Commandos Strike at Dawn
| Commandos Strike at Dawn | |
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| Directed by | John Farrow |
| Written by |
C.S. Forester (story) Irwin Shaw |
| Starring |
Paul Muni Anna Lee Lillian Gish Sir Cedric Hardwicke Robert Coote |
| Narrated by | Lester Cowan |
| Music by |
Louis Gruenberg John Leipold (uncredited) |
| Cinematography | William C. Mellor |
| Edited by | Anne Bauchens |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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98 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $1.5 million (US rentals) |
Commandos Strike at Dawn is a 1942 war film directed by John Farrow and written by Irwin Shaw from a short story entitled The Commandos by C.S. Forester that appeared in Cosmopolitan Magazine in June 1942. Filmed in Canada, it starred Paul Muni, Anna Lee, Lillian Gish in her return to the screen, Cedric Hardwicke and Robert Coote.
Erik Toresen (Paul Muni), a widower and peaceful man, is stirred to violence after the Nazis occupy his quiet Norwegian fishing village. German abuses lead Erik to form a Resistance group. He kills the head of the Nazis occupying his village, and then escapes to Britain, and guides some British Commandos to a raid on a secret airstrip the Germans are building on the Norwegian coast.
Inspired by 1941 commando raids in Norway, Columbia Pictures registered the name "Commandos Story" in 1941 feeling the title could spawn a film.
The film was shot in the Greater Victoria, Canada, area. Saanich Inlet stands in for Norwegian fjords. The airstrip is what would become the Victoria International Airport. Hall's Boat House (now Goldstream Marina) is where the wharf scenes are shot. The Canadian Army provided a large amount of troops and military equipment whilst the RCAF provided aircraft shown include two Bristol Bolingbrokes and two Westland Lysanders. The ship used in the film was HMCS Prince David (F89) a former CN Steamship which had been converted to an Armed Merchant Cruiser in 1940.
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Wikipedia