Too much of everything

Thanks for the memories!

People are voting emotionally.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Although the film was made at the height of WW2 and clearly aimed at keeping up British morale, it is an immensely impressive film. At its heart, it's the story of very normal people doing extraordinary heroic things. A typical middle-age post-mistress, clubs a German to death with an axe. Middle aged men (who had presumably fought in WW1) face and kill German soldiers. A sailor, on leave to get married, leads the fight against the German infiltration. The 'lady of the manor' throws herself onto a hand grenade to save the children. Although this may sound blood thirsty, it's handled in a typically low- key manner. Whether today's population could do the same is questionable.

On the surface it's a propaganda piece, warning of Fifth Columnists in our midst, and reinforcing the notion that 'Careless talk costs lives' - as German soldiers masquerade as British servicemen to sabotage communications in advance of invasion. Set AFTER the war, when Germany has defeated (but filmed during that conflict, when that outcome was by no means certain), it employs every small-town caricature of British life you can think of, from the cheeky poacher and dotty shopkeeper to the snooty lady of the Manor, and it is these characters - anxious, terrified and uncertain - who give the story power. They aren't flying the flag to teach the beastly Bosch a lesson - they are fighting to survive. The comic shopkeeper taking an axe to her captor, then being bayonetted by one of his comrades is genuinely shocking, and many of the heroic scenes (the Lady of the Manor shielding kids from a grenade, for example) are throwaway skits, never allowing the or the uncertainty of the unfolding drama to subside (there being no big stars or particular hero at the heart of the tale we have no idea who will survive). For a low-budget Brit-flick of the era it is fairly brutal, and because that brutality is random and inflicted upon (and often BY) ordinary people, it becomes a very human story, and not a piece of patriotic jingoism. Interesting to see so many familiar actors, who would become such stalwarts of British telly and film in coming years: Jimmy 'Private Walker' Beck as a Cockney scamp, Thora Hird as a Land Girl, Patricia Hayes, Frank Lawton, Mervyn Johns, et al.

Combine wooden acting, an improbably plot, a flashback spoiler and caricatures for the enemy, and what have you got? A boring movie.I'm not sure which is more annoying, the stilted ladies' voices, the deafening din of chirping birds (are British birds always louder than human voices?), the sneering German soldiers, or the absurdity of assembling a bunch of German soldiers in a British country village who, all but one, speak perfect British English, complete with British military trucks and gear.There is some brief mention of German parachutists being sighted earlier. So why isn't the military out searching for them? Yes, they are going to get tripped up, but do you seriously expect them to bring Austrian chocolate bars with them? If the purpose of this film was to make the British public suspicious of anything and everything, then it did a fine job. But if you are looking for an entertaining wartime movie set in England, you would be far better off with "Mrs. Miniver." Frankly, I've seen more interesting public service announcements. The only way someone could view this as a great movie is if they are British, and praising British war movies was a required.The prospect of a German invasion was real for awhile, primarily after Dunkirk. The British government prepared detailed written plans for what to do if the Germans invaded successfully -- and these plans were made into a detailed re-enactment documentary. The possibility of a single German dropping in was entirely real. Private Schulz tells the fictional story of what happened to one -- he was spotted almost the moment he walked into a pub.It was wartime, and it was OK to turn the German soldiers into detestable caricatures. But did they have to turn the British women into caricatures, too? The only one that seemed human was Nora.I'm glad this movie is still available, as a historical document. But it seems almost like amateur hour. Perhaps the best British filmmakers were in war service. Unless you are very interested in WWII or are British, you can skip this and you won't have missed a thing.

This film is clearly a propaganda movie. It's purpose is quite clear for all in the UK at that time - to trust no-one. It appealed to my own sense of morality, that is a hard edged morality which gets the job done with the best results even if you have to break a few rules of humanity.The story's own moral is that which was plastered around the country over walls every where. "Loose lips sink ships", "Walls have ears!", that kind of thing. It was informing a war torn country that to win this war we not only had to be vigilant constantly, but in the event of us encountering a direct threat to the country's security, we had to give all we had to make sure we didn't lose. An example of this is where one woman is making conversation with a German soldier, keeping him talking whilst she carefully prepares to 'do her bit'. She mentions old propaganda that tells of German soldiers attacking us with babies pierced on their bayonets. The German soldier, though not outraged at this accusation, dismisses it with a comment that may as well have been answered with a shrug. Here the film seems to be saying that even if this is not true, the Germans wouldn't care either way what we thought. The woman throws pepper in the soldiers face then without even a second's thought, attacks him with an axe! Brutal, but brilliant. "People of England", the film says, "whatever you have to do, do it. Just don't let these animals get their hands on our country".The killing of the enemy was portrayed as a noble and just act, as was the resulting injuries and deaths of the villagers when resisting and fighting back. Kill and be killed, defend to the death!The film has a strong message and woe betide if we ignore it. Of course, in today's country, we wouldn't be told to do this. We are too multi cultural, even with those that we fight with abroad at the moment. It is such a shame this sense of duty to one's country is lacking as it certainly would be if it all happened now!