Genre: Alternate History – War
Platform: You Tube – Free
Time : 1 hour 40 minutes
Director: Kevin Brownlow. Andrew Mollo.
Cast: Pauline Murray. Sebastian Shaw. Bart Allison
Plot: Its 1944. Operation Sea Lion has been successful in 1940 and Britain is under Nazi Occupation for four years. The choice for the local population is stark – cooperate or perish. British partisans are harrying the Nazi occupiers. Apolitical Irish nurse Pauline , is caught in a partisan ambush of Germans in which all her friends perish. Due to the attack, she sides with the authorities and is registered as a nurse in the “Immediate Action” organisation. Officially , she is now a “collaborator’ and attends indoctrination classes. Soon she sees the ruthlessness of the Nazis at close hand and is indirectly responsible for the capture of one of her friends and her doctor husband. As a punishment for not informing the authorities about her doctor friends, she is sent to a rural hospital . Despite the somewhat bucolic settings, she sees the omnipresence of Nazism in the way refugees, chronically sick people and other “useless mouths” are killed without any mercy…
Some of you may remember the Alternative History TV series “The Man in the High Castle” , based on a story by Philip K Dick. That it ran for four seasons speaks of the fascination of the ordinary people with a “what if” scenario. A 1964 film to have such a scenario is a real surprise as the WW2 was only 19 years ago and any suggestion of a “German victory” was tantamount to a blatant insult of the ‘war generation’. Naturally, people were upset at the suggestion that the main character, a nurse , could end up as collaborator and so too the British population in general. This is strange considering that there was a film made during WW2; “Went the Day Well?” (1942). that showed a village being occupied by Germans who are all killed in a battle with British troops, reflecting the general fear of a German Invasion.
However this film upset many as it showed that the population in general was more happy cooperating with Nazis , justifying it with a “life goes on” philosophy. The British police and the Nazi SS too collaborate in maintaining “Law and order” – as really happened in France and other occupied countries. The fact that a nurse, who normally saves lives, is shown as a collaborator also upset many . So, though it wasn’t banned, it faced significant hurdles from many , including Jewish Groups.
Since the film is shot in black and white , it reminds us of similar propaganda newsreels made during those times , which were usually in black and white. The fully restored version is now available on You Tube. Do take a look and wonder – could this have happened like this ? Or would this happen again ?
It did not happen like this but it could have happened like this as the Germans had made precise Occupation Plans (Refer one such link for the Occupation Plans at https://bbm.org.uk/?s=Darre ).
More than a curiosity value , the film has strong echoes these days due to the rise of world wide fascist mentality with a “us versus them” mentality reigning in the very countries that fought and defeated fascism.
Real History/ Historical Background – 4 out of 5
Script – 5 out of 5
Story – 5 out of 5
Direction – 5 out of 5
Photography – 5 out of 5
Total – 4.8 out of 5
Leave a Reply
Want to join the discussion?Feel free to contribute!