[2] It Happened Here shows an alternative history in which the United Kingdom has been invaded and occupied by Nazi Germany during World War II.

As a result, the garrisoning of Britain is largely carried out by local collaborationist volunteers and auxiliaries in the German Army and the SS.

The Americans begin bombing raids on the southwest coast of England, as well as supplying men and equipment to a resurgent partisan movement.

It is a reunion with old friends (an antifascist doctor and his wife) that gives Pauline pause, and when she subsequently discovers they are harbouring an injured partisan, she reluctantly agrees to help.

The film ends with Pauline being arrested after protesting and refusing to continue; but before she can be put on trial, she is captured by the resurgent British Resistance and agrees to work for them as they fight to liberate the country with the help of arriving American troops.

[2] 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.

Though the cast was almost entirely amateur, It Happened Here helped to launch the career of its cinematographer, Peter Suschitzky, who went on to work on such films as The Rocky Horror Picture Show and The Empire Strikes Back.

Bosley Crowther of The New York Times wrote: "The acting by unfamiliar people is beautifully natural and restrained, particularly that of Pauline Murray in the principal role.

Through her human and subtle generation of an ungrudging sympathy, one becomes involved in her dilemma and is caught up all the way in the despair, uncertainty and terror of her experiences.

In addition to explaining how two teenage boys made a feature film, it also explores the social issues raised by the movie.