''The Moon Is Down'' is a 1943 American war film starring

Cedric Hardwicke Sir Cedric Webster Hardwicke (19 February 1893 – 6 August 1964) was an English stage and film actor whose career spanned nearly 50 years. His theatre work included notable performances in productions of the plays of Shakespeare and Shaw, and ...

and

Henry Travers Travers John Heagerty (5 March 1874 – 18 October 1965), known professionally as Henry Travers, was an English film and stage character actor. His best known role was the guardian angel Clarence Odbody in the 1946 film ''It's a Wonderful Life' ...

and directed by

Irving Pichel Irving Pichel (June 24, 1891 – July 13, 1954) was an American actor and film director, who won acclaim both as an actor and director in his Hollywood career. Career Pichel was born to a Jewish family in Pittsburgh. He attended Pittsburgh Cent ...

. It is based on the 1942 novel of the same name by

John Steinbeck John Ernst Steinbeck Jr. (; February 27, 1902 – December 20, 1968) was an American writer and the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature winner "for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humor and keen social ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, German soldiers occupy a small Norwegian town.

Cast

* Sir Cedric Hardwicke as Col. Lanser *

as Mayor Orden * Lee J. Cobb as Dr. Albert Winter *

Dorris Bowdon Dorris Estelle Bowdon (December 27, 1914 – August 9, 2005) was an American actress, best known for her role as ''Rosasharn'' in ''The Grapes of Wrath'' Early life Dorris Estelle Bowdon was born on December 27, 1914, in Coldwater, Mississip ...

as Molly Morden *

Margaret Wycherly Margaret De Wolfe Wycherly (born Margaret De Wolfe, 26 October 1881 – 6 June 1956) was an English stage and film actress. She spent many years in the United States and is best remembered for her Broadway roles and Hollywood character parts. On ...

as Sarah Orden * Peter van Eyck as Lt. Tonder * William Post, Jr. as Alex Morden * Henry Rowland as Capt. Loft * E. J. Ballantine as George Corell *

Hans Schumm Hans Josef Schumm ''(né'' Johann Josef Eugen Schumm; 2 April 1896 Stuttgart – 2 February 1990 Los Angeles) was a German-born-turned- American actor, notably, a prolific and critically acclaimed Hollywood screen character actor who appeared in ...

as Capt. Bentick * Frederic Brunn as German Soldier (as Frederick Brunn) * Ernst Deutsch as Maj. Hunter (as Ernest Dorian) * Ludwig Donath as Hitler's Voice (as Louis Donath) *

John Banner John Banner (born Johann Banner, January 28, 1910 – January 28, 1973) was an Austrian-born American actor, best known for his role as Sergeant Schultz in the situation comedy ''Hogan's Heroes'' (1965–1971). Schultz, constantly encou ...

as Lt. Prackle (uncredited) *

Jeff Corey Jeff Corey (born Arthur Zwerling; August 10, 1914 – August 16, 2002) was an American stage and screen actor who became a well-respected acting teacher after being blacklisted in the 1950s. Life and career Corey attended New Utrecht Hig ...

as Albert (uncredited) *

Ludwig Hardt Ludwig Hardt (16 January 1886 – 6 March 1947) was a German actor. Private life In 1913 he became the second husband of the painter Emmy Gotzmann. Filmography References External links 1886 births 1947 deaths German male ac ...

as Elderly Man (uncredited)

Production

The set of ''

How Green Was My Valley ''How Green Was My Valley'' is a 1939 novel by Richard Llewellyn, narrated by Huw Morgan, the main character, about his Welsh family and the mining community in which they live. The author had claimed that he based the book on his own persona ...

'' was reused for this film.

Reception

Bosley Crowther Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though his ...

, the film reviewer for ''

The 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 ...

'', gave ''The Moon Is Down'' a mixed verdict. He lauded screenwriter Nunnally Johnson for creating a "clear and incisive screen version" of the book, resulting in "a picture which is the finest on captured Norway yet and a powerful expression of faith in the enduring qualities of a people whose hearts are strong." He also praised "Irving Pichel's superlative direction and a generally excellent cast". However, Crowther also observed that "the intellectual nature of this picture—its very clear and dispassionate reasoning—drain it of much of the emotion that one expects in such a story at this time."

References

External links

* * * * American World War II propaganda films American black-and-white films Films based on American novels Films directed by Irving Pichel Films set in Norway 20th Century Fox films Films based on works by John Steinbeck 1943 war films Films about Norwegian resistance movement World War II films made in wartime 1940s English-language films {{WWII-film-stub