So this film is heavy-handed; it is jingoistic, it is propaganda. So what. What really counts is that the acting is believable; the characters are believable. The story is believable; although it stretches the limits of believability. Flynn and Sheridan are good, as is Huston and several other solid supporting roles. There are some minor attempts to humanize one German soldier, but all the rest are demonized, as was the fashion of this era's filmmakers. Of course, we now know there are two sides to every story of war; as so well demonstrated by Eastwood's Letters From Iwo Jima. That side is not presented in this film, and is one of its weaknesses. Yes, the Nazis were evil, Hitler was evil, and occupying forces of Norway were evil. But several of the soldiers sent there by Germany were not evil; they were just soldiers doing their job.The oversimplification of portraying all German soldiers as evil no longer has any validity from the realities of real war. Several of them were evil; and several of them were just doing their duty. All of the townspeople, however, were good people, and did their best to resist the Germans. It is the Norwegians we should remember from this film; not the evil Germans.

Errol Flynn is the star here, but his part is actually minor in the context of this panoramic insight into a small Norwegian fishing village in the far north of Norway and its villagers, their life under duress of the Germans and how an extreme conflict is unavoidable. It was made in the most critical year of World War II, when the Germans at the height of their power started to lose.There are many memorable and eloquent scenes here, well up to the highest standard of Lewis Milestone's works, like the great scene in the church, when the villagers are having a conference under cover of a Sunday service, which actually introduces the drama. Many small characters also rise to greatness during the progress of the film, like the doctor who is forced by circumstances to abandon his absolute neutrality and pacifism, like the supposed traitor Hans who desperately tries to prove that he is not, like the pious mother who even she finally converts and abandons her firm belief in peace, like the priest who in the end fires the first shot, and many more. Errol Flynn disappears almost entirely in this great drama of the necessity of at any cost resisting and fighting any foreign occupational force.It's a great film in spite of its tremendous bathos of exaggerations, and although in the beginning you encounter a village where everyone seems to have wiped out everyone, it's extremely interesting to see how this drama gradually evolves to its apocalyptic fatality.The music by Franz Waxman adds to it, making efficient use of the Norwegian national anthem, a Lutheran hymn and of course Siegfried's death by Wagner.

A troubled shoot didn't prevent this Warner Bros. wartime propaganda film from becoming a minor classic of its genre. Early on, it seems that there's a strong possibility of the power of its story being diffused by the introduction of too many characters – despite an intriguing Gunga Din-like opening - but once all the main players are introduced the strength and suspense of the storyline shines through.The townspeople of a small Norwegian fishing village overcome a number of obstacles to covertly organise an armed rebellion against their Nazi masters with the aid of allied spies. In telling its tale, the strong script introduces us to pretty much every type of character (and therefore attitude toward the fight against Nazism) it is possible to imagine. There is Walter Huston's kindly doctor who is unsure of the wisdom of an armed revolt (but slowly brought around to the cause), his feisty daughter (Ann Sheridan) and her fisherman boyfriend (Errol Flynn) who are at the forefront of the resistance, his son who, having once been seduced by Nazi rhetoric finds himself unable to break away from them now that the scales have fallen from his eyes, the cheap tramp who collaborates with the Nazis before seeing the light, the cowardly shopkeeper who overcomes his fear of his German tormentors, the wise (but misguided) schoolteacher who mistakenly believes one man making a stand can make a difference, and the kindly matriarch who simply wants to go to bed later like she used to.You'd think that such a roll call of characters might result in something formulaic, but writer Robert Rossen knits together the various strands of the story in such an accomplished way that you are drawn in from the start. Having being made in the midst of the war, the Nazis are nearly all portrayed as stereotypical drunken baby-eaters, although the plot does briefly touch upon one exception, who has tender feelings for a widowed housekeeper. Nevertheless, Hollywood law decrees that he must meet the same fate as his comrades because the only good Nazi's a dead one – and all Nazis are cowards at heart.For all the familiar tropes of its genre, this Lewis Milestone film stands head and shoulders above most other films from this era, simply because it makes you care about the characters and delivers just as much action as it does propagandistic speeches. Definitely worth a watch.

Edge of Darkness is what Hollywood used to be about. Younger viewers will probably be shocked that indeed movies were once made that extolled virtues such as self sacrifice, heroism, patriotism and courage against overwhelming odds. While the setting is in Norway, it reflects what America once believed. There is no political correctness here. Pacifists and collaborators are viewed as traitors. Tolerance for the invader is unthinkable.Told in flashback we learn that a small Norwegian village has been under German occupation for several years. The Germans routinely harass, abuse and generally ride rough shod over the locals whose tempers have reached the boiling point. The Germans feel free to take what they please while the inhabitants struggle to exist.Slowly but surely the villagers, led by Gunnar Brogge (Errol Flynn) began fighting back by engaging in acts of sabotage, defiance and even assassination. The Germans counter with ever harsher regulations and measures. After receiving guns from the British, the people rise up and engage their oppressors in a climactic battle of annihilation. Yes, there was a time when guns were recognized as instruments of freedom.The performances in this film were outstanding. One can only cheer when Karen Stensgard (Ann Sheridan) proclaims "To a free Norway". Equally good performances were wrought by Helmut Dantine, Walter Huston and Richard Fraser. I particularly enjoyed Frasers transformation from a meek pastor who wants peace at any price, to a Tommy Gun toting avenger who saves the lives of soon to be executed hostages. Equally impressive is Hauptmann Koenig's (Helmut Dantine) wide eyed frightful exclamation, "You didn't see them, they just kept coming and coming...", when his headquarters is under siege.Very effective was the soundtrack which was dominated by the strains of "A mighty Fortress is our God".As the movie concludes we hear the voice of FDR invoking viewers to "Look to Norway" if they doubt why we were engaged in that titanic endeavor known as World War II..