Noite Sem Lua

In a small Norwegian mining town where all the signs are in English, the Nazis invade, under the command of Cedric Hardwicke. Gradually, their cruel policies lead to the rising of the townsmen in The Moon is Down, based on a novel by John Steinbeck.

Director Irving Pichel -- he has a small part as an innkeeper -- works from a low-key script by Nunnally Johnson, and the entire film is played in an engagingly low-key fashion by Hardwicke, the inimitable Henry Travers as the town's mayor, and Lee J. Cobb as the mayor's friend. It's an effective propaganda film from 20th Century-Fox right in the middle of the U.S.'s war.

This movie has no big-box office stars, nor a major director. Yet it tells its story effectively and, sometimes, in a deeply moving fashion, because the script is good and the actors, accustomed to playing character roles, make real individuals out of their assignments.

The movie starts off by establishing several points: 1) Norway fell fast to the Germans not because they were weak or pro-Nazi, but because they were betrayed from the inside by fifth columnists (Quislings), a fear that runs through several wartime U.S. movies (Keeper of the Flame is perhaps the best of those.) 2) The Norwegians are decent people, and therefore worth helping. The town's militia refuse to shoot at the German paratroopers as they are falling through the sky because "you're not supposed to do that," even though the Germans promptly slaughter the militia from hidden positions.

This could be compared to American movie presentations of the fall of France, in which the French are not portrayed as having been betrayed from the inside - though in fact they were, to an extent, by Pétain. That may, at least in part, be because the American government maintained diplomatic relations of a sort with the Vichy government until the Germans finally invaded formerly "Free France" in the hope of winning them over, with the result that Pétain could not be portrayed as the traitor he really was.

This is a fine movie, worth watching.

If you are looking for a realistic portrayal of WWII and the German occupation of Norway, perhaps this isn't the best film ("The Heroes of Telemark" is probably better for that). This is NOT a criticism of "The Moon is Down"...in fact it's a very good film and did its job of inspiring the American people during WWII.

The film is set in Norway just before the German invasion of 1940. The townspeople in a small mining town are all happy and oblivious to the coming stampede. Soon Nazis flood the country and their leader in the town (Cedric Hardwicke) has one goal...total obedience from the people. To do so, they'll kill as many people as they need to in order to keep the iron mine opening and running at capacity. But the locals cannot stand their new German overlords and throughout the film, they work to undermine the occupiers...even at the risk of their lives. This all leads to a VERY rousing finale-- one that still packs a powerful punch today.

This Twentieth Century Fox film is interesting because it shows the Germans as being brutal...but no more so than they actually were in their occupied territories! Instead of focusing too much on this, the movie really centers on the resistance of the Norwegians. An inspiring and well made film based on a story from John Steinbeck of all people. Well worth seeing.

I know next to nothing about Director Irving Pichel, but readily admit that his 1943 flick, THE MOON IS DOWN, deserves a special mention among propaganda films made during World War II.

With the similarly entitled novel by Nobel literature laureate John Steinbeck as the framework, Pichel handles the material and a cast of very good English and US actors such as Cedric Hardwicke, Lee J Cobb, German-born Peter Van Eyck, with aplomb and purpose.

The cinematography by Arthur Miller deserves praise, despite flaws: it cannot have been easy to make films at the height of the war.

Definitely worth watching. 7/10.

One of the better World War II propaganda films it has stood the test of time far better than a lot in the era. Possibly because the original source was a novel by one of America's best known authors John Steinbeck.

The story is about the Nazi occupation in a small Norwegian town and it is told from the viewpoint of both the conquered and the conquerors. As such in one of the few films of the era, Nazis are presented as three dimensional people and not just merciless Huns. The film also has no box office name stars which in the long run has probably helped with authenticity.

The Nazis invaded and occupied Norway to gain control of its long Atlantic coast line and prevent supplies from getting to the Soviet Union from Archangel and Murmansk. Except in certain circumstances the interior was left alone. This was one of those circumstances.

The town here has an iron mine which is the chief employer. The Reich wanted that mine, wanted the iron ore production stepped up, hence the occupation. Cedric Hardwicke is the commander of the occupying Nazi army and he deals with the occupational hazards of garrisoning a hostile town and making slave labor of its citizens.

Henry Travers is the mayor and Lee J. Cobb the town doctor and the leading two citizens of the town. Hardwicke tries to work with them and Travers especially tries to explain that you folks just aren't wanted. Hardwicke in fact deliberately refuses to remove Travers from office to put the local Quisling E.J. Ballantine in his place. In the end though he falls back on standard Nazi methods.

Ballantine should be singled out. He did not make too many film appearances and The Moon Is Down is his first. But even Hardwicke and his troops can't stand a traitor.

Peter Van Eyck has an interesting role too. The Scandinavians were viewed in the Nazi racial pecking order as fellow Aryans and the bad reception they got when taking over Denmark and Norway was a bit unsettling to their troops. They were told that occupation and the chance to join the Reich would be welcomed. Van Eyck who's a country kid tries to make friends and it unnerves the hate that he's given in return.

This film is a real gem from the World War II years. It should be rediscovered and evaluated as one of the best films of the era.