Invasion!

Went the Day Well? (1942)

Based on a short story by Graham Greene this film from Alberto Cavalcanti stars Leslie Banks and Basil Sydney. During the Second World War a small village in England is held hostage by Germans ahead of a planned invasion.

This is an interesting piece of British war time propaganda that captures both a snap shot of rural village life but also how people of the time considered invasion a very real threat. What is excellent about the film is that when it comes to the violence and action sequences it pulls no punches with serious consequences for the villagers who resist. Rather than being a scaremonger this film manages to walk the thin line between propaganda, boosting morale and realism.

4/5