It Happened Here (1966)

Instant Favorite.

Absolutely Brilliant!

A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

There was a paperback titled If The Nazis Had Come on bookstore shelves around the time It Happened Here was released. I didn't read it, but I did rent the VHS from Video Vault before it closed its doors forever. I found the film to be plausible because there was a great deal of sympathy for both Mussolini and Hitler particularly among the upper middle class. Think Miss Jeanne Brodie and Unity Mitford. Chamberlain was weak and despised, and many Britons would have welcomed Hitler with open arms.In this film German troops are seen milling about Trafalgar Square, but the film subtly reminds that they are Englishmen who joined the Wehrmacht -- just as you can find them in the French Foreign Legion. The Germans had left the British Isles to fight the Russians. Some viewers will be offended by the newsreel footage that explains the Jewish problem. And some viewers will find it hilarious. Despite its low budget, the producers did a good job with the backdrops and posters.Definitely worth watching.

Must have been 1967 when I was based at High Wycombe and often went to London for the day. The film was released during this year and wandered into the cinema. The title and posters intrigued me and I was just killing time. I was amazed at how realistic this film portrayal was and how quiet the cinema was, not a sound from start to finish. The way ID cards/papers were used, the attitude of some people that collaborated, and the resistance starting to fight back, it was just brilliant.I'd love to see it again,let's hope it is screened on TV but I don't remember seeing it on TV to date, unless it was during the 80's when I was working abroad.

`It Happened Here' Directed by Kevin Brownlow and Andrew Mollo is a Classic of British Cinema. The Film is remarkable in its authenticity, given the fictional scenario, the invasion of Britain by the Nazis during World War Two. The look of the Picture is very raw and earthy which adds to its realistic style.The German soldiers look perfect, I say this because it is so rare that Directors make such a concerted effort for perfection.Andrew Mollo and Kevin Brownlow are two of the most talented and unrecognized Directors in Britain. This Film is an example of the best of British Independent Film making and should be seen.

This film was shown recently as part of the Channel 4 War Weekend. I found it to be well made, and contained some very powerful images, of the German forces in occupation.My only reservation is that I found it difficult to track the passage of time within the film.The film deals with a woman, who is relocated to London, following Partisan activity at her home village. She becomes a Collaborator, not particularly from choice, but from circumstance. She is faced with a simple choice: work for the state, or don't eat. The film presents the Partisans as terrorists, whose methods differ little from the Nazis, although their objectives are purer. The film certainly made me think more about the life of the civilian in occupied territory. You could become a partisan, and act as a terrorist, or work for the forces of occupation, either directly, or indirectly. Or you could starve.Well, what would you do?