'So many brutes and…So many decent guys': nunnally johnson and the making of the moon is down (1943). Issue 4 (1st October 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Robertson, Barry
• Is Part Of: Historical journal of film, radio and television. Volume 40:Issue 4(2020)
• Page Start: 683
• Page End: 701
• Publication Date: 2020-10-01
• Subjects: Motion pictures -- History -- Periodicals; Broadcasting -- History -- Periodicals; 302.23409005
• DOI: 10.1080/01439685.2020.1730560
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0143-9685

Abstract

Abstract : This article offers a study of writer-producer Nunnally Johnson's film adaptation of John Steinbeck's novel and play The Moon is Down. It recounts how Steinbeck's original works had met with a large amount of critical disapproval on account of his sympathetic portrayal of Nazi-like forces of occupation, and examines the steps that Johnson took to ensure the film avoided the same fate. It shows how Johnson turned Steinbeck's original non-specific European setting into a real-world Norwegian setting, and reveals the ways in which he toughened up the portrayal of the German soldiers in the film while at the same time retaining considerable vestiges of Steinbeck's original conception. The article also looks at the extent to which the Production Code Administration and the Office of War Information had a bearing on the final cut of the film, and considers the impact of the film upon its release in 1943, and the place it holds within the war-film genre.