User reviews

I recently purchased this outstanding movie on video. Michael Redgrave has always been one of the finest actors of his generation and his performance in this film only serves to strenghten my opinion. I was very surprised by the way a film of this era, concentrated so much on the social and economic deprivation of the mining community in Great Britan, surely one of the largest workforce of the time. The struggle for better conditions and the respect of their employers as workers and human beings is perhaps the crux of this story but the underlying sub-plots of human greed and subterfuge made sure my interest never waned. It is to me most memorable as a story of the ordinary man, struggling through adversity, always with dignity and self-respect. Despite the often bleak surroudings and the fact that it is also shot in B&W to maximize this atmosphere, it never depressed me and left me feeling good,long after the last of the credits had rolled.

I watched and thoroughly enjoyed "The Stars Look Down" which was screened today as part of the BBC's Summer Festival of historic British movies, having read and enjoyed the novel many years ago but having never previously had an opportunity to see the movie.

It was of particular interest because the novelist, A.J. Cronin actually set the novel near my home town of Ashington in the North East of England, and got it pretty well right as he'd worked as a medic in the area for some years. Interestingly enough, I noticed that many US critics refer to it as being set in a "Welsh" mining village. This may well be because they recognised Emlyn Williams's accent as Welsh and the rest were a pretty mixed bunch - I spotted only one genuine North-East accent! Like all "Socialist Realism" the melodrama was overplayed - nonetheless, there was some truth and accuracy in there and it was fascinating to see how the movie treats coal miners - rightly, in my opinion - as heroic figures.

An unjustly neglected classic.

I'm obsessed with the Third Man, and forever looking for similar movies. I get the impression that Carol Reed never made anything comparable to that classic, but this is an interesting, unusual film that is worth seeing in its own right.

It is a political drama about the struggle to control the means of production - no, really. Michael Redgrave and Emlyn Williams play two young men from a dour north-east mining town who escape, separately, to the bright lights of Newcastle. Redgrave's character is a scholarship kid at the university, while Williams plays a spiv who starts out working as a bookie but soon finds other dubious business interests.

They return home for different reasons, and clash over the future of the mine, which the workers suspect is unsafe. It's a surprisingly anti-establishment film for 1940, when Britain was deep into the Second World War, especially given Churchill's famously harsh treatment of striking miners in the 1920s.

The story in this feature is pretty interesting, but even a description of the story by itself would probably not communicate how thoughtful and atmospheric the movie is. It also has some particularly compelling stretches that are hard to forget afterward. Director Carol Reed shows good insight into the characters and the story, the cast make the characters believable and worth caring about, and the technical aspects help you to feel almost part of the action.

Michael Redgrave stars as a young idealist, determined to get an education so that he can improve conditions in the mining town where he lives. Redgrave's performance quietly brings out a lot about his character, as he learns about reality while fighting for the truth. Emlyn Williams is also effective as Redgrave's boyhood friend, who takes an entirely different, amoral approach to the same situation. Margaret Lockwood, well-cast as the rather vain young woman who captivates both of them, adds an important dimension. Several of the supporting cast members also do a good job in limited screen time.

The highlight is the extended rescue sequence in the second half, and it is very effectively done. But one of the reasons that it works so well is that it was prepared by such a solid foundation, establishing the characters and issues carefully so that, when the crisis hits, everything takes on more meaning.

Many of the topics touched upon by the movie are still of significance in themselves, but even beyond that, it creates a good deal of worthwhile drama about society and human nature in general.

I have to begin this review by saying I saw the U.S. edit of the movie. According to wikipedia, the unfortunate intro and outro are not in the English version, and there's an extra scene at the end.

Once you get past the useless introductory speech, this movie begins quite well, portraying a grim world and immediately giving one a feel for the plight of the miners.

For me, a difficulty came with the introduction of Margaret Lockwood's character. I admit there are selfish, empty headed people in the world, but they make for poor film characters. Fortunately it's a fairly small role, but it felt unnecessary to have her at all. She represents a melodramatic streak that unfortunately runs through the movie and lessens the overall impact.

While some parts were problematic, other parts are terrific, such as the mother's stoic attitude as her son goes off to college in which you see her feelings only when no one is looking. And the inevitable disaster is impressively handled.

I also didn't find Michael Redgrave complete believable. I'm not convinced he could develop such an upperclass accent no matter how hard he studied at the local schools.

While worth seeing, this could have been a better movie with a little less melodrama.

Director Carol Reeds version of A.J. Cronins novel of poverty, greed and unfulfilled dreams still seems fresh today despite its sixty years.

Michael Redgrave stars as Davey Fenwick, a bright man from a poor mining background, who wins a scholarship to university. He hopes to graduate and then enter politics, so as to work to end the suffering of his kith and kin and their ilk.

However, his plans change when he meets and falls in love with Jenny Sunley (played by Margaret Lockwood), a strikingly beautiful but manipulative and materialistic little minx who has just been cruelly dumped (why???) by her boyfriend, Daveys old friend, the ruthlessly ambitious Joe Gowlan (Emlyn Williams). Understandably smitten, Davey marries the lovely but self-centred Jenny and, at her instigation, quits university and moves home to work as a schoolteacher. But his world is turned upside down when trouble at the pit, Jennys restlessness and the reappearance of Joe, whom Jenny still loves and who is now flashily well-to-do,combine.

At the time, this was one of the most expensive films ever made in Britain. But it was well worth the investment. It assured Carol Reeds reputation and gave to film audiences and to posterity a grimly realistic picture of life at the sharp end in 30s Britain. The all-star cast too got a chance to show their ability, giving terrific performances; Redgrave is superb as the disillusioned idealist, Williams is thoroughly unpleasant as the unfeeling, cynical Joe while Margaret Lockwood, one-time screen ingénue in her first wicked girl role, gives a wonderful performance as the drop-dead gorgeous, vixenish, gold-digging Jenny.

As social commentary this is a great movie, but, on another, more profound level,it works as a dark, despairing canvas depicting the often destructive nature of human relationships. Essential viewing!

"Davey Fenwick leaves his English mining village on a university scholarship, intent on returning to better support the miners against the owners. But, he is trapped into marrying Jenny, and returns home as a local schoolteacher before finishing his degree. Davey finds he is ill-at-ease in his role, and he also soon realizes that Jenny still loves her former boyfriend; but, he decides to remain, working tirelessly on behalf of his friends, relatives, and neighbors," according to the DVD sleeve description.

Director Carol Reed's version of A.J. Cronin's "The Stars Look Down" is a historically important film, but one that can only be marginally recommended. There are flashes of brilliance from Mr. Reed, who went on to great acclaim in the 1940s. He moves the camera expressively. Reed always gives his actors something to do, with both their body (eg, raising an eyebrow) and surroundings (eg, pouring tea). But, most of the time, this makes performances very obvious. The soundtrack music blares repetitively. And, everything telegraphs the film's ending. The story remains strong and timeless, however, and it's ripe for re-make.

A fine group of British performers is featured. As a college-bound young lad, Michael Redgrave (as David Fenwick) is far too mature and distinguished in the early scenes, but does better later. His family includes an excellent Edward Rigby (as Robert), a morose Nancy Price (as Martha), and an animated Desmond Tester (as Hughie). While a more credible schoolteacher, Redgrave remains awkward in Reed's surroundings; he just doesn't look right slicing bread. On the other hand, co-stars Emlyn Williams (as Joe Gowlan) and Margaret Lockwood (as Jenny Sunley) bring their physicality and Reed's direction to success.

The film was a hit with US critics, and made several 1940 "Top 10" lists - most importantly, it closed in on "Best Picture" territory at #4 on the "National Board of Review" list, while Carol Reed's direction rose to #7 in the "New York Film Critics" poll.

****** The Stars Look Down (12/39) Carol Reed ~ Michael Redgrave, Margaret Lockwood, Emlyn Williams, Edward Rigby

For those whose taste in movies runs to films of social significance, you cannot go wrong with The Stars Look Down, a film from the United Kingdom about the coal mining industry in the days before the post World War II Labour Government nationalized the industry. Such a step would never have been contemplated in the mainstream political circles in the USA. The film makes a compelling case for it.

This film was a breakout success for Carol Reed who up to that time had been limited to what we call B picture features and what over the other side of the pond call quota quickies. It was produced by an independent studio called Grafton films and released here by the short lived Grand National Studios. Reed was contracted to Gainsborough Pictures and he was able to get fellow contractees Michael Redgrave, Margaret Lockwood, and Emlyn Williams for this production.

I don't think that Michael Redgrave was ever more idealistic on the screen than he was in The Stars Look Down. He plays a working class stiff who earns a scholarship to the university and he intends to use that education for the benefit of the miner class from where he comes. But this idealist is very human and he makes the wrong choice in a life partner in the form of pretty, but shallow Margaret Lockwood who sees him as a meal ticket to get ahead herself.

The guy who Lockwood was going with is Emlyn Williams who would be called a cad and a bounder over there. He's also a miner's kid, but his method of escape isn't exactly condoned in polite society, he becomes a bookmaker. Eventually he joins with management. One great thing about The Stars Look Down is we see where all these three characters came from and the values imparted to them.

Redgrave has two marvelous scenes that really stand out. The first is when he's in class and making an eloquent case in class for the government ownership of the coal mines. The second is before the Board of Trade arguing that the mine his father and others in his district is not safe because where they want to mine is holding back the sea itself. His own personal problems prevent the Board from listening to him. In both Redgrave personifies youthful idealism and impatience. In the end it's shown he has good reason to be impatient.

The film was shot on location at an actual colliery in Cumberland and the scenes depicting the mine disaster which is the climax of the film are frighteningly real and hold up well today. The film stands comparison to How Green Was My Valley which was a film on the same subject, but done in the poetical style of John Ford and done over here.

The Stars Look Down will still move the viewers and the problems of industrial safety are just as real today as they were when The Stars Look Down came out.

The Stars Look Down (1940) : Brief Review -

Dark secrets of coal mine and industrialisation exposed in British Film Noir. Based on A. J. Cronin's novel of the same name, this Carol Reed drama is a burning film noir for the early 40s. Well, this came a year before master John Ford's classic American family drama, "How Green Was My Valley" (popularly known for beating Citizen Kane and The Maltese Falcon at the Oscars), which also had a similar topic but with more family value. Reed's film is a very dark one, not because of the coal mines, but because it exposes love, betrayal, industrialization, and its politics in hard-hitting manners. Davey leaves his mining village on a university scholarship, intent on returning to better support the miners against the owners, as planned by his hard-working father. He falls in love with a city girl, only to be betrayed by her big demands, which he thought were her love for him. He returns and appeals to the company to stop the work at the coal mine, which is dangerous for the workers. As it happens, disaster strikes at the mine, leaving everyone to believe that Davey and his father were right to call for a strike. The cinematography is top-class for its time and surely scares you with all those Black and Dark frames. Michael Redgrave and Edward Rigby are the star performers here, while Margaret Lockwood has been given an unlikeable and weak character as she performs below standards. I don't know how successful Carol Reed was in the first decade of his career because most of his acclaimed films came after the mid-40s. But 1940 has to be one of the biggest years of his life as he delivered two brilliant films, "Night Train to Munich" and "The Stars Look Down," and both were challenging films for a newbie. I read that the film had different climaxes for the British and US versions, and believe me, both work, even if you just read them.

RATING - 7/10*

By - #samthebestest.

This appeared recently on BBC4's 'Coal night' - and seems an apposite choice given the subject matter.

My earliest memory of this story (I'm 42) is the 1974 serial produced when ITV still mattered and wasn't riddled with reality TV, puerile so called comedy and makeover shows. The 'drama' offered up by the third channel now is so lightweight the thought of the likes of the 21st century equivalent of Avril Elgar appearing it seems light years away from what could be described as reality (in the non vacuous sense). It was excellent, as I recall, but I didn't post this just to rant at the decline of ITV's quality standards, that's been done to death elsewhere.

So, the film - it's always refreshing and very pleasing to come across something 'new' from someone who has already earned their spurs elsewhere. Carol Reed needs no introduction to the cognoscenti of cinema - anyone who has seen 'The Third Man' or 'Fallen Idol' will testify to that! What's so good about this film is not only the beautiful evocation of a world long gone (it was made in 1939, just before the outbreak of WW2), but also gives an indication of just how difficult working class life must have been. If you did not work, you did not eat. Pretty much all the people who worked on this film are long dead, but watching it, and with an eye for the accuracy of how social history is portrayed, it's hard not to be moved by the grim reality of the inevitability of 'life down 'pit'. You're born into griding poverty, you grow up a friendly ragamuffin, you mine, you get old, you die.

Unless, of course, you're asked to mine Scupper Flats. The story itself is a strong one. In the days when mine owners swanned around in posh cars and deigned to show up at the pit once in a blue moon, the safety of being asked to mine a new face is called into question by idealistic young Davey Fenwick, who, having got his hands dirty down the mine, attempts a better life by breaking away and trying to earn a degree from the local university. Of course, a woman gets in the way, and the beautiful but manipulative and shallow Jenny Sunley (admirably played by Wicked Lady Margaret Lockwood) eyes an opportunity to 'better herself' financially and persuades Davey to drop out and become a school teacher. Eventually, Davey's idealism and pragmatic suspicions are proved correct, with tragic consequences.

Beautifully acted from a time when real craftsmanship went into British film making, the piece stands not only as great entertainment (though it won't engage 'movie' buffs with short attention spans who think anything pre 2008 isn't worth bothering with), but also as a wonderful piece of social history and a look at an age that's well and truly passed. The portentous voice over at the end reinforces this beautifully, and its idealistic call to action makes me wonder if we really have learned anything at all in the 70 years that followed.

Michael Redgrave is the local boy done good, when he wins a scholarship to go to university to train to be a teacher. Unfortunately, he has fallen in love with the rather fickle "Jenny" (Margaret Lockwood) who has a bit of a venal streak. Curtailing his studies, he returns to live with her in his boyhood town intent on improving the lot of his community - but he is soon disillusioned when he sees his wife still keen on her flashy old flame "Joe" (Emlyn Williams) and that his elderly father looks set to have to work the mines for years to come... He accidentally discovers that the mine is unsafe, and determines to bring this to the attention of the council to avert disaster, but will they listen? Carol Reed allows this story plenty of room to breathe. Though not complex, we can see the characterisations develop as the story seems to head, unstoppably, towards disaster in quite a compelling fashion. Redgrave, Williams and Allan Jeayes as mine owner "Barras" work well to create a solid, if a bit dryly told, story of greed and exploitation with some superbly claustrophobic mining photography to add authenticity.

The main storyline is concerned with workers, capitalists and academic thinkers (resp. 'down' and 'stars' ?). And it might become much more relevant again soon. What's the use of a college education in times of recession and strikes? Like Jack Palance said in le Mepris (1963, Godard) 'wise men don't humiliate others with their lesser abilities....'. 'On The Waterfront' was way better on this economic subject, but as far as I'm concerned that was merely because of its director and protagonist. Others might emphasize it is American and has more suspense, which is true.

The dialogues sound kind of flat or monotonous, but the story is absolutely entertaining enough and the cinematography by Mutz Greenbaum (Thunder Rock) is really fine. He especially knows his way with contrast and composition apparently. Carol Reed (Odd Man Out, Fallen Idol, Third Man) gently develops the story and the points he (and writer Alec Coppel, who also wrote Vertigo and Obsession) wants to make. The movie as a whole is a quite moralistic and a bit too sincere, but again the directing and the cinematography more than make up. At last but not least, Michael Redgrave (Thunder Rock, Mr. Arkadin, the Innocents) puts forward a great deal of realism, enforcing A. J. Cronin's points. A point is that different social classes should have more respect for each other because they are complements, not substitutes. Another point is that it is probably a personal story (Cronin's ?). 8/10

A decade earlier in America, Warner Brothers began making their hard hitting social criticism films about the unjustness of society, about the dregs of society. With the benefit of a decade's experience and technology, this might just be the greatest legacy of those old talkies.

It takes you just two minutes to be totally absorbed into being part of this north east mining town at the end of the thirties. You can smell the coal dust. The struggles of lives like these seem a million miles from ours now but Reed's film doesn't just make you feel you're there, you understand exactly how the characters really thought - what made them tick - you know what they wanted from life.

Beside the utterly absorbing story, what is most striking about this is the stunning photography. Almost every frame is amongst the most perfect examples of cinematography you'll ever see. Like true expressionism, each scene expresses the feelings and moods of the characters you're looking at. In terms of visuals, it is on par with anything David Lean did.

The acting is all wonderfully realistic and genuine. Margaret Lockwood is particularly outstanding. She's usually good in her pictures but is typically just the posh totty. In this she really acts creating a deep, fascinating and perfectly developed girl you feel like you know or would like to know. She plays that selfish, nasty, cruel Jenny with such vitality you can't help but loathe her and love her in equal amounts.

This is one of those emotional dramas that stir you, make you cross about how unfair society was but also make you grateful that things are better. It's actually quite uplifting.

One of the greatest British films of its period. Carol Reed directed this version of A J Cronin's novel in a free-wheeling, naturalistic style that belies its literary source. It's consistently cinematic in a way British cinema wasn't until the late fifties or early sixties. It's about coal-mining, (and the coal-mining sequences are superb), but it's also about politics and education and class and its various themes run seamlessly through the picture.

Michael Redgrave, in an early performance, is remarkably good as the idealistic young miner who educates himself and becomes a teacher but sells out and marries a heartless guttersnipe brilliantly played by a young Margaret Lockwood. Emlyn Williams is the spiv she really loves and Edward Rigby and Nancy Price are both superb as Redgrave's parents. In terms of style it's a much more primitive picture than some of Reed's later work such as "The Third Man" and "The Fallen Idol" but that works in its favour. This is a raw, highly energized picture and it's very moving.

Made as a fiction the film is actually a perfect documentary of work in UK coal mines of 1930s era. Set and outside filming perfectly capture the dirt and squalor of mining towns and the conditions underground of a way of life gone forever. The pit head machinery, pit ponies, miners cottages, the whippet, and general grit and grime are also accurately shown and will be a vital research source if anyone cares to in the future. 24 Nove 2020 wtching again and seeing the disaster when the miners blast breaks through into an old mine filled with water and the inrush of water kills men and pit ponies. I only recently discovered that this was a fairly common occurence before mine mapping became mandatory to prevent such things. Intersting vignette is the man throwing stone dust on the coal aroudn the blast hole to go a little way towards prevent dust explosions. When the men are trapped by blasting into water shown on old maps it floods and traps them the film does descent into a mawkish but quite true preaching and religious theme. As the men are trapped the owner reveals that he did in fact have maps showing old workings were dangerously close to where the men were ordered to work. It is a better film than many British films of the era.

Film's British New Wave in the early 1960s was inspired by several early 1940s social realism motion pictures, led by January 1940 "The Stars Look Down." This Carol Reed-directed ground-breaking movie looks at the underbelly of the working class, with its members struggling against an inequitable system run by elites.

The movie adaptation of A. J. Cronin's 1935 novel of the same name (the author also helped co-write its script), "The Stars Look Down" had Carol Reed, after viewing the final edit, lamenting it was "a gloomy little piece. I immediately disowned it." But the British public didn't see it that way. Released in the middle of the 'Phony War,' a period which saw little land action between the Allies and the Germans after war was declared in September 1939, movie goers embraced Reed's film of a mining community whose workers sensed a water break in the mine shafts was imminent, instigating a strike. While Bob Fenwick (Edward Rigby) leads the strike, his oldest son, Davey (Michael Redgrave), is off to college on a scholarship. Davey is in love with Jenny Sunley (Margaret Lockwood), who convinces him to give up college for a teaching job. Davey's old acquaintance Joe Gowlan (Emlyn Williams), an ex-boyfriend of Jenny, made a secret deal with the owner of the mine to convince the workers to return to the dangerous section of the mine. When the workers, with Bob Fenwick in the lead, go back into the mine shaft, the two stories intersect, with startling results.

"The Stars Look Down" is regarded as the first British film touching upon England's important social issues. The picture reflects "the contempt rich owners have for their underpaid employees and the distrust labor has for its union leaders," notes film historian Danny Peary. As the most expensive British movie produced up to that time, Grafton Films built a reconstruction of a real life colliery 40,000 square yards in size, the largest English set built outdoors. Actor Redgrave, a committed socialist, felt the production screamed to nationalize all the United Kingdom mines, feeling the dastardly mine owner, Richard Barras (Allan Jeayes), was common in the industry.

Film reviewer Gary Tooze praised "The Stars Look Down" as "The film is yet another reason to recognize Carol Reed as one of the best and most underrated directors of all time. The character, the story and its filmic retelling are a remarkable achievement of powerful cinema." His first film, 1935's 'Midshipman Easy,' was a low-budget 'quota quickie.' Reed confessed later his directorial debut was highly disappointing in the way he handled it: "I realized that this was the only way to learn - by making mistakes." By the time he made "The Stars Look Down," Reed was drawing critical praise from such critics as Graham Green, who wrote "one forgets the casting altogether: he handles his players like a master, so that one remembers them only as people." Reed went on to direct classics as 1947 "Odd Man Out" and 1949 "The Third Man."

As the forerunner to Britain's early 1960's 'Angry Young Men' genre, otherwise known as 'kitchen sink dramas,' "The Stars Look Down," reviewer Derek Winnert points out, "is distinguished by its presentation of lots of realistic and gritty detail that are rare in British films of the period - about strikes, mine conditions, difficult personal relationships and so on," an apt description of the prototype of British social realism.