This Happy Breed (1944)

Director:

David Lean

Writers:

Anthony Havelock-Allan (adaptation)
David Lean (adaptation)

Release Date:

12 April 1947 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Plot:

Noel Coward's attempt to show how the ordinary people lived between the wars. Just after WWI the Gibbons family moves to a nice house in the suburbs...

Plot Keywords:

Family | Based On Play

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Robert Newton	...	Frank Gibbons
Celia Johnson	...	Ethel Gibbons
Amy Veness	...	Mrs. Flint
Alison Leggatt	...	Aunt Sylvia
Stanley Holloway	...	Bob Mitchell
John Mills	...	Billy Mitchell
Kay Walsh	...	Queenie
Eileen Erskine	...	Vi
John Blythe	...	Reg Gibbons
Guy Verney	...	Sam Leadbitter
Betty Fleetwood	...	Phyllis Blake
Merle Tottenham	...	Edie

Also Known As:

Noel Coward's This Happy Breed (UK) (complete title)

Runtime:

Germany:105 min | USA:115 min | UK:114 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

Portugal:M/12 | Australia:G | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | UK:A (original rating) | UK:U (video rating) (1996) | USA:Approved

Filming Locations:

Alderbrook Road, Clapham, London, England, UK

Company:

Noel Coward-Cineguild

Trivia:

David Lean's first film in color.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: When the furniture is being taken into the kitchen in the opening scenes an extra is reflected in the glass of the kitchen door just after Sylvia enters with the groceries.

Quotes:

Ethel Gibbons: There will always be wars as long as men are such fools as to want to go to them.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Overlord (1975)

British family life

I have been a big fan of David Leans films, but this little gem passed me by for many years until I watched the film recently on DVD. Like the Huggett series of films depicting the family life of the British in the 1940's this film shows the serious side of life, The daughter wanting a better class of life, the death of the only son, love, the sarcastic remarks from grandma all adds up to a funny but a serious side of British life in the dark days before the 2nd world war. Truly a very emotional film, after being told about the death of their son, the visual shock on Ceila Johnson and Robert Newtons face said it all. A very simple film, but 62 years on after its release, it documents how the British saw their life's in what at times were difficult times.