| | |  | NORWAY | Home » » Commandos Strike at Dawn | | | | | | | Description: | | Paul Muni, Lillian Gish. A WWII drama about a Norwegian fisherman who flees to England to escape the invading Nazi forces but returns to rally the inhabitants of his village to become a competent fighting force and strike at a German resupply station. 1942/b&w/100 min/NR/fullscreen. | | | Product Details: | | | Actors:
| Paul Muni, Anna Lee, Lillian Gish, Cedric Hardwicke, Robert Coote | | Director:
| John Farrow | | Format:
| Black & White, Closed-captioned, DVD, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC | | Language:
| English | | Subtitle:
| English, French, Japanese | | Number of Discs:
| 1 | | Studio:
| Sony Pictures Home Entertainment | | Run Time:
| 98 minutes | | DVD Release Date:
| May 13, 2003 | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 12 reviews |
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| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
 ( 12 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
20 of 20 found the following review helpful:
 Commandos Strike at DawnMay 30, 2005
By Steven Hellerstedt
"SH"
Hollywood's first reaction to the United States' entry into World War II usually took one of two forms. In the Pacific Theater the movie typically chronicled a valiant, but doomed, defense. Wake Island and Bataan were popular movies of early defeat. When Hollywood turned its attention to the European Theater its early movies celebrated indigenous resistance against Nazism by the intrepid citizens of nations like Czechoslovakia, or, in the case of COMMANDOS STRIKE AT DAWN, Norway.
Paul Muni stars as Eric Toresen, a soft-spoken, pacifistic civil servant whose initial response to the German occupation of the small town he lives in is rather detached. "We civilians," he explains, haven't a right to interfere and oppose the military occupation. "This is not exactly our line." Of course, the occupiers are busy rounding up suspected subversives, imposing their doctrine in the local schools, and confiscating personal property for use in the Fatherland. Before long Toresen realizes that `we must learn from them to become gangsters and thugs.' When Toresen discovers a military airfield being built nearby, he plans to sail to England and organize a commando force to destroy it before it becomes operational.
Muni gives a typically good, understated performance as a gentle man caught in vicious times. Although it contains a quisling or two, COMMANDOS STRIKE AT DAWN fulfills its purpose - explaining to Americans why we fight and generally ennobling the heroic freedom fighters in Nazi occupied Europe. A strong recommendation for this early entry in World War II movies.
13 of 14 found the following review helpful:
this movie was made in 1942 off Vancouver IslandMar 19, 2004
By Heather C. Mcfarlane
This movie was made in 1942, and made use of the HMCS Prince David which was on leave from thrashing around in the Aleutians looking for the Japanese. My father was an officer on that ship at the time, and thoroughly enjoyed the cast, especially Sir Cecil Hardwicke. I've watched the movie, and of course it is propaganda, it was made in 1942. That is part of its charm. Remember that at the time, no one knew who would win the war. Vancouver Island makes a good stand in for Norway, and Paul Muni is some brave! It is superior propaganda and a fun experience.
13 of 14 found the following review helpful:
Muni, WWII & Tommy-Guns; what more could you want!Dec 20, 2001
By C. Burton
This WWII film does have a certain aspect of propaganda to it, but the tense storyline is riveting and will keep you glued to your chair until the last scene (which isn't exactly what you'll be expecting). Muni puts in a fine performance, as always. Overall, an enjoyable war drama.
7 of 7 found the following review helpful:
A good kind of war propaganda--lessons kids should knowDec 27, 2005
By Nicholas Dujmovic
As a dad, I found this film, though dated and quaint, both a stirring old war movie that boys will like as well as a good opportunity to teach some strategic realities. There are bad people in the world, they make promises and break them and they strive to enslave good people; for the sake of civilization good people often need to do otherwise bad things like fight and even kill. Rough stuff, but this is the fallen nature of this world.
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
 Well crafted but overlong wartime morale-boosterNov 07, 2007
By Trevor Willsmer
With a story by Hornblower creator C.S. Forrester and a screenplay by future doorstop novelist Irwin Shaw, 1942's Commandos Strike at Dawn is a solid but overlong wartime propaganda picture that benefits from a good location (Canada standing in for Norway, giving it a similar feel to parts of 49th Parallel), a strong cast (an understated Paul Muni, Ray Collins, Lillian Gish, Cedric Hardwicke and the ever likeable Robert Coote among them, while Alexander Knox does double duty as a cold Nazi and the voice of the commandos' padre delivering a pre-raid sermon) but ultimately just takes too long to get where its going. Certainly the commando raid itself is a long time coming and not particularly excitingly mounted despite obvious extensive cooperation from the Canadian armed forces, although the last few minutes are almost staged as a pure western with commandos and Nazis instead of cowboys and Indians. En route it understandably overplays the acts resistance for morale-boosting purposes, but it the first half is elevated by some of the always-undervalued director John Farrow's typically complicated but unostentatious long tracking shots. For classical music buffs, Igor Stravinsky's Four Norwegian Moods was based on his rejected score for the film, replaced here by a more overtly stirring Oscar-nominated effort by Louis Gruenberg and an uncredited John Leipold.
See all 12 customer reviews on Amazon.com
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