- Actors: Leslie Banks, C.V. France, Valerie Taylor, Marie Lohr, Harry Fowler
- Directors: Alberto Cavalcanti
- Writers: Angus MacPhail, Diana Morgan, Graham Greene, John Dighton
- Producers: Michael Balcon, S.C. Balcon
- Format: PAL
- Language English, German
- Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
- Number of discs: 1
- Classification: PG
- Studio: Optimum Home Releasing
- DVD Release Date: 13 Nov 2006
- Run Time: 92 minutes
- Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
- ASIN: B000I5XNJ2
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 35,405 in Film & TV (See Top 100 in Film & TV)
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
65 of 66 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
An engaging and suspense-laden drama based on the notion that Germans infiltrate a small English village as the vanguard for an invasion of the country. Although the characters are by and large stereotypical (redoubtable lady of the manor, plucky land-girls, fragile but courageous vicar's daughter etc), the film is a fascinating snap-shot of techniques designed to keep the audience on the edge of their seats, and despite the black-and-white film and the classic RP accents, it achieves that completely. Both my nine-year old son and I were enthralled by the film. A tightly-scripted, well-crafted tale based on a Graham Greene short story that serves its purpose and continues to entertain, 65 years on.
82 of 84 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Went the Day Well? is one of the British war movies made during WWII that were meant to strengthen morale and inspire steadfastness. The little English village of Bromley End welcomes a large number of Royal Engineers who are to work on a secret project. However, the Royal Engineers in reality are English-speaking German soldiers in British uniforms, parachuted into England to set up a counter radar apparatus which will disrupt England's radar network.
Gradually the villagers begin to suspect things aren't right, and then realize what they're dealing with. The Germans cordon off the village and show their true, ruthless nature. The villagers need to break through the cordon to alert authorities and get help. They also decide they must take action themselves to stop the Germans. This is complicated because the village houses a traitor. The climax is the Battle of Bromley End, with British Home Guard troops arriving while the Germans, attacking the manor house where they must set up their equipment, are held off by the brave men and women of the village.
You'll recognize some fine actors: Leslie Banks, David Farrar, Thora Hird, Basil Sydney, Mervyn Johns among others. The film is a well-constructed and effective bit of wartime home-front propaganda.
Gradually the villagers begin to suspect things aren't right, and then realize what they're dealing with. The Germans cordon off the village and show their true, ruthless nature. The villagers need to break through the cordon to alert authorities and get help. They also decide they must take action themselves to stop the Germans. This is complicated because the village houses a traitor. The climax is the Battle of Bromley End, with British Home Guard troops arriving while the Germans, attacking the manor house where they must set up their equipment, are held off by the brave men and women of the village.
You'll recognize some fine actors: Leslie Banks, David Farrar, Thora Hird, Basil Sydney, Mervyn Johns among others. The film is a well-constructed and effective bit of wartime home-front propaganda.
20 of 21 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
The early 1940's were never going to be easy and good 'propaganda' films were essential to the well-being of the Great British Public. Went The Day Well defines the British spirit, that of total belief that 'we would win the war'. The film opens showing an English village after the war, even though the war was very much still going on at the time this film was made, and told the story of the Germans buried on English soil. It goes on to show a typical English village in full swing during the war. It never ceases to amaze me that it really was like that, according to my parents, that a terrible thing like war was going on and yet 'normal' life continued as much as possible. The stereotypical differences between the English and German soldiers was obvious from the start - when the Germans pretended to be English they were kind, gentle and good mannered, but as soon as 'the game was up' and they had to revert back to being Germans, the nastiness of the 'hun came through powerfully. Which I assume was the whole point. I won't go into details of the story, others have already done that, but I will say that Went The Day Well is a piece of Britishness that we are all beginning to forget (sadly). The gentleness and warmth of British people, together with their unstinting belief that we would win the war, made this film such a delight. I imagine that in the cinemas at the time this Britishness was quite normal and not the big deal it would be today.
Some of the actors were not actors at all, they were army officers doing their bit. Hence the 'woodenness' of some of them. For me Harry Fowler stood out as being a real actor, in my opinion one of the best in the whole film. The story itself is about Good vs Evil and was highly successful in relating the virtues of goodness over evil, something that in a lot of today's films is missing.
This is one of my favourite films of all times, certainly in my top five. It's one of those films to watch on a wet Sunday afternoon, especially after a good Sunday roast, when you just want to sit and watch a 'feel good' film that will aid the digestion of a super lunch. If you have not yet seen this film, and you like old Black and White films from the forties and fifties, order it now. Believe me, you won't be disappointed.
Some of the actors were not actors at all, they were army officers doing their bit. Hence the 'woodenness' of some of them. For me Harry Fowler stood out as being a real actor, in my opinion one of the best in the whole film. The story itself is about Good vs Evil and was highly successful in relating the virtues of goodness over evil, something that in a lot of today's films is missing.
This is one of my favourite films of all times, certainly in my top five. It's one of those films to watch on a wet Sunday afternoon, especially after a good Sunday roast, when you just want to sit and watch a 'feel good' film that will aid the digestion of a super lunch. If you have not yet seen this film, and you like old Black and White films from the forties and fifties, order it now. Believe me, you won't be disappointed.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
As good as they say it is!
Had wanted to see this film for a while now, having read various reviews when it was restored and screened at The South Bank. Read more
Published 5 months ago by leeds lad
Went the day well?
This is a very engaging film, set in the dark days of World War 2. It captures the the courage, resourcefulness and resilience of a rural community held captive by a ruthless... Read more
Published 9 months ago by Gwaihir
Not quite there
The story is a good idea - Graham Greene after all - but the execution has always struck me as strangely stilted and amateurish, as if they had to borrow the vicar's drama group to... Read more
Published 11 months ago by A. J. W. Daglish
WW II Propaganda Film Well Done!
This is a well done wartime fantasy that made great sense in WW II and was probably meant to sensitize the British people to any odd occurrences in their lives during the war. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Daniel O. Schwartz
A Masterpiece of Early British Cinema
Cavalcanti assured his place in cinema history with this unique and splendid film {see also 'Dead of Night'}. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Sean M Duggan
Proud to be British
I saw this film as a boy over fifty years ago, it made a lasting impression on me. I realised what we had been fighting against in the war, which had recently finished. Read more
Published 19 months ago by S. Brown
dvd film review
film arrived well packed and in good time.enjoyed the film very much.i am very pleased that i bought it.i have been wanting to see it for a while.
Published 21 months ago by Mr. J. A. Page
A Village At War
This is the most interesting film to have been made in Britain during the Second World War. It is also more genuinely shocking than many 'front-line' war films. Read more
Published 21 months ago by M. J. Nelson
Went the day well dvd
I saw this movie as a child when it came out and until recently could not locate it. It was a real treat
Published on 12 Oct 2009 by A. Finizza
Reminds me of another film
This wartime propaganda story by Graham Greene was well put together when you consider that England was in the midst of a mighty battle against Nazi Germany when it was made. Read more
Published on 29 Sep 2009 by Anthony Last
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