The Stars Look Down (film)
| The Stars Look Down | |
|---|---|
UK DVD cover
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| Directed by | Carol Reed |
| Produced by |
Isadore Goldsmith Maurice J. Wilson |
| Screenplay by |
A. J. Cronin J.B. Williams |
| Based on |
The Stars Look Down by A. J. Cronin |
| Starring |
Michael Redgrave Margaret Lockwood Emlyn Williams Nancy Price |
| Music by | Hans May |
| Cinematography |
Mutz Greenbaum Ernest Palmer |
| Edited by | Reginald Beck |
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Production
company |
Grafton Films
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| Distributed by |
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (US) Grand National Pictures (UK) |
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Release date
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Running time
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110 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
The Stars Look Down is a British film from 1940, based on A. J. Cronin's 1935 novel of the same name, about injustices in a mining community in North East England. The film, co-scripted by Cronin and directed by Carol Reed, stars Michael Redgrave as Davey Fenwick and Margaret Lockwood as Jenny Sunley. The film is a New York Times Critics' Pick and is listed in The New York Times Guide to the Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made.
A week of filming was undertaken at Great Clifton and St Helens Siddick Colliery at Workington in Cumberland, followed by seven weeks of shooting at London's Denham and Twickenham Studios, where an elaborate mine-head was simulated. Also there is a shot at Derwent Crossings looking towards Mossbay pig iron works in Workington and the railway station used was Workington Central on the Workington to Cleator Moor line. Also included are several shots of Middle Row and Back Row, Northside, a village at the northern end of the town of Workington.
Later the set was moved to Shepperton Studios for another week of shooting. The original set of the pit-head was used to make up a huge composite set of 40,000 square yards, then the largest exterior set ever constructed for a British film. The set consisted of an exact replica of the Workington pit where the location work had been done, including a pit-head complete with cage, ramp, outer buildings and rows of miners' cottages. To ensure authenticity, pit ponies from the Cumberland mines were used and the miners' costumes consisted of clothes purchased from colliery workers.
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Wikipedia