Edge of Darkness (1943 film)

Norway in Revolt) is a 1943 World War II film directed by Lewis Milestone that features Errol Flynn, Ann Sheridan, and Walter Huston.

In the Nazi-occupied fishing village of Trollness, Dr. Martin Stensgard and his wife hold on to the pretense of gracious living and ignore the occupiers.

A key group of resistance members, headed by Gunnar and Karen, anxiously await a secret arrival of arms from a British submarine.

One evening, Karen, on her way to a meeting, is grabbed by a German soldier and disappears, while Gunnar frantically searches the town for her.

At the local hotel, which serves as German headquarters, and where Karen's brother has moved, preparations are made for defense.

Milestone later said Rossen "hit on an idiom for the dialogue that had nothing to do with Norway but derived mainly from the language he knew best - the speechways of New York's East Side.

[12][13] The cast included Helmut Dantine who had just signed a long-term contract with Warners following his appearance in Casablanca.

[15] He was meant to do this on his yacht but Hedda Hopper reported he slipped down to Mexico City with a friend for some hunting, and that he "hasn't wanted to do it [the film] from the first", in part because his role was relatively small.

[21] During filming, Warners added six grave markers with the names of Nazi saboteurs recently executed in the US, for extra realism.

If you wanted to embarrass him, all you had to do was to tell him how great he was in a scene he'd just finished playing: he'd blush like a young girl and muttering 'I'm not an actor' would go away somewhere and sit down.

"[25] Variety described it as "a dramatic, tense, emotion-stirring story of the ravaging of Norway, superbly acted by a fine cast and firmly directed by Lewis Milestone.

"[27] David Lardner of The New Yorker compared the film to The Moon Is Down, writing that both were worth seeing but that Edge of Darkness was slightly better due to rounder characterizations.

"[29] The film was one of the five most requested movies by the US Army in April 1943 - the others being My Friend Flicka, Hit Parade of 1943, Flight for Freedom and Hello, Frisco, Hello.

[31] After the 1943 Argentine Revolution the pro-Nazi Vice-President Juan Perón banned Edge of Darkness in Buenos Aires because of its sympathetic portrayal of the Norwegian resistance movement and the unambiguously evil characterization of the Nazi occupiers.

[32] Flynn was to follow the movie with To the Last Man (which became Northern Pursuit) and Captain Horatio Hornblower (which was postponed and then made with Gregory Peck).