Author | John Steinbeck |
---|---|
Cover artist | Frank Lieberman |
Language | English |
Genre | Dystopian Fiction |
Publisher | Viking Press |
Publication date | March 6, 1942 |
Publication place | United States |
Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
Pages | 188 |
LC Class | PS3537.T3234 |
The Moon Is Down is a novel by American writer John Steinbeck. Fashioned for adaptation for the theatre and for which Steinbeck received the Norwegian King Haakon VII Freedom Cross, it was published by Viking Press in March 1942. The story tells of the military occupation of a small town in Northern Europe by the army of an unnamed nation at war with Great Britain and Russia (much like the occupation of Norway by the Germans during World War II).
A French language translation of the book was published illegally in Nazi-occupied France by Les Éditions de Minuit, a French Resistance publishing house. Numerous other editions were secretly published across occupied Europe, including Norwegian, Danish, Dutch, and Italian versions (as well as a Swedish version); it was the best known work of U.S. literature in the Soviet Union during the war. Although the text never names the occupying force as German, references to "The Leader" as well as "memories of defeats in Belgium and France 20 years ago" clearly suggest it. Written with the purpose of motivating resistance movements in occupied countries, the book has appeared in at least 214 editions throughout the world.
Taken by surprise, a small coastal town is overrun by an invading army with little resistance. The town is important because it is a port that serves a large coal mine. Colonel Lanser, the head of the invading battalion, along with his staff establishes their headquarters in the house of Orden, the democratically elected and popular mayor.
As the reality of occupation sinks in and the weather turns bleak, with the snows beginning earlier than usual, the "simple, peaceful people" of the town are angry and confused. Colonel Lanser, a veteran of many wars, tries to operate under a veil of civility and law, but in his heart he knows that "there are no peaceful people" amongst those whose freedom has been taken away by force. The calm is soon torn apart when Alexander Morden, an erstwhile alderman and "a free man", is ordered to work in the mine. He strikes out at Captain Loft with a pickaxe, but Captain Bentick steps into its path and dies of it. After a showtrial, Morden is executed by a firing squad. This incident catalyzes the people of the town and they settle into "a slow, silent, waiting revenge." Sections of the railroad linking the port with the mine get damaged regularly, the machinery breaks down often, and the dynamo of the electricity generators gets short circuited. Whenever a soldier relaxes his guard, drinks or goes out with a woman, he is killed. Mayor Orden stands by his people, and tries to explain to Colonel Lanser that his goal – "to break man's spirit permanently" – is impossible.
The cold weather and the constant fear weighs heavy on the occupying force, many of whom wish the war to end so that they can return home. They realize the futility of the war and describe their victories as "the flies have conquered the flypaper." Some members of the resistance escape to England and ask the English for explosives so that the townspeople can intensify their efforts. English planes parachute-drop small packages containing dynamite sticks and chocolates all around the town. In a state of panic, Colonel Lanser's army takes the mayor and his friend Dr. Winter, the town doctor and historian, hostage and lets it be known that any rebellious action will lead to their execution. Mayor Orden refuses to ask his people to stop active resistance, and feels that nothing can stop his people and that his death is imminent. He tells his wife that while he can be killed, the idea of mayor (and freedom and democracy) is beyond the reach of any army. Before his execution, Mayor Orden reminds Dr. Winter of the dialogues of Socrates in the Apology and Phaedo, a part he played in a high school play, and tells him to make sure that the debt is repaid to the army, i.e., that resistance continues.
Steinbeck adapted The Moon Is Down for the stage in 1942. Directed by Chester Erskine, the original Broadway production opened April 7, 1942, at the Martin Beck Theatre. The cast featured Otto Kruger as Colonel Lanser, Ralph Morgan as Mayor Orden, and Whitford Kane as Dr. Winter. [1] [2] Producer Oscar Serlin announced an earlier-than-anticipated closing, explaining that attendance had "withered under the repeated blasting of those critics who did not like the play." The film rights were sold for $300,000. [3]
King Haakon VII of Norway attended the opening of the London production of The Moon Is Down June 8, 1943, at Whitehall Theatre. The cast included Paul Scofield in the role of Alex Morden. [4]
The Moon Is Down was adapted for a 1943 film directed by Irving Pichel, starring Cedric Hardwicke as Colonel Lanser, Henry Travers as Mayor Orden, and Lee J. Cobb as Dr. Winter. [5]
The title of the book comes from Macbeth . Just before Banquo encounters Macbeth on his way to kill Duncan, he asks his son, Fleance, "How goes the night, boy?" Fleance replies, "The moon is down; I have not heard the clock." (Act II, Scene i).
Major-General Sir Colin McVean Gubbins, was the prime mover of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) in the Second World War.
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The Puerto Rico campaign was the American military sea and land operation on the island of Puerto Rico during the Spanish–American War. The offensive began on May 12, 1898, when the United States Navy attacked the capital, San Juan. Though the damage inflicted on the city was minimal, the Americans were able to establish a blockade in the city's harbor, San Juan Bay. On June 22, the cruiser Isabel II and the destroyer Terror delivered a Spanish counterattack, but were unable to break the blockade and Terror was damaged.
The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany during the Second World War began on 9 April 1940 after Operation Weserübung. Conventional armed resistance to the German invasion ended on 10 June 1940, and Nazi Germany controlled Norway until the capitulation of German forces in Europe on 8 May 1945. Throughout this period, a pro-German government named Den nasjonale regjering ruled Norway, while the Norwegian king Haakon VII and the prewar government escaped to London, where they formed a government in exile. Civil rule was effectively assumed by the Reichskommissariat Norwegen, which acted in collaboration with the pro-German puppet government. This period of military occupation is, in Norway, referred to as the "war years", "occupation period" or simply "the war".
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Ronald Charles Speirs was a United States Army officer who served in the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division during World War II. He was initially assigned as a platoon leader in B Company of the 1st Battalion of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment. Speirs was reassigned to D Company of the 2nd Battalion before the invasion of Normandy in June 1944 and later assigned as commander of E Company during an assault on Foy, Belgium, after the siege of Bastogne was broken during the Battle of the Bulge. He finished the war in the European Theater as a captain. Speirs served in the Korean War, as a major commanding a rifle company and as a staff officer. He later became the American governor for Spandau Prison in Berlin. He retired as a lieutenant colonel.
Operation Uzice was the first major counter-insurgency operation by the German Wehrmacht on the occupied territory of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia during World War II. The operation was directed against the Užice Republic, the first of several "free territories" liberated by the Yugoslav Partisans. It was named after the town of Užice, and is associated with the First Enemy Offensive in Yugoslavian historiography. The security forces of the German-installed puppet regime of Milan Nedić also participated in the offensive.
Ángel Rivero Méndez was a Puerto Rican soldier, writer, journalist and a businessman. Rivero Méndez was a Captain in the Spanish Army during the Spanish–American War and is credited with ordering the first shot against the United States in Puerto Rico in said conflict. After the war, he became a US Citizen and upon his retirement, he wrote Crónica de la guerra hispano-americana en Puerto Rico, a chronicle of the Spanish-American War in Puerto Rico. He is also credited with inventing a carbonated drink called Kola Champagne which is still sold today.
Irving Pichel was an American actor and film director, who won acclaim both as an actor and director in his Hollywood career.
The German invasion of Denmark, was the German attack on Denmark on 9 April 1940, during the Second World War. The attack was a prelude to the invasion of Norway.
The Battle of Loznica involved an attack on the German garrison of that town by the Jadar Chetnik Detachment on 31 August 1941. Following the World War II German-led Axis invasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia was partitioned. At the time, Loznica was part of the German-occupied territory of Serbia, which included Serbia proper, with the addition of the northern part of Kosovo, and the Banat.
The Dano–Swedish War of 1808–1809 was a war between Denmark–Norway and Sweden due to Denmark–Norway's alliance with France and Sweden's alliance with the United Kingdom during the Napoleonic Wars. Neither Sweden nor Denmark-Norway had wanted war to begin with but once pushed into it through their respective alliances, Sweden made a bid to acquire Norway by way of invasion while Denmark-Norway made ill-fated attempts to reconquer territories lost to Sweden in the 17th century. Peace was concluded on grounds of status quo ante bellum on 10 December 1809.
The siege of Saint-Omer was a siege in the Thirty Years' War in which a French army under Gaspard III de Coligny, Maréchal de Châtillon, laid siege to the Flemish city of Saint-Omer, defended by a small garrison in command of Lancelot II Schetz, count of Grobbendonck. Despite several initial successes in the capture of the minor forts around Saint-Omer, on the night of 8/9 June a Spanish relief army under Thomas Francis, Prince of Carignano, surprised Châtillon's troops and established a small fort in the middle of the French lines. An entire army corps under Maréchal de La Force was ordered to move towards Saint-Omer to support Châtillon siege, but on 12 July a further Imperial-Spanish force commanded by Ottavio Piccolomini entered Saint-Omer, resolving the French marshals to withdraw.
The Uprising in Serbia was initiated in July 1941 by the Communist Party of Yugoslavia against the German occupation forces and their Serbian quisling auxiliaries in the Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia. At first the Yugoslav Partisans mounted diversions and sabotage and attacked representatives of Milan Aćimović's quisling administration. In late August some Chetniks joined the uprising and liberated Loznica. The uprising soon reached mass proportions. Partisans and Chetniks captured towns that weak German garrisons had abandoned. The armed uprising soon engulfed great parts of the occupied territory. The largest liberated territory in occupied Europe was created by the Partisans in western Serbia, and was known as the Republic of Užice. Rebels shared power on the liberated territory; the center of the Partisan liberated territory was in Užice, and Chetniks had their headquarters in Ravna Gora.
The Moon Is Down is a 1943 American war film starring Cedric Hardwicke, Lee J. Cobb and Henry Travers and directed by Irving Pichel. The Screenplay was written by Nunnally Johnson and is based on the 1942 novel of the same name by John Steinbeck. This was the Dorris Bowdon's last movie and Natalie Wood's first movie and features an uncredited John Banner who would go on to play Sgt. Shultz in the TV comedy series Hogan's Heroes.
James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Originally introduced as a sidekick to Captain America, the character was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby and first appeared in Captain America Comics #1. Barnes' original costume and the Bucky nickname have been used by other heroes in the Marvel Universe over the years.
Jürgen Christoph von Koppelow or Jørgen Christopher von Koppelau (1684–1770) was a Norwegian nobleman and officer that fought in the Great Northern War on behalf of Denmark–Norway. Von Koppelow was the son of Curt Christoph von Koppelow, a German-Norwegian nobleman from the House of Koppelow in Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Von Koppelow led the Norwegian Army's 3rd Søndenfjeldske Dragoon Regiment upon its establishment in 1750.
The Pro-German resistance movement in Finland was set up during the latter stages of the Second World War after the Moscow Armistice by Nazi Germany and the extreme right in Finland, who prepared for armed struggle against the expected Soviet occupation. Germany funded the activities and provided the necessary training. The project was separate from the plans drawn up by Finnish chief of staff officers in the summer of 1944 for the transition to guerrilla warfare. When there was no occupation, propaganda and smuggling hundreds of people out of Finland became the principal activity of the organization. After the defeat of Germany, the movement did not disintegrate but operated in Finland for several more years. Some members of the movement were caught, and 11 were convicted of treason in 1946.