"I can't think of a story about which I could be more enthusiastic," said Blanke about Edge of Darkness. That is the keystone for victory in all the democracies.
The moral in Edge of Darkness is that 'united we stand, divided we fall'. We know the enemy we are fighting and we are facing the stern realities of the present war. In Edge of Darkness we are making a picture that has done away with disillusionment. That film embodied the retrospective disillusionment toward another war. It is twelve years now since I made All Quiet on the Western Front. Henry Blanke was assigned to produce, Robert Rossen to write the script and Lewis Milestone to direct. The novel was published on April 9, the second anniversary of the German invasion of Norway. Warner Bros bought the film rights in January 1942 for $30,000.
The story then reverts to the newly arrived German troops finding the dead bodies of both Germans and Norwegians littered about the town, forest and hotel. After a bloody battle, the rebels eventually capture the hotel and Captain Koenig commits suicide after writing a letter to his brother. He is shot dead for his efforts by the Germans. Karen's brother cries to them from the hotel that they are walking into a machine gun crossfire trap set by the commander. Gunnar, Karen, her father, and the other resistance leaders and members make their way through the forest toward the hotel. At the local hotel, which has been used since the occupation as German headquarters, the remaining soldiers prepare for the oncoming attack. They successfully capture the port, and load the women and children onto fishing boats bound for England. The local pastor, who previously had called violent resistance "murder," opens fire from the church tower and the townsfolk follow suit. They hear singing and discover the townsfolk have armed themselves with the smuggled guns, grenades and other weaponry. On the morning of their execution they are forced to dig their own graves in the town square. Captain Koenig orders the suspected resistance leaders to be shot.
Karen's father leaves the meeting and, in anger, bludgeons a German soldier to death. Karen tells him that it is still not yet the time and as he calms down, the radio (which has only been broadcasting static for a week) finally picks up Churchill's broadcast from England, giving them all hope. Gunnar loses his perspective after seeing what the Germans have done to the woman he loves and begins to go crazy, ordering that the fighting begin. She eventually appears at the meeting, clothes torn and face bruised, indicative that she has been raped. Karen, on her way to a resistance meeting, is grabbed by a German soldier and disappears, while Gunnar frantically searches the town for her. They hide the delivery of weapons in a cellar and call upon the townsfolk to delay violence until the opportune moment. The key group of resistance members, headed by Gunnar and Karen, anxiously await the secret arrival of arms from an English submarine. Karen makes it known to the townsfolk that her brother is a "quisling". Johann (John Beal), the doctor's son, has just returned to town having been sent down from the university but is soon influenced by his Nazi-sympathizer uncle. The doctor's daughter, Karen (Ann Sheridan), is involved with the resistance and is in a romantic relationship with its leader Gunnar Brogge (Errol Flynn). Kaspar Togersen (Charles Dingle), his brother-in-law, the wealthy owner of the local fish cannery, collaborates with the Nazis. The doctor would also prefer to stay neutral, but is torn. Previously, the local doctor, Martin Stensgard (Walter Huston) and his wife (Ruth Gordon) wanted to hold on to the pretence of gracious living and ignore the occupiers. The German troops sent to investigate discover that everyone in the village is dead, both German and Norwegian, including the German commander, Captain Koenig, in his office. In the Norwegian fishing village of Trollness, occupied by the Nazis, the Norwegian flag is observed flying high over the town by a passing patrol aircraft.
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