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- Robert M. Grippo
Thanks to The Home Theater Forum for letting me share this one review.
Good show Film Movement in fact 'ripping!"
With Christmas days away we heartily recommend you grab this set in either Blu Ray or DVD!
This GREAT set should be on every film collector's shelf and in a prominent spot because they are all outstanding WWII War films for which the Brits excelled at making, some in fact being made while Britain was under the terror of the Nazi Blitzkrieg. This set should be a purchase just in fact for one title, 1942's "Went The Day Well?" Directed by famed Brazilian Alberto Cavalcanti whose segments "The Ventriloquist" and "The Christmas Party" in the classic 1945 "Dead Of Night" still packs a lot of frights. Cavalcanti as he was known brought this stunningly violent and quite terrifyingly realistic for 1942 depiction of Nazi soldiers not just the type of depictions being seen in Hollywood's film to a shocked audience in England.
Hollywood was focused on the horrors of the fight the United States was facing against the Japanese after Pearl Harbor. The cast is simply superb a who's who of Britain's screen personalities, Leslie Banks (known in the states for his role in 1932's The Most Dangerous Game), John Mills, Mervyn Johns, Basil Sydney (later to get great exposure worldwide in Disney's "Treasure Island" 1950) Muriel George, Frank Lawton, Marie Lohr and many others.
"Look funny don't they? Germany names in a English Churchyard, they wanted England these Gerry's did and this is the only bit they got." These words said by the marvelous actor Mervyn Johns as he stands by a grave marker in a English Cemetery immediately will draw you in as it did to I as I got comfortable in my easy chair. The film starts of slowly, introducing us to the various townspeople who will be part of the story that will take this quaint and easy going English community to the depths of hell as they realize their very neighbors whom they have lived alongside for years were never what they portrayed themselves to be. I find myself in a pickle, as not to tell the details of the story that would ruin the impact of the film especially in taking the larger picture of the time in which the film was produced and the result of the film being that the audiences would leave the theater with them thinking if their neighbors could be trusted? Could they be something other than loyal Brits? Were they loyal to King and country or were they settled in England after the first World War and integrated into the community only to wait for the order to act for the Third Reich and the Fuhrer? Here in the States we had Warner Bros' make the 1939 "Confessions Of A Nazi Spy" which told of the horrors of the Nazis, yet largely the people of America wanted no part of another war so while Europe was attacked in 1939 and the Brits getting drawn in to the second World War and Paris falling it would take Pearl Harbor to draw the USA into the conflict. Every performance in "Went The Day Well?" is pitch perfect, Leslie Banks is quite the deceiver here as is Basil Sydney. One of the most delicious moments in the film is Banks undoing, once the arc of the story takes over the film and the horrors are unrelenting, one of the most stunningly horrific scenes is the violence that meets Mrs. Collins (Muriel George) the lady in charge of the telephone service for the village, when she takes the chance, the only chance to get on the phone and warn the authorities of the village's terror that if not exposed will threaten all of England the brutality she faces is truly horrific and heart wrenching. Compare this scene to the scene in MGM's wartime masterpiece "Mrs. Miniver" when a Nazi soldier winds up in the Miniver home.
It has been said that great Brit WWII era films like "In Which We Serve" or Powell and Pressburger's "The 49th Parallel" were the greatest British propaganda war films ever made. But once you view "Went The Day Well?" there is no doubt you will agree this film deserves that title. Our love of Brit War Films is well known, loving especially the films that were actually produced during the war, like "The Way Ahead," and especially the aforementioned "In Which We Serve," and "One Of Our Aircraft Is Missing" which cleverly flips Powell and Pressburger's "The 49th Parallel." I had never seen "Went The Day Well?" until the much missed Robert Osborne introduced it about seven years ago on TCM. The thrill of now owning this little known masterpiece is worth the set alone but I am eagerly ready to dig in and watch the rest of the critically acclaimed films in this set - "The Dam Busters," "The Colditz Story," "Dunkirk," and "Ice Cold In Alex,"
The set is brimming with extras although none support "Went The day Well?" The BFI has done outstanding work in preserving these important time capsules of the era and the films made in the years that followed WWII. Image quality on "Went The Day Well?" is rendered quite nicely on Blu Ray with crisp and clear images and wonderful black and white photography. The sound too is reproduced fine on par with films of the era. I never have a problem with some of the Brit's accents in these old film although once in a while you might need to scan back a bit and replay a snippet of dialogue. The Film Movement gave us the wonderful Alastair Sim set in 2020 and this essential WWII based set, they continue to mine the BFI catalog through great companies such as Studio Canal! If you have friends or family members that love old WWII movies or perhaps you do and want to gift yourself a keeper grab this set in time for the holidays - you will love every minute of "Went The Day Well?" And the rest of the films are pretty darn great too!
Good show Film Movement in fact 'ripping!"
With Christmas days away we heartily recommend you grab this set in either Blu Ray or DVD!
This GREAT set should be on every film collector's shelf and in a prominent spot because they are all outstanding WWII War films for which the Brits excelled at making, some in fact being made while Britain was under the terror of the Nazi Blitzkrieg. This set should be a purchase just in fact for one title, 1942's "Went The Day Well?" Directed by famed Brazilian Alberto Cavalcanti whose segments "The Ventriloquist" and "The Christmas Party" in the classic 1945 "Dead Of Night" still packs a lot of frights. Cavalcanti as he was known brought this stunningly violent and quite terrifyingly realistic for 1942 depiction of Nazi soldiers not just the type of depictions being seen in Hollywood's film to a shocked audience in England.
Hollywood was focused on the horrors of the fight the United States was facing against the Japanese after Pearl Harbor. The cast is simply superb a who's who of Britain's screen personalities, Leslie Banks (known in the states for his role in 1932's The Most Dangerous Game), John Mills, Mervyn Johns, Basil Sydney (later to get great exposure worldwide in Disney's "Treasure Island" 1950) Muriel George, Frank Lawton, Marie Lohr and many others.
"Look funny don't they? Germany names in a English Churchyard, they wanted England these Gerry's did and this is the only bit they got." These words said by the marvelous actor Mervyn Johns as he stands by a grave marker in a English Cemetery immediately will draw you in as it did to I as I got comfortable in my easy chair. The film starts of slowly, introducing us to the various townspeople who will be part of the story that will take this quaint and easy going English community to the depths of hell as they realize their very neighbors whom they have lived alongside for years were never what they portrayed themselves to be. I find myself in a pickle, as not to tell the details of the story that would ruin the impact of the film especially in taking the larger picture of the time in which the film was produced and the result of the film being that the audiences would leave the theater with them thinking if their neighbors could be trusted? Could they be something other than loyal Brits? Were they loyal to King and country or were they settled in England after the first World War and integrated into the community only to wait for the order to act for the Third Reich and the Fuhrer? Here in the States we had Warner Bros' make the 1939 "Confessions Of A Nazi Spy" which told of the horrors of the Nazis, yet largely the people of America wanted no part of another war so while Europe was attacked in 1939 and the Brits getting drawn in to the second World War and Paris falling it would take Pearl Harbor to draw the USA into the conflict. Every performance in "Went The Day Well?" is pitch perfect, Leslie Banks is quite the deceiver here as is Basil Sydney. One of the most delicious moments in the film is Banks undoing, once the arc of the story takes over the film and the horrors are unrelenting, one of the most stunningly horrific scenes is the violence that meets Mrs. Collins (Muriel George) the lady in charge of the telephone service for the village, when she takes the chance, the only chance to get on the phone and warn the authorities of the village's terror that if not exposed will threaten all of England the brutality she faces is truly horrific and heart wrenching. Compare this scene to the scene in MGM's wartime masterpiece "Mrs. Miniver" when a Nazi soldier winds up in the Miniver home.
It has been said that great Brit WWII era films like "In Which We Serve" or Powell and Pressburger's "The 49th Parallel" were the greatest British propaganda war films ever made. But once you view "Went The Day Well?" there is no doubt you will agree this film deserves that title. Our love of Brit War Films is well known, loving especially the films that were actually produced during the war, like "The Way Ahead," and especially the aforementioned "In Which We Serve," and "One Of Our Aircraft Is Missing" which cleverly flips Powell and Pressburger's "The 49th Parallel." I had never seen "Went The Day Well?" until the much missed Robert Osborne introduced it about seven years ago on TCM. The thrill of now owning this little known masterpiece is worth the set alone but I am eagerly ready to dig in and watch the rest of the critically acclaimed films in this set - "The Dam Busters," "The Colditz Story," "Dunkirk," and "Ice Cold In Alex,"
The set is brimming with extras although none support "Went The day Well?" The BFI has done outstanding work in preserving these important time capsules of the era and the films made in the years that followed WWII. Image quality on "Went The Day Well?" is rendered quite nicely on Blu Ray with crisp and clear images and wonderful black and white photography. The sound too is reproduced fine on par with films of the era. I never have a problem with some of the Brit's accents in these old film although once in a while you might need to scan back a bit and replay a snippet of dialogue. The Film Movement gave us the wonderful Alastair Sim set in 2020 and this essential WWII based set, they continue to mine the BFI catalog through great companies such as Studio Canal! If you have friends or family members that love old WWII movies or perhaps you do and want to gift yourself a keeper grab this set in time for the holidays - you will love every minute of "Went The Day Well?" And the rest of the films are pretty darn great too!
