The Stars Look Down

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.

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 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 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.