Salute John Citizen

This is "The Happy Breed" only in black and white,only covering 3 years and on a much lower budget.It tells the story of a suburban family and their ups and downs in the period.It has a marvelous cast,including not only Stanley Holloway but George Robey.The characters are well written and it gives the viewer a feeling of what it was like to live in this period and to get on with your everyday lives.Death can strike at anytime and is commonplace.People just have to get on with their lives.There are a number of patriotic speeches in this film.In particular there is one speech by Juimmy Hanley,who having just become a father decides to sign up for the army.The sentiments of the speech would not go down well today.However at the time the film was made,Britain had lost every land battle and was waiting for Americas war power to have some effect.So the exhortations to join the services are understandable

This is the first time I have seen this film after requesting a search on Youtube.com for "complete film movies of 1942".I have quite an extensive collection of 1940s films on DVD & VHS video, so many of the actors appeared like old friends to me.As the synopsis advised, it charts how a typical, in this case, (lower middle class) family coped living through the Blitz during the war, how they adapted to its privations, and eventually made the ultimate sacrifice for king & country.Edward Rigby has the genial lead role as Mr Bunting and Stanley Holloway plays the part of the narrator, giving the introduction and epilogue.

Obviously filmed at the height of WWII Government censorship and official messages to viewers had to be incorporated into the script with a "we can take it" attitude.My vote was 6/10.An adequate film but not up to the standard of Noel Coward's 1946 film "This Happy Breed", mentioned by the other reviewer.