Went the Day Well?

Watching Went The Day Well? put me in mind of American propaganda films about fifth columnists in the USA. Some like Alfred Hitchcock's Sabotage were well made. The majority of them were so bad that even in those patriotic days of World War II, I'm betting a lot of the audience must have laughed uproariously even then, let alone seeing them now. I can recall the Nazis being involved in black market cattle rustling in a Three Mesquiteers film, the East Side Kids discovering a spy ring in one of their films, and in a Judy Canova film Joan Of Ozark she's targeted by Hitler himself for finding and destroying a wireless transmitter in Arkansas. These films are hysterically funny today even the concept of them.

But for the folks in the United Kingdom this was a real threat. Hitler and his legions were all along the coast of Europe ready to spring into action, threat of an invasion was real. The Germans occupied a few of the English Channel Islands which are part of the United Kingdom proper. To this day historians debate why he shifted his attentions from Great Britain to the Soviet Union. Because of that a film about German troops being brought in stealthily to the United Kingdom and assigned to take a certain village for its geographic location and relative inaccessibility, the better to defend if found out holds up even today.

That's what happens some elite German troops in the uniforms of British sappers are sent to occupy the village of Bramley End. Basil Sydney and David Farrar command the troops and they convince the townspeople at first they're real. A really stupid error on Sydney's part gives them away, so the village is occupied for real. An invasion is coming within a few days and the villagers make many attempts to get help from the outside.

The local squire is played by Leslie Banks and he's a Cliveden set type, a Nazi sympathizer. Banks has the best role in the film as he sabotages a few efforts at resistance.

I do love this film so, it shows that the people who united to save the British army to get them off the beaches at Dunkirk are still doing what they have to in order to save civilization itself. Leading the resistance is a sailor played by Frank Lawton who happens to be on leave visiting his family in Bramley's End.

Went The Day Well? is the best kind of wartime propaganda film and the people's resistance even in an event that never occurred will still inspire audiences today.

1942. That is the important date to bear in mind when watching this film. That was when the film was made, and when the UK cinema auidences watching it knew that all that separated them from invasion was a few miles of sea. Imagine the impact it must have had!! Plucky Brits, living in the rural English idyll, threatened by the Hun. Having witnessed their brave fight, the auidences must have come out of the flicks wanting to take on the German army on their own. The comparisons with 'The Eagle Has Landed' are easy to make, but just remember that date of 1942. The threat was real to the people watching it, unlike those watching 'The Eagle' for the very first time. Cracking afternoon entertainment, with a message of its time.

Alberto Cavalcanti's outstanding piece of wartime propaganda is worthy of Hitchcock at his best. It's a surprisingly bleak and sometimes vicious study of British resilience, light years away from the dull Hollywood sentimentality of "Mrs Miniver". It's about a group of Fifth Columnists who take over a small British village in 1942 in preparation for the German invasion and of how the villagers fight back.

It has all the usual stereotypical villagers, (the post-mistress, the squire etc), but these clichéd parts are turned on their heads with surprisingly suspenseful results. Good performances, too, from everybody in a film that is largely undervalued, certainly in this country where we are inclined to acknowledge our 'heroism' but draw the line at going beyond that, as this film does, somewhat uncomfortably.

English villagers take in some soldiers during WWII, thinking they are English. Turns out they are Nazis planning an invasion. When one of the villagers catches on, the Nazis round them all up as prisoners. Now the villagers have to figure out how to escape or get word out about what's going on, which surprisingly leads to many deaths.

This is a good one. A tense, exciting, mature wartime thriller. You'll find yourself rooting for these incredibly likable villagers, which makes it all the more sad (and realistic) that so many of them don't make it out of the movie alive. Some very strong scenes, such as the pepper scene and the grenade scene, among many others. Terrific acting, writing, and directing. Just a remarkable film all around. One of the best WWII movies I've seen.

For a film made in 1942 this film is fairly hard hitting as it does not shy away from the realities and emotions of warfare. The plot gradually gains pace and the atmosphere is tense as the ordinary English folk rally round to face the professional soldiers of Nazi Germany. The quality of acting is superb throughout and although there are signs of propaganda, it is kept to a minimum and is not overly biased. Highly recommended and very cheap to buy (at least in England it is).