It Happened Here
It Happened Here (also known as It Happened Here: The Story of Hitler's England) 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.
| It Happened Here | |
|---|---|
1966 UK cinema poster | |
| Directed by | Kevin Brownlow Andrew Mollo |
| Written by | Kevin Brownlow Andrew Mollo |
| Produced by | Kevin Brownlow Andrew Mollo |
| Starring | Pauline Murray Sebastian Shaw Bart Allison Reginald Marsh |
| Cinematography | Kevin Brownlow Peter Suschitzky |
| Edited by | Kevin Brownlow |
| Music by | Anton Bruckner |
| Distributed by | United Artists (United States) |
Release dates | Film festivals Cork and Mannheim: 19 October 1964 Cannes Film Festival: 17 May 1965 United Kingdom: 12 May 1966 United States: 8 August 1966 Australia: 25 May 1967 |
Running time | 97 min. |
| Country | UK |
| Language | English/German |
| Budget | $20,000 (estimated) or £7,000 |
It Happened Here shows an alternative history in which the United Kingdom has been invaded and occupied by Nazi Germany during World War II. The plot follows the experiences of an Irish nurse working in England, who encounters people who believe collaboration with the invaders is for the best, while others are involved in the resistance movement against the occupiers and their local collaborators. The film's title is an allusion to Sinclair Lewis's 1936 antifascist novel It Can't Happen Here.