The Stars Look Down (1939)

A lot like the latter 1941 Oscar winner How Green Was My Valley. Even the same set. BUT, not even close to that film. About coal mines in the same Welsh setting. Similarly begins as a confrontation between mine ownership and the men. The mine is shut down and when opens is dangerous and fails (just like How Green Was My Valley). But this one centers on a college bound man who gets not much support from fellow miners. Anti-intellectual stuff. The father (and some of the men) hopes that the hardship in the mines and the safety aspects will someday be addressed by the son. Fast paced, well done flick. The accents of the Welsh fortunately are not so thick we can't understand. The problem for ME in this film is that it doesn't hold my interest. Our college lad gets married to a gal that seems a twit. It therefore sags in the middle of the film. Turns into a romantic triangle from the initial issues of miner abuse. His wife still holds a torch for his new advisary in the movie (now an advisor to the owner). He then loses his wife. The mine owner gave our lad the ability to go to college, but when he is let go from his school teacher job, he comes hat in hand back to the mine owner who gives him a job. Things come to blows between our two old friends/lovers of the same gal in front of the owner (seated). I have no punch line to end this review. It was tough to get through for some reason. The fast talking welsch dialog gets real tiresome. The climactic showdown between our lead star and the directors of the mine. He fails to stop the dangerous problem of water in the mine. NOTES about the film: 1 Oddly, New York Times Critics' Pick and is listed in The New York Times Guide to the Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made. 2 The original set of the mine-head was used to make up a huge composite set of 40,000 square yards, the largest exterior set ever constructed for a British film at the time. The set consisted of an exact replica of the Workington mine where the location work had been done, including a pit-head complete with cage, ramp, outer buildings, and rows of miners' cottages. CAST Cast Michael Redgrave as Davey Fenwick Margaret Lockwood as Jenny Sunley Emlyn Williams as Joe Gowlan Nancy Price as Martha Fenwick Allan Jeayes as Richard Barras Edward Rigby as Robert Fenwick Linden Travers as Mrs. Laura Millington Cecil Parker as Stanley Millington Milton Rosmer as Harry Nugent, MP George Carney as Slogger Gowlan Ivor Barnard as Wept Olga Lindo as Mrs. Sunley Desmond Tester as Hughie Fenwick David Markham as Arthur Barras Aubrey Mallalieu as Hudspeth Kynaston Reeves as Strother Clive Baxter as Pat Reedy James Harcourt as Will Frederick Burtwell as Union Official Directed by Carol Reed Produced by Isadore Goldsmith Maurice J. Wilson Written by A. J. Cronin (novel & screenplay) J.B. Williams Narrated by Lionel Barrymore