This is a cracking propaganda piece. And very graphic for a British film of the forties. "The Eagle Has Landed" stole much of it's basic plot. The middle class RADA accents may grind today but it made it's point perfectly. The paradox of the idyllic English country hamlet with the gravity of a Nazi invasion. The film doesn't reduce the dialogue to the usual "Vee have ways of making you talk" level and the violence is strong. Women in Brit movies of the forties were normally either maids or masters and knew their place but here they are plucky,brave and headstrong. "Mrs Miniver" this ain't. Brilliantly directed, especially the action scenes. The acting is first class. A superb contribution.

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.

This film is clearly a propaganda movie. It's purpose is quite clear for all in the UK at that time - to trust no-one. It appealed to my own sense of morality, that is a hard edged morality which gets the job done with the best results even if you have to break a few rules of humanity.The story's own moral is that which was plastered around the country over walls every where. "Loose lips sink ships", "Walls have ears!", that kind of thing. It was informing a war torn country that to win this war we not only had to be vigilant constantly, but in the event of us encountering a direct threat to the country's security, we had to give all we had to make sure we didn't lose. An example of this is where one woman is making conversation with a German soldier, keeping him talking whilst she carefully prepares to 'do her bit'. She mentions old propaganda that tells of German soldiers attacking us with babies pierced on their bayonets. The German soldier, though not outraged at this accusation, dismisses it with a comment that may as well have been answered with a shrug. Here the film seems to be saying that even if this is not true, the Germans wouldn't care either way what we thought. The woman throws pepper in the soldiers face then without even a second's thought, attacks him with an axe! Brutal, but brilliant. "People of England", the film says, "whatever you have to do, do it. Just don't let these animals get their hands on our country".The killing of the enemy was portrayed as a noble and just act, as was the resulting injuries and deaths of the villagers when resisting and fighting back. Kill and be killed, defend to the death!The film has a strong message and woe betide if we ignore it. Of course, in today's country, we wouldn't be told to do this. We are too multi cultural, even with those that we fight with abroad at the moment. It is such a shame this sense of duty to one's country is lacking as it certainly would be if it all happened now!

An ahead-of-its-time film if ever there was one, WENT THE DAY WELL? is still a chilling wartime thriller even watched today. It begins deceptively genteel, with Mervyn Johns talking to the camera (a great device) and leading us into a story which times out to be both hard hitting and inspirational.Like the later film, THE EAGLE HAS LANDED, this fictional movie poses the 'what if?' question - what if the much-mooted Nazi invasion of England had really taken place? The answer is limited to a single rural village in the English countryside which soon finds itself taken over by ruthless German soldiers.What follows is expertly paced and supremely directed, with the villagers harried, hassled and murdered and eventually fighting back against their oppressors. It's still a violent and grim film, with axe murders, knifings and all manner of shootings put on the screen, although in my mind a scene involving a hand grenade marks the most shocking moment. An excellent cast, topped by THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME's Leslie Banks as a sinister collaborater, help make this a British classic.