Tonight's Movie: Edge of Darkness (1943) - A Warner Archive Blu-ray Review

Last week the Warner Archive released the Warner Bros. film EDGE OF DARKNESS (1943) on Blu-ray.

No one could have anticipated when the release was planned just how shockingly relevant this film would be this particular week.

As I watched the story of Norwegian Resistance fighters battling to free their home from the Nazis during World War II, I of course couldn't help thinking of the war which has just broken out in Europe, as Ukrainians fight to repel the Russian Army.

Phrases like "Everything old is new again" and "Those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it" ran through my mind as I watched the story of brave men and women who took up arms to rescue their home and country, knowing they were at great risk of death themselves.

Errol Flynn stars as Norwegian fisherman Gunnar Brogge, who has recently been considering sailing away from his Nazi-occupied village -- and his sweetheart Karen (Ann Sheridan) -- in order to join an army and fight for Norway's freedom from outside the country.

Gunnar's plans change when word reaches the citizens that arms will soon be arriving in their village, as well as at towns up and down the coast. The citizens hold a meeting in their church, the one building the Nazis usually don't enter, and after a quiet debate they hold a vote on whether to accept the guns and fight their oppressors.

As time goes on, some citizens show unexpected bravery against the occupying army, while Karen's brother (John Beal) is disdained as a Nazi collaborator. The situation in the village becomes more and more dire, but just as it's beginning to look as though all hope is lost at the hands of the Nazis, a plan for the recently arrived guns goes into action...

This is a very good, subdued film directed by Lewis Milestone, whose other wartime classics included ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT (1930) and A WALK IN THE SUN (1945).

Flynn and Sheridan give quietly confident performances as two of the leaders of the local Resistance. Neither actor is as flashy or charming as we often see in their films, and that's entirely appropriate here. I enjoyed their performances as admirable and determined town leaders. The events currently happening elsewhere in the world certainly work to freshly underscore that their characters and situations were entirely realistic.

I particularly liked the agency given to Sheridan's tough-minded Karen throughout the film. Karen and Gunnar are equal partners. When the final gunshot of the movie comes, it's Sheridan's Karen who pulls the trigger and hits the target, while Gunnar (Flynn) watches alongside her.

Judith Anderson is a hotel owner and fellow Resistance member who determinedly resists the courtship of a relatively kind Nazi soldier. Karen's father, a doctor who isn't sure fighting back is the right choice, is played by Walter Huston, with Ruth Gordon as her mother, who mourns for the old happy days.

There are some wonderfully played smaller parts, such as Henry Brandon (THE SEARCHERS) as a British secret agent and Virginia Christine as the doctor's shy but determined employee, who picks up a gun alongside the men when the time comes. Morris Carnovsky plays a retired schoolmaster who refuses to surrender his home to the Nazis.

Helmut Dantine plays a Nazi officer, with Nancy Coleman as a disturbed woman who is clearly kept in the hotel by Dantine for one reason and one reason only.

This 119-minute film was filmed in black and white by Sid Hickox, with some location work taking place in the Monterey area. Robert Rossen's screenplay was based on a novel by William Woods. The musical score was by Franz Waxman.

The new Blu-ray print was made from the "best preservation elements." Like most Warner Archive Blu-rays, it looks and sounds great.

Disc extras are the short GUN TO GUN (1944) with Robert Shayne and Lupita Tovar; a Chuck Jones cartoon, TO DUCK OR NOT TO DUCK (1943); and the trailer.

Recommended as an excellent World War II film which is also surprisingly timely.

Thanks to the Warner Archive for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray. Warner Archive Blu-rays may be ordered from the Warner Archive Collection Amazon Store or from any online retailers where Blu-rays are sold.

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