Film Studies Archive
The Stars Look Down
From the British Film Resource archiveThis page is part of the site's original film-studies collection and is preserved as an archive text. Historical references and contemporary observations may reflect the period in which the study was written.
The Stars Look Down
Introduction
Both The Stars Look Down and The Proud Valley were released in 1940. Both are tragic melodramas, focussing on small mining communities and the social effects of unemployment, poverty and tragedy within them. Given this, one would expect two very similar films. Surprisingly however, the films are very different in their treatment of the subject matter.
These differences can broadly be categorised under the headings 'conflict' and 'unity'. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate these differences by examining the representations of family and community within the films.