Edge of Darkness Page #6

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


We'll stand your watch with you.

It's lonely out here.

I'm sorry I was angry.

Lend me a handkerchief,

will you, Gunnar?

The glasses are dirty.

That's better.

Thank you.

They've come. They're here.

Stack them over here, men.

The British captain says, "Look,

there's Norway, only four miles away.

Must be quite a place in peacetime."

"Captain," I says,

"it's quite a place now."

Karen, you should've seen that wonderful,

big fisherman of yours.

Collar up, cap pulled over the eyes,

face streaked with salt water.

There he was, squinting dead ahead

through the spray.

The picture of a Viking.

I never heard Gunnar so talkative.

Every time the boat rolled, he'd say:

"We're not in your store now,

eh, Malken?"

And me so seasick,

I was afraid I wouldn't die.

Same with me. It got to the point

where I thought I could stand no more.

And at that moment,

I heard our motor stop.

"Are you sure this is the right spot,

Gunnar?"

"Yes," says Gunnar. "I marked it yesterday

on the side of the boat."

Did you have trouble finding the sub?

No. I had the good fortune to be looking

in the right direction.

I saw it all.

First, a white line of breakers

and then something like a fish in the middle.

When, all at once, she was up

not 50 yards away...

...with sailors pouring fast

out of the hatch...

...training a light and a deck gun on us.

We heard a voice calling.

"Brogge, Gunnar. Are you there?"

That was Ruck.

He was the first to greet us.

"You wanted to know

when we'd deliver the arms?

Here's your answer.

The last night in September."

I knew he wouldn't forget us.

He didn't. "Clever woman you have

in sister Gerd," he said.

"Kiss her for me, will you?

And the beautiful Miss Stensgard too."

Now, to work. I want to see

what our friends sent us.

I wrote down every box...

...as the quartermaster

was calling out their contents.

Read it.

"Fifteen thousand rounds

of 50-caliber ammunition.

One hundred hand grenades,

300 bayonets.

Three hundred rifles

and four light machine guns."

"And don't stop to count them," he said.

I don't wanna say anything.

We should be glad to get that much,

but still, it's the old story.

Four machine guns

against the German army.

That Osterholm,

always on the gloomy side.

Here, Karen, feel how light that is.

Does no one here remember Stoksund?

Sure. We remember Stoksund.

But in Stoksund, they were betrayed

by a quisling.

In Trollness, we, too, can be betrayed

by a quisling.

Speak up, Karen.

Tell them who might betray us

here in Trollness.

My brother.

- This is the tree. Mark it.

- All right, Gunnar. I won't be long.

Down.

The flashlight, they shot it

out of my hands.

- Where is it?

- Don't know, shouldn't have lit it.

That's bad.

Hello?

You can see for yourself

what ungrateful people they are.

They speak of loyalty to their country.

And how do they prove it?

By provoking the Germans

into destroying it...

...with their plots and conspiracies.

What do you want, Uncle Kaspar?

You and I, Johann.

We're the only sane ones.

The only calm ones, the only smart ones.

We'll come out all right,

no matter who wins.

When I came here, it was with the clear

understanding that I was to be left alone.

Well, I've left you alone.

Well, let it continue that way.

I made a mistake in Oslo. I'm not a Nazi.

It isn't a question

of being a Nazi, Johann.

It's a question

of protecting what's yours.

This cannery is mine now,

but it'll be yours someday.

Tomorrow morning,

because of this nonsense on the hill...

...Koenig is confiscating

all the fishing boats.

He's afraid the villagers

might use them to get arms.

Do you know what that means, Johann?

It means that our cannery

will have to close.

Now, wouldn't it be better

if quietly and without any fuss...

...you could find out

what they were doing on that hill?

It wouldn't be hard.

The villagers trust you.

You could listen, ask a few questions.

- Well, Johann?

- No.

I won't go through it again.

What I went through in Oslo...

...when all my friends found out.

What will you do, Johann?

I'll go away to some other town.

All right, let's deal in facts.

One, travel in Norway is forbidden

without a German visa.

Two, it will be very simple

for the people of Trollness...

...to find out you were a traitor.

Three, the Nazis consider you

one of them.

They don't like traitors either.

They shoot them.

See, Johann,

the facts speak for themselves.

Where did you get this?

Can you fix it, Mr. Malken?

I think it can still be used.

- Well, where did you get it?

- I found it.

- Up on the plateau in the woods?

- Yeah.

Why? Is it yours?

It's lucky you found it

instead of the Germans.

How do you mean?

- Well, you see that hole?

- Yeah.

German bullet went right through there.

Shot it right out of a fellow's hand.

Oh, what a night.

My back's almost broken.

Hauling all those supplies

from the plateau to the big ravine.

From the plateau to the ravine.

From the plateau to the ravine.

- Well?

- A fool's errand. There's nothing.

I told you word for word

what Malken said.

It's not my fault.

Lucky for us, Karen warned us in time.

Her own brother.

Maybe it wasn't such a fool's errand.

Lieutenant, the following measures

are to be carried out immediately.

Confiscate their fishing boats.

Evict the schoolmaster

and convert his home into a blockhouse.

All restrictions on our troops

are to be lifted.

- They're free to do as they choose.

- There'll be trouble, Herr Hauptmann.

That's exactly what I want.

Your son, Anna. He's a traitor.

- Father.

- It's time for her to know.

Know what, Martin?

He's a traitor. Ask him why.

Maybe he'll tell you.

Johann, you tell them the truth now.

It'll be better.

You tell them the truth.

All right.

When the Nazis came into Oslo...

...I had to make a decision

and I thought...

- You thought of yourself before Norway.

- Yes.

That was in Oslo, but here,

on the boat, you gave your word.

I didn't realize, father, that once you're in

you can't get out.

You can.

If you're not afraid to die.

Karen...

...if I could get out of Norway

to Sweden, England, any place.

You can help me get out.

You people have ways.

I know you've smuggled thousands

across the border.

Not long ago, in Trondheim...

...they helped a quisling

to get across the border.

No sooner was he across, the people

who'd helped him were arrested.

Ten men were shot.

The rest sent to a concentration camp.

No. No, I wouldn't do that.

You know I wouldn't.

Karen, tell him I wouldn't.

You wouldn't want to do it, Johann.

You didn't want to go back

to the Nazis either...

...but you can't help yourself now.

- You're weak, Johann.

- Karen.

Mother, I wish I could speak for him.

I wish I could say to Gunnar,

"Help my brother."

I wish I hadn't been the one

that had to warn them against him.

Father, they'll kill me.

No.

No, we won't kill you.

It isn't necessary to kill you.

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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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