Dangerous Moonlight (US: Suicide Squadron) is a 1941 British film, directed by Brian Desmond Hurst and starring Anton Walbrook. Among the costumes, the gowns were designed by Cecil Beaton.[1] The film is best known for its score written by Richard Addinsell, orchestrated by Roy Douglas, which includes the Warsaw Concerto.

Dangerous Moonlight
Theatrical Release Poster (Suicide Squadron)
Directed by	Brian Desmond Hurst
Written by	Terence Young (original story and screenplay) Rodney Ackland and Brian Desmond Hurst (contributing writers, uncredited)
Produced by	William Sistrom
Starring	Anton Walbrook Sally Gray John Laurie Guy Middleton Cecil Parker Alan Keith Derrick De Marney
Cinematography	Georges Périnal
Edited by	Alan Jaggs
Music by	Richard Addinsell
Distributed by	RKO Radio British Productions
Release date	26 June 1941 (1941-06-26) (UK)
Running time	94 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

Dangerous Moonlight's love-story plot, told mainly in flashbacks, revolves around the fictional composer of the Warsaw Concerto, a piano virtuoso and "shell-shocked" combat pilot, who meets an American war correspondent in Warsaw, and later returns from America to join the RAF in England to continue to fight against the Germans and their occupation of Poland.[2]

Plot

During the German invasion of Poland, Polish airman and piano virtuoso Stefan Radecki (Anton Walbrook) meets American reporter Carole Peters (Sally Gray). He volunteers to fly a "suicide mission" against Germany, but is not selected. Radecki is among the last to escape Warsaw and months later, in New York, he and Carole meet again, and marry.

In England, Radecki gives a public concert and reveals that he has come back to fight, volunteering to fly as a pilot in a Polish squadron, fighting in the Battle of Britain, even though Carole fears he will be killed. His final mission ends with his self-sacrifice by crashing into a German aircraft. He is badly injured in the crash and suffers from amnesia.

Later, Radecki is in a London hospital, recovering from his injuries. He begins to remember his past, recalling composing the Warsaw Concerto, while the Germans bomb the city, and when he first met his wife. Sitting at the piano, Radecki sees Carole and says, "Carole, it's not safe to go out with you when the moon is so bright", repeating the first words he ever spoke to her.

Cast

Production

Dangerous Moonlight was produced by the British unit of RKO, which financed it.[2]

Since music was such a key element in the film, Walbrook, who was an accomplished amateur pianist, is seen playing in the film, although the music on the soundtrack is played by the professional pianist Louis Kentner. Kentner's involvement was initially uncredited, as he thought that being seen to be playing film music would not help his career. He changed his mind on seeing the film's success.[3] Aerial scenes were actually filmed in combat and feature the No 74 Squadron (Squadron lettering "ZP")[4]^{[circular reference]}[5]^{[circular reference]} Supermarine Spitfire fighters that flew in the Battle of Britain.[6]

Reception

Released initially in the UK as Dangerous Moonlight, it was a box office success in Great Britain, although contemporary reviews were generally unfavourable.[2] The New York Times review described it as principally "a sentimental fable in which the excellent Anton Walbrook, so eloquent as the Hutterite leader in The Invaders, and Sally Gray make a listless and anemic pair of lovers. Derrick De Marney does much better by the roguish character of an Irish daredevil. None of them has lifted the film above the level of a hackneyed fiction."[7]

Dangerous Moonlight was a melange of art and warfare, with the best-remembered scenes involving the Warsaw Concerto, composed by Richard Addinsell, one of the most beloved classical pieces that emerged from the period.[8] Walbrook was not pleased with his performance and considered the film his least favourite.[9] When released in the United States, the film was renamed Suicide Squadron in a cut 83 minute version, and distributed by Republic Pictures under lease, although its UK release was through RKO Radio British. Despite relying heavily on its film music, Variety noted that the sound quality was noticeably poor, especially in early scenes, although the aerial sequences, however, were particularly effective.[8]

Among modern appraisals, Leonard Maltin commented that Dangerous Moonlight was an "intelligently presented account of concert pianist who becomes a member of a British fighter squadron during WW2; musical interludes (including Richard Addinsell's well-known Warsaw Concerto) well handled. Look for Michael Rennie in a small role."[10] while a 2016 book on Hurst's films dedicates a section to Dangerous Moonlight.[N 1]

In Popular Culture

In Triple Cross (1966), Eddie Chapman, played by Christopher Plummer, confuses the tune Warsaw Concerto with the title of this movie, a film he claims he saw with Sally Gray and Anton Walbrook in it.

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

External links

• Dangerous Moonlight at IMDb
• Dangerous Moonlight at the TCM Movie Database
• Dangerous Moonlight at AllMovie