''Commandos Strike at Dawn'' is a 1942 war film directed by John Farrow and written by Irwin Shaw from a short story entitled "The Commandos" by

C. S. Forester Cecil Louis Troughton Smith (27 August 1899 – 2 April 1966), known by his pen name Cecil Scott "C. S." Forester, was an English novelist known for writing tales of naval warfare, such as the 12-book Horatio Hornblower series depicting a Roya ...

that appeared in '' Cosmopolitan'' magazine in June 1942. Filmed in Canada, it starred

Paul Muni Paul Muni (born Frederich Meshilem Meier Weisenfreund; September 22, 1895– August 25, 1967) was an American stage and film actor who grew up in Chicago. Muni was a five-time Academy Award nominee, with one win. He started his acting career in ...

, Anna Lee,

Lillian Gish Lillian Diana Gish (October 14, 1893February 27, 1993) was an American actress, director, and screenwriter. Her film-acting career spanned 75 years, from 1912, in silent film shorts, to 1987. Gish was called the "First Lady of American Cinema", ...

in her return to the screen, Cedric Hardwicke and Robert Coote.

Plot

Erik Toresen, a widower and peaceful man, is stirred to violence after the

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

occupy his quiet Norwegian fishing village. German abuses lead Erik to form a

Resistance Resistance may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Comics * Either of two similarly named but otherwise unrelated comic book series, both published by Wildstorm: ** ''Resistance'' (comics), based on the video game of the same title ** ''T ...

group. He kills the head of the Nazis occupying his village, and then escapes to Britain, and guides some British Commandos to a raid on a secret airstrip the Germans are building on the Norwegian coast.

Cast

Production

Inspired by 1941 commando raids in Norway, Columbia Pictures registered the name "Commandos Story" in 1941 feeling the title could spawn a film. The film was shot in the

Greater Victoria Greater Victoria (also known as the Greater Victoria Region) is located in British Columbia, Canada, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island. It is usually defined as the thirteen municipalities of the Capital Regional District (CRD) ...

, Canada, area. Saanich Inlet stands in for Norwegian fjords. The airstrip is what would become the Victoria International Airport. Hall's Boat House (now Goldstream Marina) is where the wharf scenes are shot. The Canadian Army provided a large number of troops as well as military equipment while the

RCAF The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environ ...

provided aircraft shown include two Bristol Bolingbrokes and two

Westland Lysander The Westland Lysander is a British army co-operation and liaison aircraft produced by Westland Aircraft that was used immediately before and during the Second World War. After becoming obsolete in the army co-operation role, the aircraft's ...

s. The ship used in the film was

HMCS Prince David (F89) HMCS ''Prince David'' was one of three Canadian National Steamships passenger liners that were converted for the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN), first to armed merchant cruisers at the beginning of Second World War, then infantry landing ships (medi ...

a former CN Steamship which had been converted to an Armed Merchant Cruiser in 1940. During the 1930s,

Oak Bay, British Columbia Oak Bay is a municipality incorporated in 1906 that is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island, in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is one of thirteen member municipalities of the Capital Regional District, and is bordered ...

was the original "Hollywood North" when fourteen films were produced in Greater Victoria between 1933 and 1938. An off-season exhibition building on the Willows Fairgrounds was converted to a film soundstage and films were produced with stars such as Lillian Gish, Paul Muni, Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Edith Fellows, Charles Starrett and Rin Tin Tin Jr. The Willows Park Studio films include: 1933 ''The Crimson Paradise'', 1935 ''Secrets of Chinatown'', 1936 ''Fury and the Woman'' (aka ''Lucky Corrigan''), ''Lucky Fugitives'', ''Secret Patrol'', ''Stampede'', ''Tugboat Princess'', ''What Price Vengeance'', ''Manhattan Shakedown'', ''Murder is News'', ''Woman Against the World'', ''Death Goes North'', ''Convicted'', ''Special Inspector'', ''Commandos Strike at Dawn''.

Soundtrack

The film was nominated for an Academy Award for its score by the world-renowned opera composer,

Louis Gruenberg Louis Gruenberg ( ; June 10, 1964) was a Russian-born American pianist and prolific composer, especially of operas. An early champion of Schoenberg and other contemporary composers, he was also a highly respected Oscar-nominated film composer in H ...

and an uncredited

John Leipold John Leipold (February 26, 1888 – March 8, 1970) was an American film score composer. Selected filmography * ''Behind the Make-Up'' (1930) * '' Playboy of Paris'' (1930) * '' Monkey Business'' (1931) * '' Horse Feathers'' (1932) * ''It’s a Gif ...

. This was Gruenberg's second Hollywood film score and second nomination for one; he'd moved to Beverly Hills in the late 1930s to supplement his income and hang out with fellow LA resident,

Arnold Schoenberg Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (, ; ; 13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian-American composer, music theorist, teacher, writer, and painter. He is widely considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was as ...

, whose works Gruenberg had championed when these composers could still live in Europe and not Los Angeles County.

Ann Ronell Ann Ronell (née Rosenblatt; December 25, 1905 — December 25, 1993) was an American composer and lyricist. She was best known for the standards " Willow Weep for Me" (1932) and " Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf" (1933). Early life Ronell was ...

fashioned a song ''Out to Pick the Berries'' from Gruenberg's score and wrote lyrics for a theme which became known as ''The Commandos March''.

Igor Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of the ...

, who had been approached to score the film, completed his score before the film had been finished and negotiations to make revisions fell through. Stravinsky recycled the music he had prepared for the film into his Four Norwegian Moods.pp. 337-338 Passler, Jann Confronting Stravinsky: Man, Musician, and Modernist. University of California Press, 1988.

Release

The film was meant to be released in 1943, but it was released early due to the failure of the

Dieppe Raid Operation Jubilee or the Dieppe Raid (19 August 1942) was an Allied amphibious attack on the German-occupied port of Dieppe in northern France, during the Second World War. Over 6,050 infantry, predominantly Canadian, supported by a regiment ...

References

Works cited

External links

* * * * * * {{John Farrow 1942 films Films directed by John Farrow World War II films made in wartime Norwegian resistance movement Films scored by Morris Stoloff Films set in Norway Films shot in British Columbia Columbia Pictures films American black-and-white films Films with screenplays by Irwin Shaw American war films 1942 war films Films based on works by C. S. Forester Films about Norwegian resistance movement