Edge of Darkness

Synopsis: It's two years after the Nazi's invasion of Norway and in a small fishing village that is headquarters to 150 German soldiers, the 800 locals are stewing, waiting for a supply of arms so they can revolt. Leaders include Karen Stensgard, whose father is the town's doctor and not all that sure that an open revolt will accomplish much and whose brother has proven disloyal to Norway previously, and Gunnar Brogge, a fisherman who was planning to sail to England to fight but changed his mind on hearing of English arms being delivered. Although the Nazi's cruelty is evident, the townspeople bide their time, until one incident causes the stewpot to boil over.
Genre: Drama, War
Director(s): Lewis Milestone
Production: MGM/UA Home Entertainment Inc
 
IMDB:
7.2
APPROVED
Year:
1943
119 min
213 Views


It's 4:
00.

We are over Trollness again.

Look. Look. That flag.

- That's not ours.

- It's Norwegian.

Let's go down.

Our garrison headquarters

flying a Norwegian flag.

That's right. A Norwegian flag.

Suggest you investigate immediately.

Not a sign of life.

No smoke coming from the chimneys.

There can be fire without smoke.

Go away! Go away!

This is mine!

All mine! I own all this!

Go away! Go away, I tell you!

This is all mine. Go away!

Stop.

- What happened here?

- What happened here? What happened here?

The cannery, I built it.

Yes, I built it. With beautiful machines

that stamped out on millions of cans...

...Kaspar Torgersen, Torgersen,

Torgersen.

I owned half the boats.

Now I own them all. I own everything.

Hopelessly insane. Get rid of him.

Mine. Mine. Mine.

The landing party will be divided

into four groups.

Each group will scour a section of the town.

When they accomplished that...

...they will assemble at the hotel.

- Yes.

It's all mine.

If you're not too squeamish, lieutenant,

I would like to dictate a report.

At your service, Herr Hauptmann.

We entered the town of Trollness,

October 28th, 1942.

Former German garrison...

...commanded

by Hauptmann K-O-E-N-l-G.

Hauptmann Koenig.

Herr Major Ruck.

Heil Hitler.

- Heil Hitler, Herr Major.

My credentials.

Please sit down, Herr Major.

May I offer my apologies

for this surprise visit?

I'm a member of the fhrer's bodyguard

attached to the Academy of War Sciences.

- Of course. Of course, Herr Major.

- Sit down. Don't be alarmed.

We discovered

we obtain our best results...

...by not announcing our arrival

beforehand.

In Berlin I have seen the files from all the

commands of the central Norwegian coast.

You are mentioned as a student of tactics,

a good disciplinarian, worthy of promotion.

- Herr Major means...

- Sit down. That's not what I have come for.

- Can we be overheard?

- No, Herr Major.

I will be brief.

I stopped at every station

between here and Trondheim.

On one point, there is dissatisfaction

both in the general staff and in Berlin.

It is the attitude of the Norwegians

toward our troops.

I've come here to correct it.

I want all the available information

concerning your town.

Facts, figures, et cetera.

This is Trollness.

Main industry, fishing.

The cannery, it employs

about a hundred men and women.

A few shopkeepers, a few professionals.

In the hills, a few scattered farms.

Total population, a little under 800 persons.

Against them, our German garrison

of 150 men...

...well-equipped, well-seasoned troops.

This hotel is our headquarters.

Breastworks have been put up,

trenches dug.

Machine guns are scattered

all over the town.

I can defend this town against anything,

except an attack by sea.

A revolt would be crushed

within an hour.

I compliment you on your thoroughness,

Hauptmann Koenig.

Thank you, Herr Major.

I have been working on a plan every night

since I've been here.

It's not just a plan for this town alone,

but a master plan for all occupied territories.

- lf Berlin accepts...

- Sent it to Berlin?

Yes, I have.

And I expect an answer by the next boat.

If they accept it,

I hope I shall be transferred.

To the Russian front, preferably.

- You don't like it here, Hauptmann Koenig?

- I'm a soldier.

It's one thing to fight soldiers.

Those are ghosts.

- Then there is trouble here too?

- Nothing you can put your finger on.

Once in a while, a fire breaks out,

a boat is sunk, a wire is cut...

...a shipment of fish is spoiled.

The kettle boils.

It's clear this town is no different

from many others.

Yes. Especially of late.

The underground newspaper

keeps the people excited and stirred up...

...with their silly tales

of commando raids, guerrilla warfares...

...our losses in Russia.

After all,

I can hardly be expected to take...

I have carried out

all military regulations to the letter.

Blackout every night after curfew.

- Precautionary searches...

- I am sure you have.

One thing more.

My stay here will be brief.

A few days at most.

I shall want a list of all the troublemakers

in this town.

Ha, ha, ha. I would have to give you the

name of every man, woman and child.

- The leaders, do you know who they are?

- Every one.

We begin right here in the hotel,

right where my soldiers are quartered.

The woman downstairs, the innkeeper...

...her father was shot as a hostage

when we first took over the town.

She steals army food

from the commissariat...

...and distributes it in the village.

I close my eyes to that

because she's very efficient otherwise.

I took the liberty of fixing your chair.

You have a habit of tilting it back

and I noticed that the legs were too weak.

Try it.

Don't be afraid. I'm a good carpenter.

You always have flowers on the table.

My dead wife loved flowers.

You bear such a strong resemblance

to her.

I'm busy. I have work to do.

Yes, I know. Too much for a woman.

This could be a fine hotel.

It needs a man around to fix things.

I'm a good carpenter.

You're a German.

Now, for the rest of them,

here in the town.

There is Jensen, the shoemaker.

He is sly. He bears watching.

Solveig Brategaard, the baker's widow.

Her husband was shot,

but she carries on his work against us.

Petersen, the butcher.

He will run amuck some day.

Old man Mortensen, the tailor.

His son was arrested in Oslo. He is bitter.

Lars Malken, he runs the general store.

An old fool.

But he's useful to them for errands.

Karen Stensgard,

very active, very dangerous.

Daughter of the only doctor in town,

Martin Stensgard.

- Where are you going?

- To Gunnar Brogge.

- Karen, I forbid it.

- What have you against him, Father?

- He's not for you.

- I think he is.

Germans will stand him up against a wall,

you along with him.

Someone has to fight.

I'm a good Norwegian.

I wanna hold this family together.

You're not the only one in Norway

that wants that. Good night, Father.

A few farmers.

They're not very important.

In the cannery, they are all against us.

- One with us.

- The owner?

Of course.

- Who is the leader among these rebels?

- A man called Brogge, Gunnar Brogge.

A fisherman, about 30.

Served in the Norwegian army

when we first came in.

Head of the fishermen's union

when they had one.

Why don't you make arrests?

If it comes to an open rebellion...

...I can assure you, Herr Major,

within ten minutes.

We're 150 against 800.

We could be 150 against 8000.

Eighty thousand.

We have guns and they are afraid to die.

This man Brogge, where does he live?

Here on the wharf in this shack.

I can sail the course to England

blindfolded.

The moon is bright tonight.

They won't see me.

Gunnar, maybe you could wait?

- For what?

- For another night, a darker one.

- I've had my fill of waiting.

- All right then, go, now.

Karen...

...you think this is easy for me?

I can't stand it here any longer.

More than two years now with the Nazi

without striking a blow.

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Robert Rossen

Robert Rossen (March 16, 1908 – February 18, 1966) was an American screenwriter, film director, and producer whose film career spanned almost three decades. His 1949 film All the King's Men won Oscars for Best Picture, Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress, while Rossen was nominated for an Oscar as Best Director. He won the Golden Globe for Best Director and the film won the Golden Globe Award for Best Picture. In 1961 he directed The Hustler, which was nominated for nine Oscars and won two. After directing and writing for the stage in New York, Rossen moved to Hollywood in 1937. There he worked as a screenwriter for Warner Bros. until 1941, and then interrupted his career to serve until 1944 as the chairman of the Hollywood Writers Mobilization, a body to organize writers for the effort in World War II. In 1945 he joined a picket line against Warner Bros. After making one film for Hal Wallis's newly formed production company, Rossen made one for Columbia Pictures, another for Wallis and most of his later films for his own companies, usually in collaboration with Columbia. Rossen was a member of the American Communist Party from 1937 to about 1947, and believed the Party was "dedicated to social causes of the sort that we as poor Jews from New York were interested in."He ended all relations with the Party in 1949. Rossen was twice called before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), in 1951 and in 1953. He exercised his Fifth Amendment rights at his first appearance, refusing to state whether he had ever been a Communist. As a result, he found himself blacklisted by Hollywood studios as well as unable to renew his passport. At his second appearance he named 57 people as current or former Communists and his blacklisting ended. In order to repair finances he produced his next film, Mambo, in Italy in 1954. While The Hustler in 1961 was a great success, conflicts on the set of Lilith so disillusioned him that it was his last film. more…

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