The Stars Look Down
Directed by	Carol Reed
Produced by	Isadore Goldsmith Maurice J. Wilson
Written by	A. J. Cronin (novel & screenplay) J.B. Williams
Narrated by	Lionel Barrymore
Starring	Michael Redgrave Margaret Lockwood Emlyn Williams Nancy Price
Music by	Hans May
Cinematography	Mutz Greenbaum Ernest Palmer
Editing by	Reginald Beck
Distributed by	Grand National Pictures  United Kingdom Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer  United States
Release date(s)	February 24, 1940
Running time	110 min.
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
IMDb profile

The Stars Look Down is a novel by A. J. Cronin, initially published in 1935. It was his fourth novel, and one of his most popular. A film version was produced in 1939, and television adaptations include both Italian (1971) and British (1974) versions. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Sir Carol Reed (30 December 1906 – 25 April 1976) was an English film director, winner of an Academy Award for his film version of the musical, Oliver! (1968). ... Archibald Joseph Cronin (July 19, 1896–January 6, 1981) was a Scottish novelist, dramatist, and nonfiction writer who was one of the most renowned storytellers of the twentieth century. ... Lionel Barrymore (born Lionel Herbert Blythe on April 28, 1878 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – November 15, 1954 in Van Nuys, California) was an American Academy Award Winning actor of stage, radio and film. ... Sir Michael Scudamore Redgrave CBE (March 20, 1908—March 21, 1985) was an English actor of great renown. ... Margaret Lockwood with Michael Redgrave in The Lady Vanishes (1938) Margaret Lockwood, CBE (15 September 1916 - 15 July 1990) was a British actress. ... George Emlyn Williams CBE (26 November 1905–25 September 1987), known as Emlyn Williams, was a Welsh dramatist and actor. ... Nancy Price (February 03, 1880 – March 31, 1970), born Lilian Nancy Bache Price in Kinver, Staffordshire, England, was an actress, authoress and manageress of Little Theatre in the Adelphi, a West End theatre on the Strand in London. ... Mutz Greenbaum (February 3, 1896 – July 1968), sometimes credited as Max Greene or Max Greenbaum was a Berlin, Germany-born film cinematographer. ... Ernest Palmer (1901-1964) was a British cinematographer. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom. ... For alternate meanings of MGM, see MGM (disambiguation). ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... is the 55th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full 1940 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Archibald Joseph Cronin (July 19, 1896–January 6, 1981) was a Scottish novelist, dramatist, and nonfiction writer who was one of the most renowned storytellers of the twentieth century. ... See also: 1934 in literature, other events of 1935, 1936 in literature, list of years in literature. ...

The novel is set in 'Sleescale,' a mining town on the coast of Northumberland, as well as in 'Tynecastle' (Newcastle upon Tyne). 'Sleescale' is fictional, but based on an excellent knowledge of similar places and people. Cronin, a Scot, served as Medical Inspector of Mines in Wales during the 1920s. Chuquicamata, the second largest open pit copper mine in the world, Chile. ... Northumberland is a county in the North East of England. ... This article is about a city in the United Kingdom. ... This article is about the Scottish as an ethnic group. ... This article is about the country. ...

Beginning before World War I and extending into the 1930s, the story shows the different careers of several individuals: principally, a miner's son who seeks to qualify as a doctor, a miner who becomes a businessman, and the mine owner's son in conflict with his domineering father. “The Great War ” redirects here. ...

The film version, co-scripted by Cronin and directed by Carol Reed, stars Michael Redgrave as the young, idealistic doctor and Margaret Lockwood as his wife. Their love story, which is secondary in the novel, is foregrounded in the film. The American release includes narration by Lionel Barrymore. It is a New York Times Critics' Pick and is listed in The New York Times Guide to the Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made. Sir Carol Reed (30 December 1906 – 25 April 1976) was an English film director, winner of an Academy Award for his film version of the musical, Oliver! (1968). ... Sir Michael Scudamore Redgrave CBE (March 20, 1908—March 21, 1985) was an English actor of great renown. ... Margaret Lockwood with Michael Redgrave in The Lady Vanishes (1938) Margaret Lockwood, CBE (15 September 1916 - 15 July 1990) was a British actress. ... Lionel Barrymore (born Lionel Herbert Blythe on April 28, 1878 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – November 15, 1954 in Van Nuys, California) was an American Academy Award Winning actor of stage, radio and film. ... The New York Times is an internationally known daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. ...

The 2000 film Billy Elliot was inspired, in part, by Cronin's story and similarly focuses on a community of coal miners during a strike in North East England, as well as on a miner's son who goes against the grain. ^[1] Billy Elliot the Musical's opening sequence, entitled "The Stars Look Down", pays tribute to Cronin's novel. For other uses, see Billy Elliot (disambiguation). ... North-East England is one of the nine official regions of England and comprises the combined area of Northumberland, County Durham, Tyne and Wear and a small part of North Yorkshire. ... Billy Elliot The Musical is an award-winning musical based on the 2000 film Billy Elliot. ...

In 2004, North Eastern playwright, Alex Ferguson, adapted the novel for NTC Theatre Company. An ensemble of five actors played all the parts: Alan Park (Joe Gowlan/ Arthur Barras), Ross Waiton (Davie Fenwick), Kim Evans (Jenny Sunley, Hughie Fenwick), Jackie Fielding (Martha Fenwick), and Steve Wedd (Robert Fenwick/ Richard Barrass). Directed by Gillian Hambleton, the play met with resounding critical success, breathing new life into Cronin's timeless tale.

The Stars Look Down film poster

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Plot summary

The novel centres on three very different men:

• Davey Fenwick comes from a mining family and aspires to be a doctor. Yet he is also drawn towards politics, hoping to help his people, and he becomes a strong supporter of nationalisation.
• Joe Gowlan begins as a miner, drifts and then becomes upwardly mobile during the years of the First World War.
• Arthur Barras is the son of Richard Barras, owner of the Neptune Colliery. He is unhappy with his father's values but also feels too weak to do much about it.

Reactions to the failure of industrial action on safety issues in the coal mines are crystallized in the characters of Davey and Joe, who take vastly different routes in escaping from the working class. While Davey becomes an MP in order to fight for nationalisation of the mines, Joe essentially joins the mine owners. Nationalization is the act of taking assets into state ownership. ... Neptune is usually depicted with a trident, as seen here in this statue by Jean de Boulogne in Bologna, Italy. ... A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative elected by the voters to a parliament. ...

Jenny Sunley is Davey's indifferent wife who craves social status, and other characters have short but distinct tales of their own. Cronin shows a broad sympathy for the workers and a dislike of the bosses, but also allows that at least some of the bosses can be decent at a personal level.

Central to the story is the Neptune coal mine and a catastrophe that occurs there. The Great War is also a factor: do you volunteer to fight, volunteer for non-military duties, use trickery to evade service or openly defy the system by refusing call-up? There is a brief description of one of the tribunals that examined conscientious objectors, often refusing to accept their objection as valid. There is also a clear commitment to the idea of nationalising the mines, replacing the mass of small private owners that existed at the time. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... A tribunal is a generic term for any body acting judicially, whether or not it is called a tribunal in its title. ... See also Conscientious objection and Conscription. ...

The novel ends with most of the men much changed, and it is an excellent description of working-class life in the North of England during that period.

References

External links

• British Film Institute synopsis
• New York Times overview
• Movie subtitles
• Britmovie website
• Film review and images
• The Stars Look Down at Silver Sirens
• The Stars Look Down at Turner Classic Movies
• The Stars Look Down at the Internet Movie Database
• ...E le stelle stanno a guardare (1971) at the Internet Movie Database (Italian television miniseries)
• The Stars Look Down (1975) at the Internet Movie Database (British television miniseries)
• New York Times overview of British miniseries

The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) is an online database of information about movies, actors, television shows, production crew personnel, and video games. ... The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) is an online database of information about movies, actors, television shows, production crew personnel, and video games. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Italy. ... The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) is an online database of information about movies, actors, television shows, production crew personnel, and video games. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom. ...