It Happened Here (1966)

Interesting facts

• Awards: 1 · Nominations: 0. Including: National Board of Review: Top Ten Films

It Happened Here is a 1964 British black-and-white war film written, produced and directed by Kevin Brownlow and Andrew Mollo, who began work on the film as teenagers. The film's largely amateur and independent production took some eight years, using volunteer actors with some support from professional filmmakers.

Production

The film was directed by Kevin Brownlow, who later became a prominent film historian, and Andrew Mollo, who would later become a leading military historian. Brownlow developed the concept of the film when he was 18 years old, in 1956. He turned to Mollo, a 16-year-old history buff, to help him with the design of costumes and sets. Mollo was intrigued by the project, and became his collaborator. The film was in the making for the next eight years.

It Happened Here was shot in black and white on 16 mm film, giving it a grainy newsreel appearance, though no actual stock footage was used. Most of the equipment used in the production was borrowed. The audio quality and lighting on the opening reel are rather poor, which makes the dialogue difficult to follow for the first few minutes. The scenes set in Salisbury in the earlier part of the film were photographed and edited by Peter Watkins.

The film had an estimated cast of 900, all volunteers, with several professional actors, among them Sebastian Shaw and Reginald Marsh. A number of the extras in the film were members of British science fiction fandom, and a portion was previewed at a science fiction convention in Peterborough.

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