Film's British New Wave in the early 1960s was inspired by several early 1940s social realism motion pictures, led by January 1940 "The Stars Look Down." This Carol Reed-directed ground-breaking movie looks at the underbelly of the working class, with its members struggling against an inequitable system run by elites.
The movie adaptation of A. J. Cronin's 1935 novel of the same name (the author also helped co-write its script), "The Stars Look Down" had Carol Reed, after viewing the final edit, lamenting it was "a gloomy little piece. I immediately disowned it." But the British public didn't see it that way. Released in the middle of the 'Phony War,' a period which saw little land action between the Allies and the Germans after war was declared in September 1939, movie goers embraced Reed's film of a mining community whose workers sensed a water break in the mine shafts was imminent, instigating a strike. While Bob Fenwick (Edward Rigby) leads the strike, his oldest son, Davey (Michael Redgrave), is off to college on a scholarship. Davey is in love with Jenny Sunley (Margaret Lockwood), who convinces him to give up college for a teaching job. Davey's old acquaintance Joe Gowlan (Emlyn Williams), an ex-boyfriend of Jenny, made a secret deal with the owner of the mine to convince the workers to return to the dangerous section of the mine. When the workers, with Bob Fenwick in the lead, go back into the mine shaft, the two stories intersect, with startling results.
"The Stars Look Down" is regarded as the first British film touching upon England's important social issues. The picture reflects "the contempt rich owners have for their underpaid employees and the distrust labor has for its union leaders," notes film historian Danny Peary. As the most expensive British movie produced up to that time, Grafton Films built a reconstruction of a real life colliery 40,000 square yards in size, the largest English set built outdoors. Actor Redgrave, a committed socialist, felt the production screamed to nationalize all the United Kingdom mines, feeling the dastardly mine owner, Richard Barras (Allan Jeayes), was common in the industry.
Film reviewer Gary Tooze praised "The Stars Look Down" as "The film is yet another reason to recognize Carol Reed as one of the best and most underrated directors of all time. The character, the story and its filmic retelling are a remarkable achievement of powerful cinema." His first film, 1935's 'Midshipman Easy,' was a low-budget 'quota quickie.' Reed confessed later his directorial debut was highly disappointing in the way he handled it: "I realized that this was the only way to learn - by making mistakes." By the time he made "The Stars Look Down," Reed was drawing critical praise from such critics as Graham Green, who wrote "one forgets the casting altogether: he handles his players like a master, so that one remembers them only as people." Reed went on to direct classics as 1947 "Odd Man Out" and 1949 "The Third Man."
As the forerunner to Britain's early 1960's 'Angry Young Men' genre, otherwise known as 'kitchen sink dramas,' "The Stars Look Down," reviewer Derek Winnert points out, "is distinguished by its presentation of lots of realistic and gritty detail that are rare in British films of the period - about strikes, mine conditions, difficult personal relationships and so on," an apt description of the prototype of British social realism.
The movie adaptation of A. J. Cronin's 1935 novel of the same name (the author also helped co-write its script), "The Stars Look Down" had Carol Reed, after viewing the final edit, lamenting it was "a gloomy little piece. I immediately disowned it." But the British public didn't see it that way. Released in the middle of the 'Phony War,' a period which saw little land action between the Allies and the Germans after war was declared in September 1939, movie goers embraced Reed's film of a mining community whose workers sensed a water break in the mine shafts was imminent, instigating a strike. While Bob Fenwick (Edward Rigby) leads the strike, his oldest son, Davey (Michael Redgrave), is off to college on a scholarship. Davey is in love with Jenny Sunley (Margaret Lockwood), who convinces him to give up college for a teaching job. Davey's old acquaintance Joe Gowlan (Emlyn Williams), an ex-boyfriend of Jenny, made a secret deal with the owner of the mine to convince the workers to return to the dangerous section of the mine. When the workers, with Bob Fenwick in the lead, go back into the mine shaft, the two stories intersect, with startling results.
"The Stars Look Down" is regarded as the first British film touching upon England's important social issues. The picture reflects "the contempt rich owners have for their underpaid employees and the distrust labor has for its union leaders," notes film historian Danny Peary. As the most expensive British movie produced up to that time, Grafton Films built a reconstruction of a real life colliery 40,000 square yards in size, the largest English set built outdoors. Actor Redgrave, a committed socialist, felt the production screamed to nationalize all the United Kingdom mines, feeling the dastardly mine owner, Richard Barras (Allan Jeayes), was common in the industry.
Film reviewer Gary Tooze praised "The Stars Look Down" as "The film is yet another reason to recognize Carol Reed as one of the best and most underrated directors of all time. The character, the story and its filmic retelling are a remarkable achievement of powerful cinema." His first film, 1935's 'Midshipman Easy,' was a low-budget 'quota quickie.' Reed confessed later his directorial debut was highly disappointing in the way he handled it: "I realized that this was the only way to learn - by making mistakes." By the time he made "The Stars Look Down," Reed was drawing critical praise from such critics as Graham Green, who wrote "one forgets the casting altogether: he handles his players like a master, so that one remembers them only as people." Reed went on to direct classics as 1947 "Odd Man Out" and 1949 "The Third Man."
As the forerunner to Britain's early 1960's 'Angry Young Men' genre, otherwise known as 'kitchen sink dramas,' "The Stars Look Down," reviewer Derek Winnert points out, "is distinguished by its presentation of lots of realistic and gritty detail that are rare in British films of the period - about strikes, mine conditions, difficult personal relationships and so on," an apt description of the prototype of British social realism.