Independent Films, Film Profiles

Edge of Darkness (1943 film)
by Lewis_Milestone

Edge of Darkness is a war film released in 1943. It was directed by Lewis Milestone and stars Errol Flynn, Ann Sheridan, and Walter Huston. It was based on a script by Robert Rossen which was adapted from a novel by William Woods.The film is unrelated to the 1985 BBC drama serial Edge of Darkness, which was a science fiction murder mystery.A Norwegian fishing village, Trollness, under years of oppressive Nazi occupation, starts a guerrilla resistance effort, establishing contacts with the British.The film pivots around the local doctor and his family. The doctor's wife (Ruth Gordon) wants to hold on to the pretense of gracious living and ignore the occupiers. The doctor, Martin Stensgard (Walter Huston), would also prefer to stay neutral, but is torn. His brother-in-law, the wealthy owner of the local fish cannery, collaborates with the Nazis. The doctor's daughter, Karen (Ann Sheridan), is involved with the resistance and with its leader Gunnar Brogge (Errol Flynn). The doctor's son, has just returned to town, having been sent down from the university, and is soon influenced by his Nazi-sympathizer uncle. Captain Koenig (Helmut Dantine), the young German commandant of the occupying garrison, whose fanatic determination to do everything by the book and spoutings about the invincibility of the Reich hides a growing fear of a local uprising. A secondary love story, concerns a German sergeant and the innkeeper/lead female resistance fighter. A pivotal event forces the doctor to choose sides, which leads to the final showdown between the Nazis and the Norwegians.