Went the Day Well (1 Viewer)

[lancer]

I saw this for the first time the other night when TCM broadcast it for the first time. I have read about this movie but had never seen it. It is a 1942 British film production. I found it an interesting movie but what really shocked me were the many parallels between this movie and the book by Jack Higgins 'The Eagle Has Landed'. It seems Higgins must have lifted his whole idea for his book from this movie and then fleshed out the movie with his more detailed back stories in the book. The similarities between the two stories are amazing. First, the premise is identical, German paratroops take over a small English village, pretending to be and clothed as British troops on maneuver. They are assisted by a German mole, a long time and trusted citizen of the village. When discovered as Germans, they take the villagers captive and put them in the church, which has a secret exit. British troops are finally alerted by a boy who escapes from the village and the village is recaptured following a firefight. The book is more complicated, of course, and more detailed, but the whole story is basically the same except for the motivation for the German action, which is unclear in the movie and is where Higgins develops his part of the story. Anyone else familiar with this movie and the book? This must have been commented about somewhere before, but I have just seen the movie and noted the similarities. I'm a little late to this party. -- Al

 

[Scott]

Netflix has it...off and on..

http://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/The-Br...&strackid=1df484441e371ebf_0_srl&trkid=222336