The Day Will Dawn
Encyclopedia
The Day Will Dawn, released in the U.S. as The Avengers, is a 1942 war film
set in Norway
during World War II
. It stars Ralph Richardson
, Deborah Kerr
, Hugh Williams
and Griffith Jones
, and was directed by Harold French
from a script written by Anatole de Grunwald
, Patrick Kirwan and Terence Rattigan
, based on a story by Frank Owen. The music by Richard Addinsell
was performed by the London Symphony Orchestra
conducted by Muir Mathieson
.
invade Poland
in September 1939, the former horse racing
-correspondent Metcalfe is placed as a foreign correspondent in neutral Norway
. Eight months later, he meets a Norwegian fisherman called Alstad in a sailors' bar, where a scuffle breaks out between British and Norwegian sailors (singing "Rule Britannia", egged on by Metcalfe) and German ones (singing the Nazi Party anthem the Horst-Wessel-Lied
). Alstad takes him aboard his boat during a sea voyage in Norway's territorial waters, during which they sight the Altmark
and are fired upon by a German U boat, despite Norway's neutrality. They then come back to his home port of Langedal, and Metcalfe goes to Oslo
to report this to the British embassy there, despite the best efforts of the German Kommandant and the German-sympathising local police chief Gunter. There Metcalfe meets Lockwood en route back to England
from the Winter War
in Finland
. It was Lockwood who had got him the foreign correspondent job at the outbreak of war, but he now passes on the news to Metcalfe that he has been fired from it for sailing out with the fisherman rather than staying on dry land where the paper can contact him. Metcalfe informs the embassy, and also warns his paper of signs that a German war on Norway is imminent. Alstad's daughter Kari (who had accompanied them on their voyage) also meets him to tell him of suspicious German merchant ships at Bergen
which her father suspects have troops on board.
The pair say goodbye and Metcalfe, getting into what he thinks is a taxi, is kidnapped by the Germans and put on board a ship bound for the German port of Bremen
. Meanwhile, Germany invades, Metcalfe is scoop
ed on the news of the invasion, and - back in Britain - Chamberlain
's government falls and Churchill
becomes prime minister. A British warship intercepts the ship on which Metcalfe is held and liberates him but she is re-routed to Cherbourg to help Operation Ariel
, the evacuation of British troops from north-western France
, before she can get Metcalfe back to Britain. Amidst the carnage on the docks at Cherbourg, Metcalfe finds Lockwood, dying of wounds.
Back in Britain as the Blitz
begins, Metcalfe is convinced not to join up and instead to start a press campaign for the public to make economies on the Home Front to help win the Battle of the Atlantic. Just about to set out on it, he is called upon by the Admiralty
to be parachute-dropped back into Langedal, sabotage a camouflaged U-boat base nearby, and escape across the border into neutral Sweden
. On landing, he is spotted and pursued by the Germans, but manages to escape and gain shelter. There he finds that Alstad has been interned by the Germans, and Kari has brought shame on herself by getting engaged to the traitorous Gunter. However, when at a tense "Norwegian-German friendship dance" the Germans arrive to demand Metcalfe's papers, Kari saves him by inciting a riot and hiding him at her house. There she reveals she only took on the engagement to obtain her father's release.
Alstad is released and agrees to help Metcalfe to signal to British bombers with torches to guide them in on their raid on it, and Kari and Metcalfe bid a romantic farewell. The signalling is successful and the base destroyed, but Alstad is shot dead. Metcalfe returns to tell Kari the news, just as Gunter and the Germans take eight random hostages who will be shot if the British spy they are sheltering is not given up. Metcalfe overhears this, and gives himself up. Gunter returns to Kari to try to save her from the firing squad she too will face for sheltering the spy, but she refuses and is locked up with the hostages, though Gunter shows her the kindness of not separating her from Metcalfe. They prepare to die, and the first party for the firing squad are taken out, but then a British commando raid arrives. In the chaos, Gunter is shot by the Kommandant as the latter makes a hasty escape, and the hostages are all freed unharmed. The raiders capture the town and its German garrison and then leave almost immediately, taking Metcalfe, Kari, the hostages and their families to safety in England.
War film
War films are a film genre concerned with warfare, usually about naval, air or land battles, sometimes focusing instead on prisoners of war, covert operations, military training or other related subjects. At times war films focus on daily military or civilian life in wartime without depicting battles...
set in Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. It stars Ralph Richardson
Ralph Richardson
Sir Ralph David Richardson was an English actor, one of a group of theatrical knights of the mid-20th century who, though more closely associated with the stage, also appeared in several classic films....
, Deborah Kerr
Deborah Kerr
Deborah Kerr, CBE was a Scottish film and television actress from Glasgow. She won the Sarah Siddons Award for her Chicago performance as Laura Reynolds in Tea and Sympathy, a role which she originated on Broadway, a Golden Globe Award for the motion picture The King and I, and was a three-time...
, Hugh Williams
Hugh Williams
Hugh Williams was an English actor and dramatist of Welsh descent.-Personal life:...
and Griffith Jones
Griffith Jones
Griffith Jones may refer to:*Griffith Jones , Llanddowror, who established circulating schools in Wales*Griffith Jones , appointed to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania in 1690, later Mayor of Philadelphia...
, and was directed by Harold French
Harold French
Harold French was an English director and actor of stage and screen. As an actor most of his roles occurred between 1912 and 1936. He did not garner as much attention as an actor as he would as a director. From 1940 to 1955 he had a several solid box-office successes...
from a script written by Anatole de Grunwald
Anatole de Grunwald
Anatole "Tolly" de Grunwald was a British film producer and screenwriter.Anatole de Grunwald was born in Petrograd , Russia, the son of a diplomat in the service of Tsar Nicholas II. He was seven years old when his father was forced to flee with his family to England during the 1917 Bolshevik...
, Patrick Kirwan and Terence Rattigan
Terence Rattigan
Sir Terence Mervyn Rattigan CBE was one of England's most popular 20th-century dramatists. His plays are generally set in an upper-middle-class background...
, based on a story by Frank Owen. The music by Richard Addinsell
Richard Addinsell
Richard Stewart Addinsell was a British composer, best known for film music, primarily his Warsaw Concerto, composed for the 1941 film Dangerous Moonlight .-Life:...
was performed by the London Symphony Orchestra
London Symphony Orchestra
The London Symphony Orchestra is a major orchestra of the United Kingdom, as well as one of the best-known orchestras in the world. Since 1982, the LSO has been based in London's Barbican Centre.-History:...
conducted by Muir Mathieson
Muir Mathieson
James Muir Mathieson was a Scottish conductor and composer. Mathieson was almost always described as a "Musical Director" on a large number of British films.-Career:...
.
Plot
As the GermansNazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
invade Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
in September 1939, the former horse racing
Horse racing
Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...
-correspondent Metcalfe is placed as a foreign correspondent in neutral Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
. Eight months later, he meets a Norwegian fisherman called Alstad in a sailors' bar, where a scuffle breaks out between British and Norwegian sailors (singing "Rule Britannia", egged on by Metcalfe) and German ones (singing the Nazi Party anthem the Horst-Wessel-Lied
Horst-Wessel-Lied
The Horst-Wessel-Lied , also known as Die Fahne hoch from its opening line, was the anthem of the Nazi Party from 1930 to 1945...
). Alstad takes him aboard his boat during a sea voyage in Norway's territorial waters, during which they sight the Altmark
German tanker Altmark
Altmark was a German oil tanker and supply vessel, one of five of a class built between 1937 and 1939. She is best known for her support of the German commerce raider, the "pocket battleship" and her subsequent involvement in the "Altmark Incident"....
and are fired upon by a German U boat, despite Norway's neutrality. They then come back to his home port of Langedal, and Metcalfe goes to Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
to report this to the British embassy there, despite the best efforts of the German Kommandant and the German-sympathising local police chief Gunter. There Metcalfe meets Lockwood en route back to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
from the Winter War
Winter War
The Winter War was a military conflict between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet offensive on 30 November 1939 – three months after the start of World War II and the Soviet invasion of Poland – and ended on 13 March 1940 with the Moscow Peace Treaty...
in Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
. It was Lockwood who had got him the foreign correspondent job at the outbreak of war, but he now passes on the news to Metcalfe that he has been fired from it for sailing out with the fisherman rather than staying on dry land where the paper can contact him. Metcalfe informs the embassy, and also warns his paper of signs that a German war on Norway is imminent. Alstad's daughter Kari (who had accompanied them on their voyage) also meets him to tell him of suspicious German merchant ships at Bergen
Bergen
Bergen is the second largest city in Norway with a population of as of , . Bergen is the administrative centre of Hordaland county. Greater Bergen or Bergen Metropolitan Area as defined by Statistics Norway, has a population of as of , ....
which her father suspects have troops on board.
The pair say goodbye and Metcalfe, getting into what he thinks is a taxi, is kidnapped by the Germans and put on board a ship bound for the German port of Bremen
Bremen
The City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A commercial and industrial city with a major port on the river Weser, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area . Bremen is the second most populous city in North Germany and tenth in Germany.Bremen is...
. Meanwhile, Germany invades, Metcalfe is scoop
Scoop (term)
Scoop is an informal term used in journalism. The word connotes originality, importance, surprise or excitement, secrecy and exclusivity.Stories likely considered to be scoops are important news, likely to interest or concern many people. A scoop is typically a new story, or a new aspect to an...
ed on the news of the invasion, and - back in Britain - Chamberlain
Neville Chamberlain
Arthur Neville Chamberlain FRS was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from May 1937 to May 1940. Chamberlain is best known for his appeasement foreign policy, and in particular for his signing of the Munich Agreement in 1938, conceding the...
's government falls and Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
becomes prime minister. A British warship intercepts the ship on which Metcalfe is held and liberates him but she is re-routed to Cherbourg to help Operation Ariel
Operation Ariel
Operation Ariel was the name given to the World War II evacuation of Allied forces from ports in western France, from 15–25 June 1940, due to the military collapse in the Battle of France against Nazi Germany...
, the evacuation of British troops from north-western France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, before she can get Metcalfe back to Britain. Amidst the carnage on the docks at Cherbourg, Metcalfe finds Lockwood, dying of wounds.
Back in Britain as the Blitz
The Blitz
The Blitz was the sustained strategic bombing of Britain by Nazi Germany between 7 September 1940 and 10 May 1941, during the Second World War. The city of London was bombed by the Luftwaffe for 76 consecutive nights and many towns and cities across the country followed...
begins, Metcalfe is convinced not to join up and instead to start a press campaign for the public to make economies on the Home Front to help win the Battle of the Atlantic. Just about to set out on it, he is called upon by the Admiralty
Admiralty
The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...
to be parachute-dropped back into Langedal, sabotage a camouflaged U-boat base nearby, and escape across the border into neutral Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
. On landing, he is spotted and pursued by the Germans, but manages to escape and gain shelter. There he finds that Alstad has been interned by the Germans, and Kari has brought shame on herself by getting engaged to the traitorous Gunter. However, when at a tense "Norwegian-German friendship dance" the Germans arrive to demand Metcalfe's papers, Kari saves him by inciting a riot and hiding him at her house. There she reveals she only took on the engagement to obtain her father's release.
Alstad is released and agrees to help Metcalfe to signal to British bombers with torches to guide them in on their raid on it, and Kari and Metcalfe bid a romantic farewell. The signalling is successful and the base destroyed, but Alstad is shot dead. Metcalfe returns to tell Kari the news, just as Gunter and the Germans take eight random hostages who will be shot if the British spy they are sheltering is not given up. Metcalfe overhears this, and gives himself up. Gunter returns to Kari to try to save her from the firing squad she too will face for sheltering the spy, but she refuses and is locked up with the hostages, though Gunter shows her the kindness of not separating her from Metcalfe. They prepare to die, and the first party for the firing squad are taken out, but then a British commando raid arrives. In the chaos, Gunter is shot by the Kommandant as the latter makes a hasty escape, and the hostages are all freed unharmed. The raiders capture the town and its German garrison and then leave almost immediately, taking Metcalfe, Kari, the hostages and their families to safety in England.
Cast
- Hugh WilliamsHugh WilliamsHugh Williams was an English actor and dramatist of Welsh descent.-Personal life:...
as Colin Metcalfe - Griffiths Jones as Inspector Gunter
- Deborah KerrDeborah KerrDeborah Kerr, CBE was a Scottish film and television actress from Glasgow. She won the Sarah Siddons Award for her Chicago performance as Laura Reynolds in Tea and Sympathy, a role which she originated on Broadway, a Golden Globe Award for the motion picture The King and I, and was a three-time...
as Kari Alstead - Ralph RichardsonRalph RichardsonSir Ralph David Richardson was an English actor, one of a group of theatrical knights of the mid-20th century who, though more closely associated with the stage, also appeared in several classic films....
as Frank Lockwood - Francis L. SullivanFrancis L. SullivanFrancis Loftus Sullivan was an English film and stage actor. He attended Stonyhurst, the Jesuit public school in Lancashire, England whose alumni include Charles Laughton and Arthur Conan Doyle.A heavily built man with a striking double-chin and a deep voice, Sullivan made his acting debut at the...
as Kommandant Wettau - Roland CulverRoland CulverRoland Culver OBE was a British stage, film, and television actor.-Life and career:...
as Naval Attache - Finlay CurrieFinlay CurrieFinlay Jefferson Currie was a Scottish actor of stage, screen and television.Currie was born in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1878. His acting career began on the stage. He and his wife Maude Courtney did a song and dance act in the US in the 1890s. He made his first film in 1931...
as Captain Alstead - Niall MacGinnisNiall MacGinnisNiall MacGinnis was an Irish actor who made 80 screen appearances.-Early life:MacGinnis was born in Dublin in 1913. He was educated at Stonyhurst College in England, and studied medicine at Dublin University. He qualified as a house surgeon...
as Olaf - Elizabeth Mann as Gerda
- Patricia MedinaPatricia MedinaPatricia Paz Maria Medina is an English actress from Liverpool, England. Her father was a Spaniard and her mother was English. Medina began acting as a teenager in the late 1930s...
as Ingrid - Roland PertweeRoland PertweeRoland Pertwee was an English playwright, film and television screenwriter, director and actor. He was the father of both Doctor Who star Jon Pertwee and fellow playwright and screenwriter Michael Pertwee...
as Captain Waverley - Naval Intelligence - Henry OscarHenry OscarHenry Oscar was an English stage and film actor.Born as Henry Wale, he changed his name and began acting in 1911 and appeared in a wide range of films, including Alfred Hitchcock's The Man Who Knew Too Much , Fire Over England , The Four Feathers , Hatter's Castle ,...
as Newspaper Editor - David HorneDavid Horne (actor)-Biography:British actor and playwright David Horne began his film career in the 1930s, after a distinguished early career in the theatre. He was generally seen portraying pompous, self-satisfied characters...
as Evans, Foreign Editor
- Henry HewittHenry Hewitt-Selected filmography:* School for Scandal * Stamboul * Madame Guillotine * The Written Law * Betrayal * Admirals All * Rembrandt * The High Command * Old Iron...
as Jack, News Editor - John WarwickJohn WarwickJohn Warwick was an Australian film and television actor.-Selected filmography:* On Our Selection * In the Wake of the Bounty * The Squatter's Daughter * Riding High...
as Milligan, Reporter in Fleet Street Pub - Brefni O'RorkeBrefni O'Rorke-Filmography:* The Ghost of St. Michael's * Love on the Dole * This Man Is Dangerous * Jeannie * Cottage to Let * Hatter's Castle * The Black Sheep of Whitehall...
as Political Journalist - Bernard MilesBernard MilesBernard James Miles, Baron Miles, CBE was an English character actor, writer and director. He opened the Mermaid Theatre in London in 1959, the first new theatre opened in the City of London since the 17th century....
as McAllister - Beckett BouldBeckett Bould-Selected filmography:* Holiday's End * South Riding * Old Mother Riley's Circus * The Day Will Dawn * Anna Karenina * Portrait of Clare * Pool of London * What Every Woman Wants...
as Bergen, Spokesman of Langedal - Olaf Olsen as Langedal's Schoolmaster
- Gus McNaughtonGus McNaughtonGus McNaughton was an English film actor. He appeared in 70 films between 1930 and 1947.He was born in London and died in Castor, Cambridgeshire.-Selected filmography:* Children of Chance...
as Army Sergeant - George CarneyGeorge CarneyGeorge Carney was a British film actor.He worked in the Liverpool Cotton Exchange, in a furniture business, then in the Belfast shipping yards...
as Harry, Soldier in Fleet Street Pub - John SalewJohn Salew-Selected filmography:* The Silent Battle * Sailors Don't Care * Once a Crook * One of Our Aircraft Is Missing * The Day Will Dawn * Secret Mission * It Always Rains on Sunday...
as "Man-in-the-Street" in Fleet Street Pub - Meriel ForbesMeriel ForbesMeriel Forbes was a British actress. She was married to the actor Ralph Richardson.-Selected filmography:* Girls Please! * The Belles of St. Clements * The Day Will Dawn * The Gentle Sex...
as Milly, the Barmaid - Philip FriendPhilip FriendPhilip Wyndham Friend was a British film and television actor.-Filmography:* Inquest * The Midas Touch * Pimpernel Smith * The Day Will Dawn * In Which We Serve...
as Pilot - George MerrittGeorge Merritt (actor)George Merritt was a British film and television actor.-Selected filmography:* The W Plan * The Lodger * I Was a Spy * Crime on the Hill * The Silver Spoon...
as German Trawler Captain - John BoxerJohn Boxer (British actor)John Boxer was a British film and television actor.Boxer's television appearances included Emergency – Ward 10, Dixon of Dock Green, The Saint, Randall and Hopkirk , The Onedin Line and The Life and Times of David Lloyd George.-Selected filmography:* There Ain't No Justice * Convoy *...
as U-Boat Commander