Rent The Stars Look Down (1939)
3.6 of 5 from 62 ratings
1h 33min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
In a depression-ravaged northern English mining town, a group of miners refuse to work a dangerous seam. The ensuing struggle sees two friends escape their underground destiny; Davey Fenwick wins a university education, while Joe Gowlan leaves for a life of commerce. As they grow up - one idealistic and determined, the other cunning and opportunistic -their paths and love lives clash and cross, before meeting in a thrilling climax back in their home town. This was the film that established the credentials of Carol Reed, arguably Britain's greatest ever director. Although he had already made several well-received films, here he had the budget, the stars and the source material (A.J. Cronin's impressive 1935 novel) to deliver the visual sense, character treatment and political sensitivity that would famously feature in his later films like The Third Man, Trapeze (1956), Our Man in Havana (1960), The Running Man (1963) and Oliver! (1968). - Actors:
- Michael Redgrave, Margaret Lockwood, Edward Rigby, Emlyn Williams, Nancy Price, Allan Jeayes, Linden Travers, Cecil Parker, Milton Rosmer, George Carney, Ivor Barnard, Olga Lindo, Desmond Tester, David Markham, Aubrey Mallalieu
- Directors:
- Carol Reed
- Writers:
- A.J. Cronin, A. Coppel
- Studio:
- 2 Entertain
- Genres:
- Classics, Drama
- Collections:
- Drama Films & TV, Fictional British Prime Ministers On Screen, Top 10 British Actresses of the 1940s, Top Films
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Reviews (2) of The Stars Look Down
Prophetic film - The Stars Look Down review by MT
Amazing film that covered all the class tensions and personal aspirations in these mining communities. For anyone who followed the miners strike of the early 1980s the issues with the trade unions is also portrayed prophetically in this film from the 1930s.
2 out of 2 members found this review helpful.
Political Drama. - The Stars Look Down review by Steve
This landmark political polemic is also one of the great British films about class conflict. The introductory narration describes miners as 'the backbone of nations'. Yet they live in poverty. AJ Cronin's adaptation of his own novel advanced ideas about the future of the UK that would gather momentum over the war years.
Michael Redgrave plays an intelligent child from a northern mining town who can never escape the pull of his roots. This is due to the obstacles the poor must overcome to achieve their potential, and because he believes he must stay to fight for the future of his community. The collieries are owned by wealthy bosses who will sacrifice lives for profits.
Of course, there is a climactic pit disaster with bodies pulled out of the floodwater. Carol Reed stages this brilliantly on the huge studio set. But more impressive is the representation of the people in an era when the working class were rarely more than comic relief in British films. Their poverty is depicted starkly, without condescension.
The film is dominated by Redgrave. He delivers a couple of rousing editorialising speeches that put over Cronin's vision with punchy eloquence. But the whole cast creates a plausible impression of a resilient, suffering people. Reed's first great film captured an emerging national mood and was a huge success with the public.
0 out of 0 members found this review helpful.