Went the Day Well? (1942)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

Alberto Cavalcanti

Writers:

John Dighton (writer)
Graham Greene (short story "The Lieutenant Died Last")

Release Date:

28 June 1944 (USA)

Genre:

Thriller | War

Plot:

An English village is occupied by disguised German paratroopers as an advance post for a planned invasion.

Plot Keywords:

Village | WWII | Invasion | Billet | Punctuation In Title

Cast

Leslie Banks	...	Oliver Wilsford
C.V. France	...	The Vicar
Valerie Taylor	...	Nora Ashton
Marie Lohr	...	Mrs Fraser
Basil Sydney	...	Kommandant Orlter, alias Major Hammond
David Farrar	...	Lt. Jung, alias Lt. Maxwell
Harry Fowler	...	George Truscott, boy
Frank Lawton	...	Tom Sturry
Edward Rigby	...	Bill Purvis, the poacher
Elizabeth Allan	...	Peggy Pryde, [a Land Army Girl]
Thora Hird	...	Ivy Dawking, [a Land Army Girl]
Norman Pierce	...	Jim Sturry
Mervyn Johns	...	Charles Sims, the church warder
Johnnie Schofield	...	Joe Garbett, the policeman
Patricia Hayes	...	Daisy, the shop clerk

Also Known As:

48 Hours (USA)
They Came in Khaki (UK) (working title)

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English | German

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Canada:PG (Ontario) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:A

Filming Locations:

Ealing Studios, Ealing, London, England, UK

Company:

Ealing Studios

Trivia:

Alberto Cavalcanti was paid £45 a week while making the film.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When the actions start on Monday morning, the shadows are too short; the scene was shot in the afternoon.

Quotes:

Kommandant Orlter, alias Major Hammond: [addressing the church's congregation] Obey my order and you will not be harmed. Any person who attempts to escape or communicate with the outside world will be shot!
[shouting even louder]
Kommandant Orlter, alias Major Hammond: Is that clear?
The Vicar: You ask me to bow down to the forces of evil here in this House of God?
Kommandant Orlter, alias Major Hammond: I ask nothing! I give you my orders!
The Vicar: I am a minister of the Christian faith. I will take no orders from those who are the enemies and oppressors of mankind!

Movie Connections:

Featured in War Stories (2006) (TV)

"Went The Day Well" vs "The Eagle Has Landed"

I can't help but think of the similarities between this film and the later production "The Eagle Has Landed" based on the novel by Jack Higgins. Both films concern the capture of a sleepy English village by crack German paratroopers disguised as members of an allied force. In both stories the villagers are herded into the church and held captive, although the duration of captivity in the latter production is relatively short. Also, in the Higgins story, the objective of the German troops is the capture of Winston Churchill, not acting as an advance party probing weaknesses prior to the conquest of Britain.

The beauty of "Went The Day Well" is that is of its time, and the product of a country that was still at war, and reflects the concerns of the British wartime population. If you have an interest in World War Two and like black and white films, then by all means see this film.