It is easy to overlook COMMANDOS STRIKE AT DOWN as just one out of many, many other propaganda-films against Nazism made in Hollywood during the war. In fact, this seems to be pretty much what has happened, because despite starring Paul Muni, the for his time unusually versatile and complex actor, and co-starring the legend of the silent screen Lillian Gish (I wish she was given more screen time!), this film rarely gets any mention at all, even in discussion of the aforementioned performers. Yet, among the films of this kind I have seen, this one is, despite some obvious short-comings, by far one of the most exciting, touching and enjoyable.
The film covers the story of a few Norwegian people deciding to actively fight against the occupation, Eric Toresen (Muni) being among them. As is to be expected, Muni is the strongest aspect of the film, as he is always able to make the best out of what he's got to deal with; unlike many of his contemporaries, Muni never leaned towards a particular screen image, choosing instead to examine his character for each situation he had to encounter. He never expresses the different emotions that erupt from his character through one particular viewpoint; anger and joy is evoked to various degrees, always depending on the circumstances. The result is that, although there's never any doubt about our sympathy towards Ericson as an honest, good-natured man, he comes across as being quite complex at the same time. In a propaganda-film of this kind, it could be expected, perhaps even accepted, that the definite hero of the film gets sugarcoated throughout, but I never felt that way about Ericson which should say a lot about Muni's talent as an actor.
The ability to show various aspects of conditions in this film is not solely thanks to Muni, however. There is one fact which Norwegians are not fond of talking about, but which I, being a Norwegian myself, think would be pointless to avoid mentioning here; during World War II, most Norwegians never dared to speak up against a Nazi. Hitler had given special orders to treat Norway nicely as long as the people didn't protest, and for the most part my country responded to this by not protesting at all. There were only a few like Ericson who eloped to England in order to fight the war from there. In a film like this one, one could expect such aspects of the story to be overlooked, but to my amazement it did occur at least once that even an anti-Nazi suggested to give up the fight, and enjoy the "good things" he expected to get under an occupation.
Also as mere entertainment, COMMANDOS is pretty good; California landscape makes pretty well up for the absence of accurate "Norwegian fjords," and there are quite a few touching scenes, especially the one involving Ericson hiding from Nazis in a well with his daughter. There are some instances of overly theatrical dialogue, which doesn't come as a surprise considering how quickly these films were made. All in all, however, COMMANDOS STRIKE AT DAWN holds up well, both as a reminder and as entertainment.
A final note -- it was an absurd experience to me hearing the Norwegian national song being sung in American!
The film covers the story of a few Norwegian people deciding to actively fight against the occupation, Eric Toresen (Muni) being among them. As is to be expected, Muni is the strongest aspect of the film, as he is always able to make the best out of what he's got to deal with; unlike many of his contemporaries, Muni never leaned towards a particular screen image, choosing instead to examine his character for each situation he had to encounter. He never expresses the different emotions that erupt from his character through one particular viewpoint; anger and joy is evoked to various degrees, always depending on the circumstances. The result is that, although there's never any doubt about our sympathy towards Ericson as an honest, good-natured man, he comes across as being quite complex at the same time. In a propaganda-film of this kind, it could be expected, perhaps even accepted, that the definite hero of the film gets sugarcoated throughout, but I never felt that way about Ericson which should say a lot about Muni's talent as an actor.
The ability to show various aspects of conditions in this film is not solely thanks to Muni, however. There is one fact which Norwegians are not fond of talking about, but which I, being a Norwegian myself, think would be pointless to avoid mentioning here; during World War II, most Norwegians never dared to speak up against a Nazi. Hitler had given special orders to treat Norway nicely as long as the people didn't protest, and for the most part my country responded to this by not protesting at all. There were only a few like Ericson who eloped to England in order to fight the war from there. In a film like this one, one could expect such aspects of the story to be overlooked, but to my amazement it did occur at least once that even an anti-Nazi suggested to give up the fight, and enjoy the "good things" he expected to get under an occupation.
Also as mere entertainment, COMMANDOS is pretty good; California landscape makes pretty well up for the absence of accurate "Norwegian fjords," and there are quite a few touching scenes, especially the one involving Ericson hiding from Nazis in a well with his daughter. There are some instances of overly theatrical dialogue, which doesn't come as a surprise considering how quickly these films were made. All in all, however, COMMANDOS STRIKE AT DAWN holds up well, both as a reminder and as entertainment.
A final note -- it was an absurd experience to me hearing the Norwegian national song being sung in American!