WENT THE DAY WELL?

(A.k.a. 48 HOURS)

"Went the day well? We died and never knew. But, well or ill, freedom, we died for you".

Based on Graham Greene’s short story "The Lieutenant Died Last", this classic 1942 film shows a different side to British Ealing Studio’s normally light-hearted oeuvre.

The drama is staged in a small English village by the name of Bramley End. We’re greeted by the church warder, Charles (Mervyn Johns) who addresses the screen while leading us through the local church’s graveyard, saying we must be wondering why an English cemetery has German names upon some of its graves.

He proceeds to tell all, taking us back to May 1942, and the arrival of a fleet of military trucks in his small hamlet.

The 60 soldiers on board the trucks are dressed in British army attire and speak English well. They tell a passer-by that they’re there to be billeted among the villagers. The small community noses through curtains and gossips amongst itself, a minor ripple of excitement being caused by their presence.

All, that is, save for young couple Peg (Elizabeth Allan) and Tom (Frank Lawton): they’re to be married in the morning, and can think of little other than their impending honeymoon.

After meeting local policeman Joe (Johnnie Schofield), the soldiers – led by an upper-crust type who refers to himself as Major Hammond (Basil Sydney) – are told the village hall may be big enough to accommodate them. They swiftly call on the local vicar (C V France) for permission to use the place.

The soldiers are settled in to the village rather quickly, and before long a handful of them make it to the local Tavern for a pint. The villagers should have smelled a rat when the barmaid proposes a toast to them, declaring "down with Hitler" – much to their disdain. But it’s not until one villager’s suspicions are aroused that the truth comes out, and the soldiers are revealed to be a German platoon sent to the village with the task of securing it in preparation of a full-scale invasion.

Once the Home Guard is out of the way, the villagers must fend for themselves against the enemy within – and find some way of alerting the outside world to this immediate threat to their homeland ...

WENT THE DAY WELL? is a flab-free drama that starts off fairly light in tone, but soon becomes tense once the villagers are made aware of their predicament. By then, the community’s characters have been painted well, and the situations presented for each one make the most of their individual dispositions. More impressively, the film stands the test of time as a convincing portrayal of how a small community will set aside its differences and pull together in times of hardship – the united front displayed by the locals when they’re forced to fight back is stirring, and subtly played.

Performances are of the mannered, old-fashioned variety (think along the lines of Harry Enfield’s Cholmondley Warner sketches) but don’t rob the film of any of its resonance. Indeed, it’s easy to cast yourself back to the time of this film’s completion, when such an invasion of our home turf was a very real possibility indeed.

The pace, as mentioned above, is relentlessly brisk. And yet, the storyline is well-crafted, building first through exposition and the finer details of relationships within Bramley End, through to the initial panic of realisation – and through to the resolute defiance of the Brits in the face of adversity. However, it’s not quite the flag-waving schmaltz that that perhaps makes it sound like. Patriotic, yes, and almost certainly a propaganda film of its age. But WENT THE DAY WELL? wants to entertain as much as it wants to provoke thought. And this it does with ease.

There is quaintness to it for the most part, but it still stands up production-wise and has a couple of moments of surprisingly harsh realism (unexpected character deaths; old dears resorting to violence, etc).

Also, keen viewers will be able to spy TV darlings Thora Hird and Patricia Hayes in early roles.

WENT THE DAY WELL? is presented in its original 1.37:1 ratio, in a new restoration job overseen by the British Film Institute. They’ve done a grand job – images are sharp and exhibit startling depth, with any softness seemingly accurate to the effects of the film stock used. Contrast is fine and blacks remain solid throughout. A nice touch is how the film opens with the BBFC’s original ‘A’ certificate rating card too (signifying that it had been "passed for public exhibition to adult audiences").

The film’s original English mono audio is generally good, offering a consistent and largely clean playback. Optional English subtitles for the Hard of Hearing have also been provided.

A static main menu page leads to an equally static scene-selection menu allowing access to the film via 12 chapters.

Best of the disc’s extras is a 22-minute short Ealing film from 1941, entitled YELLOW CAESAR. It’s also directed by the man behind WENT THE DAY WELL?, Alberto Cavalcanti. This is narrated by Michael Frank, and is a mock documentary on Mussolini’s rise to dictatorship. Archive newsreel footage is met by sarcastic voiceovers by the likes of Marcel King and Max Spiro (both as Mussolini).

Although the humour is gentle by today’s standards, this is an extremely interesting example of early British satire – and can be viewed as a credible forerunner to the likes of Monty python.

This short film is presented in its original aspect ratio, with decent audio and video qualities.

From there, we get a 14-minute audio essay from BBC’s Radio 3 station, where Simon Heffer discusses British films of the 1940s. It’s an excellent, informed listen.

WENT THE DAY WELL? holds up really well to this day, and looks great on this new DVD release from the ever impressive Optimum.

Also available on blu-ray.

Review by Stu Willis