278:, which will provide him with the solitude he craves. The lighthouse rock carries a commemorative tablet, listing the names of a group of immigrants from Europe who perished 90 years earlier when the ship carrying them to a new life in America foundered off-shore in a violent storm. As weeks turn into months in his self-imposed isolation, Charleston becomes fixated on the names on the tablet, and begins to experience ghostly visions of the lost souls, who start to relate to him their sad stories of sorrow, escape and unfulfilled dreams, in what seems an uncanny parallel to Charleston's own situation. The ship's captain Stuart, who appears to be the only ghost aware that he is dead and that it is no longer 1850, acts as mediator between Charleston and the other spirits as they tell their tales. Charleston discovers the story of proto-feminist Ellen, repeatedly persecuted and imprisoned for her progressive views, and becomes particularly emotionally involved with the Kurtz family, progressive medical man Stefan and his sad daughter Melanie, who seems to harbour a strange ghostly attraction towards Charleston, which he reciprocates.
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mental state. Stuart meanwhile becomes exasperated by the way in which
Charleston's imagination is forcing the others into unrealistic behaviour. Charleston agrees to let them have more freedom of action, but then finds them all starting to question where they are and what time they are in. He finally allows Melanie to read the tablet describing their deaths, and tells them all that the civilisation they knew is coming to an imminent end, and he has withdrawn to avoid being witness to its demise. He adds that now he has told them the truth, as figments of his imagination they no longer need to appear to him.
267:. He wishes to alert his readers to the dangers of German rearmament and the folly of ignoring what is going on in Europe, but the reports he submits are censored by the editor of his newspaper. He subsequently quits his job and sets off on a speaking tour around the country under the slogan "Britain, Awake!" The lack of interest and response indicates that Britain is happy to keep slumbering. The final straw comes when Charleston is at the cinema, and the newsreel feature comes on the screen detailing the German occupation of the
271:. The audience show themselves completely uninterested in the newsreel, taking the opportunity to chat among themselves or go in search of refreshments. In despair at the way his countrymen seem totally oblivious to the ever-more impending doom which is about to engulf them, and appear to be content to go about their daily business as normal while all the time sleepwalking towards disaster, he decides to turn his back on Britain and find a far-flung location where he can withdraw from the world and all its contemporary woes.
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To his consternation, they do not disappear. Stefan confronts him sternly, pointing out that running away is cowardly and that it is always better to stand up and fight for what is good and right, regardless of the consequences. Moreover, none of the spirits have any intention of leaving him until he
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Charleston's lonely existence is broken by the arrival of an old colleague
Streeter, who is worried about him after finding out from Charleston's employers that his pay cheques have not been cashed for many months. Streeter is nonplussed and not a little concerned as he starts to realise Charleston's
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The
Boulting brothers, both of whom were then engaged in the armed services, were given a special release to continue on the project. The British government arranged to have Michael Redgrave flown back from an aircraft carrier in the Far East for filming. The company spent ten weeks shooting in the
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comments that the film "succeeds in creating an atmosphere that is at once haunting, mournful and inspiring. As the writer disillusioned by the world's complacent response to fascism, Michael
Redgrave gives one of his most complex and tormented performances, as he regains the crusading spirit from
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Critical opinion of the time in
Britain was divided as to whether the additional material brought new depths to the story, or made too explicit things which Ardrey had preferred to leave to the audience's imagination and intelligence. The film was, however, almost universally admired by North
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his encounters with the victims of a shipwreck that occurred years before on the rocks near the lighthouse he now tends. With a bullish contribution from James Mason and truly touching support from ghostly emigrée Lilli Palmer, this is one of the
Boulting Brothers' finest achievements." The
558:: "I like the unselfconscious courage of a film that knows what it should do and goes ahead and does it. I like a piece that doesn't give a hang whether it's popular or unpopular. I like its frank speech, so distinct from that mumbo jumbo of the average refined, pie-faced British picture."
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review was typical, almost appearing to damn the film with faint praise by stating: "Though scarcely so good as the play, the film is by no means ineffective or undistinguished. Michael
Redgrave, Barbara Mullen and others do well." The reviewer for
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says: "The film effortlessly transcends its theatrical origins, merging drama and reality, past and present, propaganda and psychological insight, to complex and intelligent effect. Beautifully performed, closer in tone and style to
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Ardrey, Robert; Ardrey, Daniel (ed.). "The
Education of Robert Ardrey: An Autobiography" (unpublished manuscript ca. 1980, available through Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center) p. 86.
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faces up to what he has to do. Finally convinced, Charleston realises he must return to Europe and carry on his fight for truth and justice against the evil which threatens the continent.
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American critics and became a success at the box-office. It ran to packed houses in New York for over three months, where the play had folded in less than three weeks.
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When released in North
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sequences detailing character histories in
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called the film "a glowing fantasy that lights up the dark corners of many current issues...it manages to be high-class without being highbrow".
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During the late 1930s, David Charleston is an ambitious campaigning newspaper journalist, a fierce opponent of fascism and the British policy of
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received mixed reviews, with critics eager to compare the screen version to the stage play, not always to the former's advantage. The
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He crosses the Atlantic, and finds exactly what he is looking for when he successfully lands a job as a lone lighthouse-keeper on
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column, urged any of her out-of-town readers planning a visit to New York to "drop in at the World Theatre...and see the film
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was premiered in London in December 1942 and went into more general release in February 1943. The film was reissued in 1947.
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signed a contract whereby their production company, Charter Films, would produce the film for
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853:"Beacons in the Dark: Lighthouse Iconography in Wartime British Cinema"
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than to the British mainstream, it's weird and unusually gripping". In
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described it as "highly imaginative", "noteworthy" and "outstanding".
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signed on to play the parts of Streeter and Melanie respectively.
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Britain Can Take It: The British Cinema in the Second World War
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728:"Notes of an Innocent Bystander"
523:On its British release in 1942,
592:Modern critical assessments of
1255:Films directed by Roy Boulting
357:Jean Shepherd as Millie Briggs
354:Frederick Cooper as Ted Briggs
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788:, Outstanding British Picture
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1290:English-language drama films
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385:Tommy Duggan as Office Clerk
394:Alfred Sangster as Director
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406:as Hans Harma (uncredited)
388:Tony Quinn as Office Clerk
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774:Retrieved 17 October 2010
766:"Ten Best Films For 1944"
755:Retrieved 17 October 2010
736:Retrieved 17 October 2010
692:Retrieved 17 October 2010
376:James Pirrie as Jim Sales
174:4 December 1942
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1295:Films scored by Hans May
1280:Films set in lighthouses
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653:Aldgate, Anthony et al.
412:as Hirohiti (uncredited)
367:as Chairman of Directors
147:Charter Film Productions
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537:The Manchester Guardian
953:Seagulls Over Sorrento
928:Films directed by the
885:British Film Institute
610:Powell and Pressburger
327:as Capt. Joshua Stuart
734:, 27 September 1944.
675:Aldgate 2007, p. 184.
772:, 30 December 1944.
768:Whittaker, Herbert.
749:Kilgallen, Dorothy.
400:as Hans (uncredited)
1285:1940s British films
1275:British drama films
1265:British ghost films
834:Time Out Film Guide
753:, 4 November 1944.
614:Beacons in the Dark
605:Time Out Film Guide
509:Denham Film Studios
339:as Anne-Marie Kurtz
333:as Dr. Stefan Kurtz
303:as David Charleston
157:Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
1260:Films set on lakes
1151:Happy Is the Bride
1119:Sailor of the King
1036:Rotten to the Core
1028:I'm All Right Jack
1012:Private's Progress
945:Seven Days to Noon
730:Winchell, Walter.
491:as Dr. Kurtz, and
221:is a 1942 British
161:English Films (US)
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1127:Josephine and Men
930:Boulting brothers
791:Los Angeles Times
747:Voice of Broadway
690:, 29 March 1943.
586:Los Angeles Times
571:Voice of Broadway
569:, writing in her
567:Dorothy Kilgallen
469:Boulting brothers
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477:Jeffrey Dell
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404:Gerard Heinz
380:Olive Sloane
373:as Mr. Kirby
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243:Lilli Palmer
227:Roy Boulting
225:directed by
218:Thunder Rock
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167:Release date
124:Roy Boulting
105:Lilli Palmer
67:Thunder Rock
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1071:Pastor Hall
1055:Trunk Crime
819:Radio Times
599:Radio Times
497:James Mason
343:Barry Morse
309:as Streeter
307:James Mason
269:Sudetenland
265:appeasement
239:James Mason
194:112 minutes
101:James Mason
79:Produced by
38:Directed by
1230:1942 films
1224:Categories
620:References
463:Production
449:back-story
425:Background
223:drama film
178:1942-12-04
140:Production
48:Written by
1020:Lucky Jim
980:John only
519:Reception
453:flashback
345:as Robert
121:Edited by
16:1942 film
1047:Roy only
937:Together
812:Archived
441:West End
351:as Harry
207:Language
133:Hans May
129:Music by
89:Starring
62:Based on
1063:Inquest
961:Suspect
883:at the
445:montage
237:, with
210:English
199:Country
176: (
142:company
1210:(1979)
1202:(1974)
1194:(1970)
1186:(1968)
1178:(1966)
1170:(1960)
1162:(1959)
1154:(1958)
1146:(1957)
1138:(1956)
1130:(1955)
1122:(1953)
1114:(1951)
1106:(1948)
1098:(1947)
1090:(1945)
1082:(1942)
1074:(1940)
1066:(1939)
1058:(1939)
1039:(1965)
1031:(1959)
1023:(1957)
1015:(1956)
1007:(1951)
999:(1948)
991:(1945)
972:(1963)
964:(1960)
956:(1954)
948:(1950)
840:
809:(1942)
451:, and
416:
874:IMDb
838:ISBN
499:and
479:and
290:Cast
259:Plot
241:and
233:and
159:(UK)
872:at
473:MGM
435:by
71:by
1226::
821:.
646:^
628:^
511:.
255:.
921:e
914:t
907:v
180:)
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