The Stars Look Down

The Stars Look Down

110 mins | Drama | Jan. 22, 1940

The Stars Look Down is based on A. J. Cronin's 1935 novel of the same name, about injustices in a mining community in North East England. While the novel follows the development of three young men in the small mining town, the film focuses on just one of them; the smart David Fenwick who gets a scholarship to university, meets a girl who only marries him because her former boyfriend has abandoned her, and eventually returns to the mine town as a teacher and takes part in a futile rescue effort when the mine is flooded, trapping both his father and his younger brother.

The Stars Look Down

110 mins | Drama | Jan. 22, 1940

The Stars Look Down
The Stars Look Down is based on A. J. Cronin's 1935 novel of the same name, about injustices in a mining community in North East England. While the novel follows the development of three young men in the small mining town, the film focuses on just one of them; the smart David Fenwick who gets a scholarship to university, meets a girl who only marries him because her former boyfriend has abandoned her, and eventually returns to the mine town as a teacher and takes part in a futile rescue effort when the mine is flooded, trapping both his father and his younger brother.
IMDb rating 7.0
Producers Grafton Films
Original title The Stars Look Down
Directors Carol Reed
Writers J.B. Williams, A.J. Cronin

Cast

Michael Redgrave

as Davey Fenwick

Margaret Lockwood

as Jenny Sunley

Emlyn Williams

as Joe Gowlan

Nancy Price

as Martha Fenwick - Davey's mother

Allan Jeayes

as Richard Barras - the mine owner

Edward Rigby

as Robert Fenwick - Davey's father

Desmond Tester

as Hughie Fenwick - Davey's brother

David Markham

as Arthur Barras - Barras' son

Cecil Parker

as Stanley Millington

Linden Travers

as Mrs. Laura Millington

Milton Rosmer

as Harry Nugent, MP

George Carney

as Slogger Gowlan

Ivor Barnard

as Wept

Olga Lindo

as Mrs. Sunley

Aubrey Mallalieu

as Hudspeth

Kynaston Reeves

as Strother

Clive Baxter

as Pat Reedy

James Harcourt

as Will

Frederick Burtwell

as Union Official

Dorothy Hamilton

as Mrs. Reedy

Frank Atkinson

as Miner

David Horne

as Mr. Wilkins

Edmund Willard

as Mr. Ramage

Ben Williams

as Harry Brace

Scott Harrold

as Headmaster Strother

Lionel Barrymore

as Narrator (U.S. release only) (voice)

Howard Douglas

as Miner at Rescue

Cameron Hall

as Cinema Commissionaire

Bryan Herbert

as Man Outside Football Ground

Vincent Holman

as 1st Arresting Policeman

Roddy Hughes

as Union Committee Member

Mike Johnson

as Looting Miner

Vi Kaley

as Old Woman at Looting

Laurence Kitchin

as Dickie - Butcher's Boy

Charles Rolfe

as 2nd Arresting Policeman

D.J. Williams

as Union Committee Chairman