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Went The Day Well? [1942] [VHS]
 
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Went The Day Well? [1942] [VHS]

VHS ~ Leslie Banks
4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)

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4 new from £3.99 8 used from £2.69 2 collectible from £3.30

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Product details

  • Actors: Leslie Banks, Elizabeth Allan, Frank Lawton, Mervyn Johns, Basil Sydney
  • Format: Black & White, PAL
  • Language English
  • Classification: PG
  • Studio: Warner Home Video
  • VHS Release Date: 12 Jul 1999
  • Run Time: 88 minutes
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B00004COPQ
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 4,252 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

    Popular in this category:

    #62 in  Video > Classic Films > Drama > 1940s

Product Description

Synopsis
A could-it-happen propaganda-type film which centres on a small English village invaded by German paratroopers disguised as soldiers of the Royal Engineers.

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Went The Day Well? [DVD] [1942]
54% buy
Went The Day Well? [DVD] [1942] 4.6 out of 5 stars (9)
£4.98
Went The Day Well? [1942] [VHS]
46% buy the item featured on this page:
Went The Day Well? [1942] [VHS] 4.2 out of 5 stars (6)

 

Customer Reviews

6 Reviews
5 star:
 (2)
4 star:
 (3)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.2 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The 'People's War', 6 Jun 2004
'Went the Day Well?' and Jennings' 'The Silent Village' are the only two films made within the war to deal with the invasion of England. Directed by the Italian director Alberto Cavalcanti and produced by Ealing Studios, 'Went the Day Well?' was a commercial feature based loosely upon Graham Greene's fictional short story 'The Lieutenant Died Last'. It details the landing of an advance guard of the German invasion on the Whitsun weekend of 1942 in the idyllic village of Bramley End. Dressed as sappers they attempt to set up equipment to disrupt Britain's radiolocation defences, yet are found out by the villagers and subsequently stopped.

The film links well with the Ministry of Information's prerogatives of the time. From 1941 the MoI sought to illustrate the 'people's war', the actions of the population of Britain independent of class, age, gender or regionality (hence a variety of accents within the village) leading to success. That many of the characters make sacrifices emphasises the group heroics the British population are capable of once roused into action. Perhpaps most importantly however, the film sets out to stress the danger of complacency which was thought to be in abundance in Britain at the time. It sought to dispel the myth that invasion would not occur and to invigorate suspicion within the public.

The characteristic violence of the film was a useful mechanism to instill such messages into the public at the time. The close ups of the faces of the villagers when they kill, the slow down of time when Nora (Valerie Taylor) kills Oliver (Leslie Banks) and the murderous actions of the Nazis are all mechanisms designed to cause shock. That such actions take place in the idylic and tranquil village of Bramley End makes the violence all the more shocking, and hits home the fact that invasion was a reality. Though such violence may be lacking in the vigor that contemporary audiences may expect, it was nonethelss a powerful mechanism at the time, wartime film evading the violence inherent in war and death.

That 'The Eagle has Landed' was based on 'Went the Day Well?' illustrates its timelessness of plot and mechanisms, and how it can still appeal to a modern audience. By fulfilling the MoI's perogative of Propaganda disguised through Entertainment, Cavalcanti has created a timeless classic.

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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Dame Thora Bags a Hun...., 16 Aug 2000
This is a little Known Classic Piece of "Propaganda as Entertainment" like the more well known "The Way Ahead". Cavalcanti keeps the pace up and the cast give full range to the Germans being "Nasty" and the British "Decent sorts"( except for Leslie Banks! ). The Graham Greene Script is simple but the Plot Exciting and before the Politcal Correctness Police start chattering bear in mind this was written and made whilst at the very Darkest hour of WW II well before America and Russia got involved.

It's worth watching just to see Dame Thora Hird Take on the SS with a Tommy Gun...they don't make them like this anymore.

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10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A very good piece of propaganda, 22 April 2003
By Kevin Brianton (Melbourne, Victoria Australia) - See all my reviews
Filmed in 1942, went the day well is a superb piece of British propaganda from the Second World War showing how good englishmen would beat a crack outfit of German soldiers. Some of the film is quite scary and the scenes of the village beginning to realise that there really are Germans have a creeping tension.

I am sure some of the film was strongly influenced by Steinbeck's novel the moon is down or they both drew from the same source.

Each section of the village plans to resist the invasion and each plan goes wrong. It seems that the Nazis will really win. Set in a perfect English country town, the whole film is quite well paced and the ending is perfectly stirring. The Germans are neither bogeymen or fools, but a strong and determined opponent of freedom.

Good stuff for a winter afternoon and rightly deserving of classic status.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant combination of suspense and propaganda
German paratroops come to an English village in 1942 (we are told this at the start of the film). The premise speaks for itself. Read more
Published on 3 Oct 2003 by K. Paver

3.0 out of 5 stars excellence!
a classic film of a village that defends itself against a secret german plot to take over Britain through a little village
Published on 21 Jan 2001

4.0 out of 5 stars A great little film
I greatly enjoyed this film - Dame Thora is brilliant (but she used a rifle, not a tommy gun!). Mervyn Johns plays the verger and his dry wit is wonderful. Read more
Published on 19 Sep 2000 by Paddy Coker

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