The Stars Look Down (film)

Infobox Film
name = The Stars Look Down
director = Carol Reed
producer = Isadore Goldsmith
Maurice J. Wilson
writer = A. J. Cronin (novel & screenplay)
J.B. Williams
starring = Michael Redgrave
Margaret Lockwood
Emlyn Williams
Nancy Price
narrator = Lionel Barrymore
music = Hans May
cinematography = Mutz Greenbaum
Ernest Palmer
editing = Reginald Beck
distributor = Grand National PicturesUK
Metro-Goldwyn-MayerUSA
released = February 24, 1940
runtime = 110 min.
country = UK
language = English
amg_id = 1:46677
imdb_id = 0031976

"The Stars Look Down" is a 1939 film based on A. J. Cronin's novel of the same title, initially published in 1935, which chronicles various injustices in a mining community in North East England. The film, co-scripted by Cronin and directed by Carol Reed, stars Michael Redgrave as Davey Fenwick and Margaret Lockwood as Jenny Sunley. The American release includes narration by Lionel Barrymore. It is a "New York Times" Critics' Pick and is listed in "The New York Times Guide to the Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made".

Cast

*Michael Redgrave...Davey Fenwick
*Margaret Lockwood...Jenny Sunley
*Emlyn Williams...Joe Gowlan
*Nancy Price...Martha Fenwick
*Allan Jeayes...Richard Barras
*Edward Rigby...Robert Fenwick
*Linden Travers...Mrs. Laura Millington
*Cecil Parker...Stanley Millington
*Milton Rosmer...Harry Nugent, MP
*George Carney...Slogger Gowlan
*Ivor Barnard...Wept
*Olga Lindo...Mrs. Sunley
*Desmond Tester...Hughie Fenwick
*David Markham...Arthur Barras
*Aubrey Mallalieu...Hudspeth
*Kynaston Reeves...Strother
*Clive Baxter...Pat Reedy
*James Harcourt...Will
*Frederick Burtwell...Union Official
*Dorothy Hamilton...Mrs. Reedy
*Frank Atkinson...Miner
*David Horne...Mr. Wilkins
*Edmund Willard...Mr. Ramage

Filming locations

There was a week of filming at St Helens Siddick Colliery at Workington in Cumberland, followed by seven weeks of shooting at London's Denham and Twickenham Studios, where an elaborate mine-head was simulated. Later the set was moved to Shepperton Studios for an additional week of shooting. The original set of the mine-head was used to make up a huge composite set of 40,000 square yards, the largest exterior set ever constructed for a British film at the time. The set consisted of an exact replica of the Workington mine where the location work had been done, including a pit-head complete with cage, ramp, outer buildings, and rows of miners' cottages. To ensure authenticity, pit ponies from the Cumberland mines were used and the miners' costumes were clothes purchased from colliery workers.

Bibliography

*Vermilye, Jerry. "The Great British Films." Citadel Press, 1978, pp 49-51. ISBN 080650661X

ee also

*"E le stelle stanno a guardare"
*"The Stars Look Down (1974)"

External links

* [http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/491824/synopsis.html British Film Institute synopsis]
* [http://movies2.nytimes.com/gst/movies/movie.html?v_id=46677 "New York Times" overview]
* [http://www.cswap.com/1940/The_Stars_Look_Down Movie subtitles]
* [http://www.britmovie.co.uk/directors/c_reed/filmography/014.html Britmovie website]
* [http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDReviews23/stars_look_down_dvd_review.htm Film review and images]
* [http://www.silversirens.co.uk/ml/starslookdown.php "The Stars Look Down" at Silver Sirens]
* [http://tcmdb.com/title/title.jsp?scarlettTitleId=91325 "The Stars Look Down" at Turner Classic Movies]
*imdb title | id= 0031976| title=The Stars Look Down
*allmovie title | id= 1:46677| title=The Stars Look Down