KnotMissPriceless Why so much hype?

Steineded How sad is this?

Lumsdal Good , But It Is Overrated By Some

Pacionsbo Absolutely Fantastic

MartinHafer The purpose of many of the films made during WWII was to rouse the people in favor of the war effort....a sort of positive propaganda effort. And, when it comes to this goal, few pictures do as well as "The Day Will Dawn" (also called "The Avengers").The story begins with the Nazi invasion of Poland. The scene opens up in a newspaper office and folks are excited about the UK finally being at war...but also concerned that the British government has so far done nothing to check the Germans. One of the reporters, Colin Metcalfe (Hugh Williams) is sent on assignment to cover Norway. This is before the German occupation of the country, but Colin is concerned by the actions of the supposedly peace German seamen...he sees them as preparing for the invasion of Norway. His attempt to warn the British government and people is twarted however....and later he finally gets the chance to redeem himself....by sneaking back into Norway and helping his air force to locate and destroy a secret German submarine base.The film has a pretty good cast. In addition to Williams, Ralph Richardson, Deborah Kerr (in one of her first films) and Finlay Currie also are there to provide excellent support. As far as the rest of the picture goes, it's near perfect and very well made....aside from the overuse of bad (scratchy) was stock footage.

mark.waltz As FDR said, "If anybody is unsure as to why this war is being fought, let them look to Norway". This British film came a year before Warner Brothers' "Edge of Darkness" ended with that paraphrased quote. That lavish drama with Errol Flynn took place in a coastal fishing village and covered pretty much the same topic as this, how the locals all got together and vowed to drive the Nazis out, no matter what the consequences or loss of life might be. The same thing happens here, except that it all starts with the arrival of the German U-Boats and shows how the British got involved with the resistance, assuring them with a "wait and see" attitude that the timing would ultimately wound the Nazis more than an all out attack before their defenses were down.Ralph Richardson is the British spy in the camp, assuring Norweigans that help is imminent. He falls for the lovely Deborah Kerr, the feisty daughter of a fisherman being held by the Nazis for making anti-German statements. She is forced to marry a "Quisling" (traitor) to save her father and as a result of her marriage becomes an outcast even though she is secretly working with several members of the resistance who know the truth. The other townspeople do everything in their power to make the Nazis lives miserable, humorously going out of their way with little annoyances. When a night raid leaves dozens of Germans dead, eight Norwegian men (along with Richardson and Kerr) are arrested and sentenced to be shot, but in the nick of time, a crowd pleasing (if improbable) finale leads to a hopeful ending where the usual propaganda machine narrative warns against the Nazis and also warns the Axis (for those of them who would actually see this film) that their days were numbered and that the day would dawn when freedom will ring again for German occupied countries.Films like this were a dime a dozen during World War II and most are at least enjoyable if not predictable in their narrative. The Nazis are presented fairly, only a few being genuinely evil, the others doing their duty as they've been ordered, a reminder that many of them too were either manipulated or forced by evil powers greater than themselves to follow a leader they feared too much to rebel against.

johnhclarke The first five minutes of this film - set in a national newspaper office as Germany invades Poland - are superb. Unfortunately the rest of the film suffers in comparison and the most interesting character, played by a relatively young and buzzing Ralph Richardson, is killed off far too early. Otherwise it could have rivalled Q-Planes, another Richardson tour de force from a couple of years earlier. Williams is effective but slightly colourless in the lead although Deborah Kerr sparkles. The Rule Britannia v Horst Wessel scene in the bar echoes the more celebrated La Marseillaise v Watch on the Rhine song battle in Casablanca. I wonder which came first?

bob the moo Horse race tipster and journalist Metcalfe is picked for the job of foreign correspondent in Norway when Hitler invades Poland. On the way to Norway his boat is attacked by a German U-Boat, however when he tells the navy about it they disbelief him and, to make matters worse, he is removed from his job. When German forces invade Norway, Metcalfe returns determined to uncover what is going on and stop the Germans in their tracks.1940's British cinema is understandably packed with wartime propaganda pieces. This film doesn't stand out from the pack but it is still worth a watch. The basic plot is interesting and provides tense drama towards the end, even if it gets all confused at times in the middle and some of it didn't quite hang together for me. The action is a little stilted at times and the film never misses a chance to show how very selfish and foolish the German officers are. This is a little heavy handed but what did you expect from a propaganda film? However it is badly done at times and seems heavy handed.The cast are mainly good. Williams is typical of the stiff upper lip English heroes of this type of film. Again it seems a little stiff but it's the usual sort of English gentleman that we wanted to see at the time – especially when compared to the slimly cowardly Germans shown here. The support cast are OK despite the very, very iffy Norwegian accents, but this doesn't matter too much.Overall this film is typical British wartime propaganda. The Brits save the day, the Germans are cowardly, sacrifice is made but the greater good is served. As a Brit this is a solid bit of entertainment for a rainy Saturday afternoon, but probably not much more capable than that.