Went the Day Well? (1942)

Nice effects though.

It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?

Although the film was made at the height of WW2 and clearly aimed at keeping up British morale, it is an immensely impressive film. At its heart, it's the story of very normal people doing extraordinary heroic things. A typical middle-age post-mistress, clubs a German to death with an axe. Middle aged men (who had presumably fought in WW1) face and kill German soldiers. A sailor, on leave to get married, leads the fight against the German infiltration. The 'lady of the manor' throws herself onto a hand grenade to save the children. Although this may sound blood thirsty, it's handled in a typically low- key manner. Whether today's population could do the same is questionable.

The perfect state of emergency film, made during the war to prepare for the worst, with marvellous photography and eloquent staging - the suggestive scenes from inside the church lift the film to almost a Powell-Pressburger level. However, the story is absurd, this never happened and never could happen, and the so called Germans are pathetically unconvincing, even David Farrar and Leslie Banks. The story is Graham Greene's, and it almost touches Orwellian science fiction in its lack of credibility, no matter how realistically and well done it has been made. The women and children are the best actors, and the film is mainly worth seeing for their sake. Nevertheless, in spite of its absurdity, it's a remarkable film, and some scenes are unforgettable. The psychology of the drama of an emergency situation is very neatly realized, as first the overwhelming shock of the conquering attack, then the first resistance awakens to start with some poor tragically failed efforts, to eventually make a breakthrough and triumph. It's the whole story of the second world war in the nutshell of a small village in Britain.

No need to recap the plot.When I first saw the film some 60-years ago, I was so enthused, I told all my little friends. Unfortunately, they could have cared less. Despite that initial impression, the movie slowly faded from memory, never showing up again on TV, at least that I saw. Then, I caught it once more on TCM the other night. After all, that poetic title is unforgettable.Beyond the years, the sheer drama still impresses-- the sudden jarring violence, the boldness of concept, a general sense of unpredictability. I'm sure this is what captivated me the first time around. Too bad these were generally not features of American movies at the time. But now I recognize the propaganda aspects, particularly the Nazi stereotypes. The Germans are one and all, cruel, ruthless, and harsh sounding, except for the Quisling (Banks). The British, on the other hand, are selfless, brave, and thoughtful. Of course, it was wartime 1942, so what can be expected. Still, propaganda remains an effective way of dehumanizing an enemy, regardless of the cause, and dates this production.Nonetheless, I still enjoyed the movie a second time around, especially seeing the country village and rolling countryside. Otherwise, I tend to think of England as being wall-to-wall cities, so that was refreshing. True, a part of me changed over the years, as it does for most of us. But there's still a part that enjoys good drama, and good drama the movie is.

"Went The Day Well" is a wartime movie that is kind of hard to find on this side of the Atlantic. It took me some searching to find it, but it was worth the effort. Although this movie didn't have the budget of wartime movies coming from Hollywood, it's compensated by some good scripting and direction. Unlike some movies that portrayed the enemy as buffoons, the enemy here is dead serious, killing a number of the villagers in the movie. In fact, even though the movie opens with a prologue that more or less informs the audience that the villagers will prevail at the end, the struggle is so long and hard that even then you'll wonder if the villagers will indeed win the conflict. But the movie isn't COMPLETELY serious - there are occasional touches of humor that prevent the movie from becoming too bleak. A movie well worth your time.