WW2 at Corrie Film Club

Went the Day Well, an Ealing Studios film made by Cavalcanti in 1942, was a slightly belated effort to warn good Brits that the enemy might infiltrate us on our own ground. Invasion had been a very real possibility in the tense early days of the war. The threat had faded in the more pressing reality of the blitz, and by then, this spirited stand by the fictional village of Bramley End against a German invasion was a touch too chirpy to be purely propaganda.

The story is told in flashback by a villager as though to a person visiting after the war. He remembers the strange Whit Saturday when a group of seemingly authentic British soldiers arrive in Bramley End, welcomed by the villagers until doubts grow. They are in fact German soldiers intended to form the vanguard of an invasion of Britain, and when the villagers realise this, they are rounded up and imprisoned in the church. When the vicar rings the church bell as a warning signal, he is promptly shot.

Based on a Graham Greene novel and with music by William Walton, Went the Day Well introduced a young actress called Thora Hird in a spirited performance as a gutsy land-girl, and there are countless cameo performances. Though a fantasy, and propaganda, the film is more than a nostalgia-fest. It has much to say about resourcefulness and the usefulness of humour. Bramley End has a tough time of it, and not everyone survives, yet the indefatigable Ealing Studios talent for entertainment shines through. Is this an England now lost? Discuss.

The screening is in Corrie Hall at 8:00 pm on Sunday November 9th.

This is the first film in the 2014-15 series. Films are shown on the second Sunday of the month, with no charge, though donations are welcomes. You can become a member of the Film Club for an annual payment of £15, which helps to buy in the DVDs and pay for the hire of the hall. If you enjoy film, please consider joining.