Thursday, January 21, 2016

War film 5: It Happened Here (1964)

Made by two teenagers in late 50s/early 60s Britain over 8 years on a minuscule budget, It Happened Here is both a remarkable achievement and a stark commentary on the nature of war and occupation with a relevance to both historical and modern times. Created and directed by Kevin Brownlow, and starring Pauline Jobson, Sebastian Shaw, and a fascinating cast of volunteers, extras, and members of the public (26.1MB, 1 hour 12 mins).


Recorded Saturday 16 January 2016, edited by Garen Ewing.

Purchase the DVD from Amazon UK: It Happened Here (1964).
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6 comments:

  1. Edna's PlaceJanuary 23, 2016 at 5:51 AM

    Thanks very much, for another fascinating program, gentlemen. I am glad I found the book in the UK on one of my visits. I thought the lead actress was very good. There was one close up scene, when she was standing by a building, and her face reminded me of a famous Great Depression photo by Dorothea Lange, of the Migrant Mother. The look of a beaten down soul, just finding away to survive the circumstances. Powerful film. And say, that news reel footage was amazing. Glad Mr. Brownlow got the rights back too. (I think I have his second film in storage, but my head is overflowing with writing a book at the moment, so have to check and see if I still have it.) Enjoyed it!!! :-)

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  2. MurrayJanuary 24, 2016 at 11:03 AM

    I just looked up that photo, and you're right. It's at Wikipedia:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_Owens_Thompson

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    Replies
    1. Edna's PlaceJanuary 26, 2016 at 2:07 AM

      That's the image. (I wonder if Mr. Brownlow saw that in his actress, as he was filming.)

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  3. mattcrottsJanuary 25, 2016 at 5:25 PM

    Thank you both for another exciting and enriching episode. I can't wait to watch this film!

    Good points about Trump. Over here in the States, we're usually too divided to come together and have a sustained and collective conversation about politics, even fascist politics. Mostly we just poke fun of each other over social media. And in any event, over here we tend to get too wrapped up in demographic concerns to talk about deeper, ideological matters. Hope it's better in England.

    I saw Man In The High Castle series a couple months ago and loved it - thought it would help our country, at least, discuss these matters more openly and seriously. Don't think it caused much of a stir, though.

    Looking forward to more of these podcasts. They're well researched and very motivating to listen to.

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  4. MurrayJanuary 26, 2016 at 2:00 PM

    Thanks Matt!

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  5. GarenJanuary 28, 2016 at 4:43 PM

    Cheers for the comments - much appreciated :-)

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