast

as David "Davey" Fenwick *

as Jenny Sunley *

Emlyn Williams George Emlyn Williams, CBE (26 November 1905 – 25 September 1987) was a Welsh writer, dramatist and actor. Early life Williams was born into a Welsh-speaking, working class family at 1 Jones Terrace, Pen-y-ffordd, Ffynnongroyw, Flints ...

as Joe Gowlan *

Nancy Price Nancy Price, CBE (3 February 1880 – 31 March 1970), was an English actress on stage and screen, author and theatre director. Her acting career began in a repertory theatre company before progressing to the London stage, silent films, talkies and ...

as Martha Fenwick *

Allan Jeayes Allan John Jeayes (19 January 1885 – 20 September 1963) was an English stage and film actor. Jeayes was born in Barnet, Hertfordshire, the son of Isaac Herbert Jeayes, archivist and Assistant Keeper of Manuscripts at the British Museum. ...

as Richard Barras *

Edward Rigby Edward Coke MC (5 February 1879 – 5 April 1951), known professionally as Edward Rigby, was a British character actor. Early life Rigby was born at Ashford, Kent, England, the second son of Dr William Harriott Coke and his wife, Mary Elizabe ...

as Robert "Bob" Fenwick *

Linden Travers Florence Lindon-Travers, known professionally as Linden Travers (27 May 1913 – 23 October 2001Ronald Bergan ), was a British actress. Life and career Travers was born in Houghton-le-Spring, County Durham, the daughter of Florence (née ...

as Mrs. Laura Millington * Cecil Parker as Stanley Millington *

Milton Rosmer Milton Rosmer (4 November 1881 – 7 December 1971) was a British actor, film director and screenwriter. He made his screen debut in '' The Mystery of a Hansom Cab'' (1915) and continued to act in theatre, film and television until 1956. I ...

as Harry Nugent, MP *

George Carney George Carney (21 November 1887 – 9 December 1947) was a British comedian and film actor. Born in Bristol, he worked in the Liverpool Cotton Exchange, in a furniture business, then in the Belfast shipyards. In 1906 he made his debut stage ...

as Slogger Gowlan *

Ivor Barnard Ivor Barnard (13 June 1887 – 30 June 1953) was an English stage, radio and film actor. He was an original member of the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, where he was a notable Shylock and Caliban. He was the original Water Rat in the first L ...

as Wept *

Olga Lindo Olga Lindo (13 July 1899 – 7 May 1968) was an English actress. She was the daughter of Frank Lindo, a well-known actor, manager and author. She made her stage debut at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane on 26 December 1913. She later joined her ...

as Mrs. Sunley *

Desmond Tester Sydney Desmond Tester (17 February 1919 – 31 December 2002) was an English film and television actor, host and executive. He was born in London, England, and started his career as child actor, among his most notable roles, was that of the ill ...

as Hughie Fenwick *

David Markham David Markham (3 April 1913 – 15 December 1983) was an English stage and film actor for over forty years. Markham was born Peter Basil Harrison in Wick, Worcestershire and died in Hartfield, East Sussex. In 1937 he married Olive Dehn (19 ...

as Arthur Barras *

Aubrey Mallalieu Aubrey Mallalieu (8 June 1873 – 28 May 1948) was an English actor with a prolific career in supporting roles in films in the 1930s and 1940s. Mallalieu began life as George William Mallalieu, the son of William Mallalieu (c. 1845–1927), a ...

as Hudspeth *

Kynaston Reeves Philip Arthur Reeves (29 May 18935 December 1971), known professionally as Kynaston Reeves, was an English character actor who appeared in numerous films and many television plays and series. Early life Reeves was born in London on 29 May 1893 ...

as Strother * Clive Baxter as Pat Reedy *

James Harcourt James Harcourt (20 April 187318 February 1951) was an English character actor. Harcourt was born in Headingley, Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire. He started work as a cabinet maker, and drifted into amateur dramatics. He appeared as a stage act ...

as Will *

Frederick Burtwell Augustus Frederick Burtwell (23 December 1894 – 16 November 1948) was an English actor, on stage from 1914, who featured in supporting roles in over 40 British films of the 1930s and 1940s. Partial filmography * ''Other People's Sins'' ( ...

as Union Official * Dorothy Hamilton as Mrs. Reedy * Frank Atkinson as Miner * David Horne as Mr. Wilkins *

Edmund Willard Edmund Willard (19 December 1884 – 6 October 1956) was a British actor of the 1930s and 1940s. Born in Brighton, Sussex in 1884, the nephew of Victorian era actor Edward Smith Willard, in 1920 Willard appeared in the plays of William Shak ...

as Mr. Ramage * Ben Williams as Harry Brace * Scott Harrold as Schoolmaster Strother (as Scott Harold)

Production

A week of filming was undertaken at

Great Clifton Great Clifton is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Allerdale in the English county of Cumbria. In the 2001 census, it has a population of 1,101, increasing slightly to 1,114 at the 2011 Census. Location Workington is west of the v ...

, and at St Helens Colliery,

Siddick Siddick is a village in Cumbria, England, historically part of Cumberland. It is situated on the A596 road, approximately north from the town of Workington. It lies within Workington civil parish. As a coastal settlement on the Solway Firth (w ...

, in

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is a historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. From 19 ...

, followed by seven weeks of shooting at Denham and

Twickenham Studios Twickenham Studios (formerly known as Twickenham Film Studios) is a film studio in St Margarets, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, that is used by various motion picture and television companies. It was established in 1913 by Ralph ...

in London, where an elaborate pithead was simulated. There is also a shot at Derwent Crossings, looking towards Mossbay pig-iron works in

Workington Workington is a coastal town and civil parish at the mouth of the River Derwent on the west coast in the Allerdale borough of Cumbria, England. The town was historically in Cumberland. At the 2011 census it had a population of 25,207. Locat ...

. The railway station used was Workington Central on the Cleator & Workington Junction Railway. Several shots of Middle Row and Back Row in Northside, a village at the northern end of the town of Workington, are also included. Later the set was moved to

Shepperton Studios Shepperton Studios is a film studio located in Shepperton, Surrey, England, with a history dating back to 1931. It is now part of the Pinewood Studios Group. During its early existence, the studio was branded as Sound City (not to be confused w ...

for another week of shooting. The original set of the pithead was used to make up a huge composite set of 40,000 square yards, then the largest exterior set ever constructed for a British film. The set consisted of a replica of the Workington pit where the location work had been done, including the pithead complete with cage, ramp and outer buildings, and rows of miners' cottages.

Pit ponies A pit pony, otherwise known as a mining horse, was a horse, pony or mule commonly used underground in mines from the mid-18th until the mid-20th century. The term "pony" was sometimes broadly applied to any equine working underground.English ...

from the Cumberland mines were used and the miners' costumes consisted of clothes purchased from colliery workers. The film provided a rare character role for Margaret Lockwood.

Differences between the British and U.S. versions

The film was released in the United States a year and a half after the British premiere. The opening and end credits were changed, and were supplemented with a voiceover narration by Lionel Barrymore. In addition, the departing scenes and dialogue at the end between Davey and his mother were cut. In the original version the opening credits appear against establishing shots of the pithead, and the men emerging from underground and walking down towards the pit owner to begin their strike. The U.S. version uses a plain background for the main title and an explanatory voiceover that lessens the graphic impact of the original. The U.S. version ends with the camera rising above the pit as the

Lord's Prayer The Lord's Prayer, also called the Our Father or Pater Noster, is a central Christian prayer which Jesus taught as the way to pray. Two versions of this prayer are recorded in the gospels: a longer form within the Sermon on the Mount in the Gosp ...

is spoken after the disaster, with verses added and a final shot of heavenly clouds and a longer voiceover. The original version has the first line of the Lord's Prayer as the camera rises to the black sky above the pit. It then fades in to the final scenes as Davey's mother is downstairs preparing her son's sandwiches for his return to work at the pit. Davey emerges down the stairs dressed, not in work clothes, but in a suit. He tells his mother that he is going to work for the union. His mother says, "You are all I have left now ..." and gives him an apple for the train journey. He goes to the front door and turns back to his mother, who stands at the hearth. The final shot is an exterior of the cottage with Davey leaving while his mother watches from the window.

References

Bibliography

* Jerry Vermilye, ''The Great British Films'' (Citadel Press, 1978) pp 49–51

External links

* * * *
''The Stars Look Down''
at

TCMDB Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie-oriented pay-TV network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasting campus in the Midtown business district of Atl ...

*
DVD Beaver review and images

''The Stars Look Down'' at Silver SirensReview of film
at ''Variety'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Stars Look Down, The 1940 films 1940 drama films Films based on British novels Films shot at Denham Film Studios Films set in England Films set in the 20th century 1940s English-language films British black-and-white films Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Social realism in film 1940s political drama films Films shot in England Films based on works by A. J. Cronin Films directed by Carol Reed Films about mining British political drama films 1940s British films