Snug little Bramley End seemed safe from World War II, and the villagers welcomed the lorry loads of Royal Engineers rolling onto their quiet green acres.
They didn't know they were disguised German parachutists installing radar apparatus to disrupt England's entire network. Nor did they suspect their community leader was a traitor.

But gradually they learnt the sinister truth and bravely fought the Nazi occupation at the highest cost of all.


viewer's comments:

- Suspenseful and inspiring.

The picture begins with a narrator telling how it came to be that a number of Germans are buried here in the graveyard in the quiet English village of Bramley Green. The events that occurred there in the spring of 1942 are then shown in flashback: A platoon of British soldiers arrive who are to be billeted in the village for a few days. Residents are cooperative and gracious, providing lodging and food from their already rationed supply. Before long, suspicions arise. Why do the soldiers write the figure seven with a cross stroke? Why does one of them have a bar of Viennese chocolate?

Slowly the community realizes that the enemy is in their midst: the British soldiers are actually German paratroopers. The villagers are rounded up and locked in the church and several attempts to get word to the outside world are thwarted. Then it is discovered that the village squire (Leslie Banks) is a traitor aiding the Nazis. The vicar's daughter (Valerie Taylor) boldly shoots him, the postmistress (Muriel George) whacks her captor over the head with an ax, and the rest of the town joins suit until reinforcements finally arrive. Based on a story by Graham Greene. This film was shown at Cinefest in Syracuse NY in March 2003 and was the hit of the festival. I hope it will be released on home video soon.

- Superb British Propaganda Film
I have only managed to see 'Went The Day Well' twice and it is an absolute gem, but one that probably wouldn't appeal to many people nowadays. The events are believable and I am sure this film was very effective as wartime propaganda. Superior to 'The Eagle Has Landed,' which definitely shares many elements, starting with the soldiers graves at the beginning of the films. Excellent stuff.

- "yes the day good went"
A still chilling story of german invasion to an ordinary sleepy english village sixty years ago. This brilliantly captured the very real possibility of what could have happened during the first years of world war 2. If you tend to stay away from "older" films because they're too distant and difficult to relate to I strongly recommend this, the characters are believable and the way the story is told is very realistic and not at all sentimental. There are some quite powerful scenes which are quite shocking and totally unexpected in a film this old. (9/10)

- Excellent wartime thriller – rises way above it's propaganda roots
In war time England a group of RAF Engineers are sent to a typically quiet and picturesque English village. However in reality they are an elite group of German soldiers with instructions to secure the village in preparation for a stealth German invasion in several days time. When one of the villagers suspects something is amiss the Germans seize the village and take the residents hostage. With the Home Guard dead the villagers plan to alert the outside world.

I watched this film simply because it sounded very familiar to Higgins' The Eagle Has Landed and was curious to see how closely his book `borrowed' from this. I expected this to be a hollow piece of propaganda given the period and the `German threat in the homelands' warning to those back home. However this is vastly better than many of the war time movies that merely push an anti-Nazi message. This is actually exciting and is all the better for sudden moments of violence that are genuinely exciting.

The heroes get killed! Little old ladies are forced into violent acts and sacrifice that I just didn't expect. One split second scene was so sudden and unexpected that I literally gasped! Of course it can't do this for the whole film and for the most part it is just entertaining – as if that's nothing! It lacks the violence of modern war films but the 1940's English atmosphere to the movie just makes the action and the tense feel even more pronounced.

The cast are roundly good. The Germans start well but do give in to brutal stereotype before the film is very old. Leslie Banks is excellent, playing against type to great effect and the village cast are all very good including a few famous faces including Harry Fowler and, even more amusingly, Thora Hird.

Overall I really enjoyed this. At it's heart it's an enjoyable propaganda piece with a thriller story. However it is stacked with sufficient moments of surprise or unexpected violence to make it stand out from the crowd.

- Job done.
This is essential viewing for any film fan. A gallery of famous faces come together under the direction of a master of horror to turn in one of the best genre-busting films of the forties. What is this simple war film, starting as some kind of futuristic docu-drama, before settling into light domestic drama, it soon turns into terrifying 'invasion of the village snatchers' thriller, before descending into pure horror? When the elderly Postmistress delivers a few brief lines of motive (worthy of Stephen King) before planting an axe firmly between a pair of Nazi eyes I defy the hair on the back of your neck not to stand to attention. It only misfires in the battle scenes near the end which are rescued by the most wonderfully shocking old lady/handgenade interface ever committed to film. Result: the war office must have said "Please scare the British public senseless". Job done.


- A credible representation of what could well have happened.
I saw 'Went the Day Well' in 1943, as a 12 year old in war-time England.What I remember most about the film is that it was utterly convincing, both in the authenticity of the setting and the quality of the acting,My friends and I were, of course, perhaps less sophisticated and streetwise than the 12 year olds of today, nevertheless, the film left a lasting impression and I, at least, can remember it in a fair amount of detail, even after the passage of nearly sixty years. The least convincing part to us was the fight between the soldiers,English and German, towards the end of the film,located in and around the church - perhaps this was because we had watched too many carefully staged propanganda epics belittling the ability of the Germans ! All in all,though, a film which brought home the fact that the freedom we take for granted can so easily be lost unless we are eternally vigilant.






Cast: Leslie Banks .... Oliver Wilsford
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.

Also Known As:
48 Hours (1944) (USA)
They Came in Khaki (1942) (UK: working title)
Runtime: 92 min
Country: UK
Language: English
Color: Black and White

From a short story by Graham Greene, "The Lieutenant Died Last."