Dad’s Army (1971, United Kingdom)

Local bank manager answers to radio broadcast and begins to organize the Local Defence Volunteers in small seaside resort when German invasion of England is real threat.
In 1939, when Great Britain declared war on Germany, the country was not prepared to face the enemy. After the evacuation from Dunkirk it was obvious that England is gonna be next stop for Wehrmacht. In small seaside resort Walmington-on-Sea the citizen were increasingly worried that soon they will have to face the German invasion, so they answered to Anthony Eden’s radio broadcast and formed the Local Defence Volunteers that would be the frontline to repell (or rather slow down) German invasion until the regular army will be ready to take over. Local bank manager George Mainwaring makes himself a captain, makes his chief clerk Arthur Wilson sergeant and starts to sign up the volunteers.
Film based on the popular British comedy series Dad’s Army depicts the real events that took place in 1940, when British Army was yet unprepared to face the Germans, so all the people available (meaning all the men that were too young, too old, unfit to join the regular army or had reserved occupations) formed Home Guard and after their daytime jobs they were patrolling the coasts, manned the guard posts and observational points. Jimmy Perry, one of the creators of the series, was as a young man member of LDV and Home Guars and he based the stories on his own experiences.
The movie is just a small section of what was presented in the TV series - we see their struggle to find any weapons, ammo or develop something that would be useful during the invasion, but the series had much more content and gave much more chances for comedy elements. Here we have only set of short stories, but the series had wide range of tasks that the platoon was facing. But then again, although popular, none of the movies based on TV series from 1970s was as good as the original (On the Buses, Steptoe & Son, Are You Being Served? or Bless This House) so Dad’s Army is not exception.
Our rating
5.6
Film value
6 / 10
Realism factor
4 / 5
Adventure factor
2 / 5
Historical accuracy
2 / 5
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