''Commandos Strike at Dawn'' is a 1942

war film War film is a film genre concerned with warfare, typically about navy, naval, air force, air, or army, land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been strongly associated with the 20th century. The fateful nature of battle s ...

directed by

John Farrow John Villiers Farrow, Order of the Holy Sepulchre (Catholic), KGCHS (10 February 190427 January 1963) was an Australian film director, producer, and screenwriter. Spending a considerable amount of his career in the United States, he was nomina ...

and written by

Irwin Shaw Irwin Shaw (February 27, 1913 – May 16, 1984) was an American playwright, screenwriter, novelist, and short-story author whose written works have sold more than 14 million copies. He is best known for two of his novels: '' The Young Lions'' (1 ...

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 Royal ...

that appeared in ''

Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Internationalism * World citizen, one who eschews traditional geopolitical divisions derived from national citizenship * Cosmopolitanism, the idea that all of humanity belongs to a single moral community * 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 from Chicago. He started his acting career in the Yiddish theater and during the 1930s, he was considered one of ...

, Anna Lee,

Lillian Gish Lillian Diana Gish (October 14, 1893 – February 27, 1993) was an American actress best known for her work in movies of the silent era. Her film-acting career spanned 75 years, from 1912, in silent film shorts, to 1987. Gish was dubbed the "F ...

in her return to the screen,

Cedric Hardwicke Sir Cedric Webster Hardwicke (19 February 1893 – 6 August 1964) was an English stage and film actor whose career spanned over 50 years. His theatre work included notable performances in productions of the plays of Shakespeare and Shaw, and hi ...

and Robert Coote.

Plot

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

Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

occupy his quiet Norwegian fishing village. German abuses lead Erik to form a Resistance group. He kills the head of the Nazis occupying his village, and then escapes to

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

, and guides some

British Commandos The Commandos, also known as the British Commandos, were formed during the World War II, Second World War in June 1940, following a request from Winston Churchill, for special forces that could carry out Raid (military), raids against German-occ ...

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. Director John Farrow was a Commander in the

Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve The Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve (RCNVR) was a naval reserve force of the Royal Canadian Navy from 1923 to 1946. It replaced the Royal Naval Canadian Volunteer Reserve (RNCVR). Foundation The RCNVR was created in 1923. The organizati ...

. 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) on V ...

, Canada, area.

Saanich Inlet Saanich Inlet (also Saanich Arm) is a body of salt water that lies between the Saanich Peninsula and the Malahat, British Columbia, Malahat highlands of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. Located just northwest of Victoria, British Colum ...

stands in for Norwegian fjords. The airstrip is what would become the

Victoria International Airport Victoria International Airport serves Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. It is north northwest of Victoria on the Saanich Peninsula, with the bulk of the airport (including the passenger terminal) in North Saanich, British Columbia, North Saa ...

. 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; ) 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 environmental commands within the unified Canad ...

provided aircraft shown include two Bristol Bolingbrokes and two

Westland Lysander The Westland Lysander is a British Army cooperation aircraft, 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-operat ...

s. Canadian soldiers from the Battle Drill Training School in Vernon appeared in the film, Warrant Officer Class I Mickey Miquelon of the Calgary Highlanders and Warrant Officer Class II Lester Kemp. The ship used in the film was 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'' (aka ''Fighting Playboy'') * 1935 '' Secrets of Chinatown'' * 1936 '' Fury and the Woman'' (aka ''Lucky Corrigan'') * 1936 '' Lucky Fugitives'' * 1936 '' Secret Patrol'' * 1936 ''

Stampede A stampede () is a situation in which a group of large animals suddenly start running in the same direction, especially because they are excited or frightened. Although the term is most often applied to animals, there are cases of humans stamped ...

'' * 1936 '' Tugboat Princess'' * 1937 '' What Price Vengeance'' * 1937 '' Manhattan Shakedown'' * 1937 '' Murder is News'' * 1937 '' Woman Against the World'' * 1937 '' Death Goes North'' * 1938 ''

Convicted In law, a conviction is the determination by a court of law that a defendant is guilty of a crime. A conviction may follow a guilty plea that is accepted by the court, a jury trial in which a verdict of guilty is delivered, or a trial by jud ...

'' * 1938 '' Special Inspector'' * 1942 ''Commandos Strike at Dawn'' (1942)

Soundtrack

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

Louis Gruenberg Louis Gruenberg ( ; June 9, 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. 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 and American composer, music theorist, teacher and writer. He was among the first Modernism (music), modernists who transformed the practice of harmony in 20th-centu ...

, whose works Gruenberg had championed when these composers could still live in Europe and not Los Angeles County. Ann Ronell 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 and conductor with French citizenship (from 1934) and American citizenship (from 1945). He is widely considered one of the most important and influential 20th-century c ...

, 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.

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 a disastrous 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 ...

. After the film's London premiere in 1943, Columbia Pictures donated the proceeds from the premiere to the King Haakon Norwegian Relief Fund at a lunch attended by Prime Minister Johan Nygaardsvold, head of the

Norwegian government-in-exile __NOTOC__ Nygaardsvold's Cabinet (later becoming the Norwegian government-in-exile) was appointed on 20 March 1935, the second Labour cabinet in Norway. It brought to an end the non-socialist minority governments that had dominated Norwegian p ...

in London.

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 1940s English-language films English-language war films