American Literature

The Oxford Companion to American Theatre The Oxford Companion to American Literature Further reading

There Shall be No Night

The Oxford Companion to American Theatre | 2004 | | Copyright

There Shall be No Night (1940), a play by Robert E. Sherwood. [Alvin Theatre, 181 perf.; Pulitzer Prize.] The Nobel Prize–winning scien‐tist Dr. Kaarlo Valkonen ( Alfred Lunt) and his American‐born wife, Miranda ( Lynn Fontanne), are reluctant to believe that the Russians will invade his beloved Finland. Nor can they see much purpose in resistance, should the Russians invade. But when war breaks out and their son, Erik ( Montgomery Clift) enters the army, Kaarlo joins the medical corps. He concludes that this war will not be the end of civilization, but rather “the long deferred death rattle of the primordial beast.” While many critics felt the acting turned a thin but well‐meant play into an exciting evening, John Mason Brown wrote, “No one can complain about the theatre's being an escapist institution when it conducts a class in current events at once as touching, intelligent and compassionate as There Shall Be No Night.” After the Russian defeat of the Finns, Sherwood changed the locale of the play to Greece and made the Germans the villains.

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

MLA
Chicago
APA

Gerald Bordman and Thomas S. Hischak. "There Shall be No Night." The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

Gerald Bordman and Thomas S. Hischak. "There Shall be No Night." The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O149-ThereShallbeNoNight.html

Gerald Bordman and Thomas S. Hischak. "There Shall be No Night." The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. 2004. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O149-ThereShallbeNoNight.html

Learn more about citation styles

There Shall be No Night

The Oxford Companion to American Literature | 1995 | | Copyright

There Shall be No Night, play by Robert Sherwood.

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

MLA
Chicago
APA

James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "There Shall be No Night." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "There Shall be No Night." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O123-ThereShallbeNoNight.html

James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "There Shall be No Night." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O123-ThereShallbeNoNight.html

Learn more about citation styles

Free newspaper and magazine articles

	Who shall live and who shall die?(Editorial) Magazine article from: Townsend Letter; 4/1/2011
	She shall bear a son . . .(Local)(Editorial) Newspaper article from: The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA); 12/25/2004
	She shall bear a son . . .(Commentary)(Editorial) Newspaper article from: The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA); 12/25/2005