It Happened Here is a 1966 British film set during World War II, about the possible effects of a successful German invasion of the United Kingdom. The film was directed by Kevin Brownlow, who later became a prominent film historian, and Andrew Mollo, who was to become a leading military historian. The film was conceived by Brownlow, then only eighteen, in 1956. He turned to Mollo, a sixteen-year-old history buff, to help him with the design of costumes and sets; Mollo was intrigued by the project, and became his collaborator. See also: 1965 in film 1966 1967 in film 1960s in film years in film film Events Top grossing films North America Thunderball Dr. Zhivago Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf? That Darn Cat! The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming Lt. ... The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a country in western Europe, and member of the Commonwealth of Nations, the G8, the European Union, and NATO. Usually known simply as the United Kingdom, the UK, or (inaccurately) as Great Britain or Britain, the UK has four constituent... Film refers to the celluloid media on which movies are printed Film — also called movies, the cinema, the silver screen, moving pictures, photoplays, picture shows, flicks, or motion pictures, — is a field that encompasses motion pictures as an art form or as part of the entertainment industry. ... Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ... Nazi Germany, or the Third Reich, commonly refers to Germany in the years 1933–1945, when it was under the firm control of the totalitarian and fascist ideology of the Nazi Party, with the Führer Adolf Hitler as dictator. ... 1956 is a leap year starting on Sunday. ...

Production and staff

The film was in the making for the next eight years. The Guinness Book of World Records (as of 2003) lists It Happened Here as the film with the longest ever production schedule. It was shot in black and white, giving it a grainy, newsreel feel. It had a cast of hundreds, all volunteers, with only one professional actor among them (Sebastian Shaw). Stanley Kubrick, who was intrigued by the project, donated film stock from Dr. Strangelove to Brownlow to help him finish the film. Most of the equipment used in the production was borrowed. Director Tony Richardson helped to pay for the final production. The Guinness Book of Records (or in recent editions Guinness World Records, and in previous US editions Guinness Book of World Records) is a book published annually, containing an internationally recognized collection of superlatives: both in terms of human achievement and the extrema of the natural world. ... 2003 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, and also: The International Year of Freshwater The European Disability Year Events January events January 1 Luíz Inácio Lula Da Silva becomes the 37th President of Brazil. ... Sebastian Shaw could refer to these articles: Sebastian Shaw (actor) - a film and stage actor Sebastian Shaw (comics) - a character from the X-Men comic books by Marvel Comics This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Stanley Kubrick (July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American film director. ... For the hit 1987 single by Depeche Mode, see the album Music for the Masses Film poster for Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb is a 1964 satirical film directed by Stanley Kubrick. ... Tony Richardson (June 5, 1928 - November 14, 1991) was a British director. ...

Though the cast was almost entirely amateur, It Happened Here helped to launch the career of its cinematographer, Peter Suschitzky, who went on to work on such films as The Rocky Horror Picture Show and The Empire Strikes Back. The Rocky Horror Picture Show (first released in the United Kingdom on 14 August 1975) is a comedy-horror musical film directed by Jim Sharman from a screenplay by Sharman and Richard OBrien, who also composed the songs. ... Movie poster Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back is the sequel to the first released Star Wars movie, and the second film released in the original trilogy. ...

Film content

The film opens with the statement: "The conquest of England was swift and brutal. Due to pressure from the eastern front, German troops are removed from England, and the garrisoning of England is largely carried out by British volunteers". The story focuses on a young Irish nurse, Pauline, who is forcibly evacuated from her village by the Nazis and their collaborators, and is witness to a massacre of the fascist forces by a group of British partisans. She makes her way to London, where she becomes a collaborator herself, only gradually learning about what this really means to the British people. She is witness to friends of hers being taken away for harboring a partisan, the treatment of the Jews under German rule, and, in a climactic section, discovers that she has taken part in a euthanasia program and killed a group of foreign slave laborers who have contracted tuberculosis (portrayed by real patients with tuberculosis). The film ends with Pauline being captured and forced to work for the partisans as they retake England. In a chilling finale, she is witness to them executing a large group of Germans and collaborators, reminiscent of the massacre of a group of English villagers shot by the Nazis in the beginning of the film for failing to evacuate their village. A nurse is a health care professional, who is engaged in the practice of nursing. ... The Nazi party used a right-facing swastika as their symbol and the red and black colors were said to represent Blut und Boden (blood and soil). ... Collaboration, literally, consists of working together with one or more others. ... Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler Fascism (in Italian, fascismo), capitalized, refers to the right-wing authoritarian political movement which ruled Italy from 1922 to 1943 under the leadership of Benito Mussolini. ... Partisan may refer to: A member of a lightly-equipped irregular military force formed to oppose control of an area by a foreign power or by an army of occupation. ... Greater London and the Regions of England. ... The word Jew ( Hebrew: יהודי) is used in a wide number of ways, but generally refers to a follower of the Jewish faith, a child of a Jewish mother, or someone of Jewish descent with a connection to Jewish culture or ethnicity and often a combination of these attributes. ... Euthanasia (Greek, good death) is the practice of killing a person or animal, in a painless or minimally painful way, for merciful reasons, usually to end their suffering. ... A monument celebrating the emancipation of slaves in the British Empire in 1834, erected in Victoria Tower Gardens, Millbank, Westminster, London Wiktionary has a definition of: Slavery Slavery can mean one or more related conditions which involve control of a person against his or her will, enforced by violence or... Tuberculous lungs show up on an X-ray image Tuberculosis is an infection with the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which most commonly affects the lungs (pulmonary TB) but can also affect the central nervous system (meningitis), lymphatic system, circulatory system (miliary TB), genitourinary system, bones and joints. ... Royal motto: Dieu et mon droit (French: God and my right) Englands location within the UK Official language English de facto Capital London de facto Largest city London Area  - Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population  - Total (2001)  - Density Ranked 1st UK 49,138,831 377/km² Religion...

Release and criticism

After eight years of production, the film's initial release was stormy. Many people were upset by the idea that the villains in the story were not normally Nazis but their British collaborators. The film seemed to be saying that fascism can rise anywhere under the right circumstances, and that people everywhere could fall under its spell. Jewish groups protested the inclusion of seven minutes of footage of British fascist leader Colin Jordan, speaking against the Jews and for euthanasia. In response, seven minutes of the film were cut from the original release, though these were restored thirty years later, after Brownlow regained the rights to the film. A stereotypical villain, common in early 20th century silent films, wears formal black clothes, exquisitely neat facial hair, and a maniacal demeanour. ... Colin Jordan, (born 1923) was a leading representative of postwar National Socialism in Britain and around the world. ...

External links

• It Happened Here (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055024/) at the Internet Movie Database
• It Happened Here (http://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s100here.html) reviewed at DVD Talk.com