This Happy Breed

The movie narrates the happenings of a British family since the first world war (1914-18) until the end second world war (1939-45) . The parents (Robert Newton and Celia Johnson) , the troubled and rebel daughter (Kay Walsh) , the friendly neighbor (Stanley Holloway) , the seaman son (John Mills) and others . Meanwhile , being reflected the course of time and are succeeding various historic deeds , thus : the first and second world wars , the soldiers recruitment , death of the king George , the jolly reception to Minister Chamberlain after the useless Munich Convention with Hitler , the trenches digging in preventing the bombing over London by the Germans .

The movie is interpreted by the greatest English actors with important careers . Robert Newton (Treasure island) , Celia Johnson (Brief encounter) , John Mills (Daughter of Ryan), Kay Walsh (Oliver Twist), Stanley Holloway (My fair lady) . Colorful and glittering cinematography by Ronald Neame , a future director with many successes (Adventure of the Poseidon) . Musical conducting by Muir Mathieson , habitual of English classic films , as he was director of symphonic orchestra of London . The picture begins and finishes with a camera travelling from exterior and interior home what it subsequently would be copied in a lot of films (for example : The Family by the director Ettore Scola) . The motion picture was perfectly directed by David Lean considered the greatest British filmmaker . Rating : Awesome . Above average.

This film by David Lean takes us on a journey from 1919 after the First World war towards into WW2. But focuses not on the fighting, but on the home front, and the effects of a changing world.

I love this films ability to take you along with the day to day routine of a large, close knit family. Youre there with their smiles and tears then then in an instant you feel the heartache of their tragedy.

Robert Newton has never been better - a truly mesmerising performance. Forget Long John Silver (although another very fine performance).

The rest of the cast are a brilliant complement to Robert Newton. John Mills is on top form in a cameo performance.

Did David Lean ever make a bad film?

The only down side to the film is you see how great the British Film Industry once was, and now its virtually gone.

Old-fashioned? Arch dialogue? Stiff acting? Viewable only as an historical document? Guilty on all counts, but this film still captivates. Made during the second World War, it was probably intended as a flag-waver, a morale booster for the worn-down citizens of Britain, but in fact is much more than that. The story (Noel Coward) deals with the lives and times of an ordinary family in 'between the wars' London. There is nothing dramatic, just the everyday events and the weddings, births and funerals that visit us all. However, there are some wonderfully quiet scenes - the father-to-son talk before the son's wedding is especially notable for its old-fashioned moral uprightness, the way the camera lingers in an empty room when the family learns of a terrible road accident, and Frank's gentle chat with his neighbour over a few glasses of whisky as they prepare to go their separate ways. Director David Lean handles these with care and reserve. The way the family deals with the mini-dramas that beset them was no doubt meant to say to the war-weary people that we may be a middling, grey little society with predictable ways, but it was worth fighting for. The film always leaves me a little melancholy, missing an age that still existed in many ways when I was a youngster. No doubt to a modern cinema audience that can't manage without an explosion or car-chase every ten minutes this would be regarded as dull and boring, but I love its charm.

What really boosts THIS HAPPY BREED into the "superior" category of British films is the direction by David Lean and the two central performances by CELIA JOHNSON and ROBERT NEWTON as the heads of a rather ordinary household living the provincial life between two World Wars. And what is surprising is that this '44 film from the U.K. uses Technicolor in an age when most films, unless they were spectacular musicals, were filmed in B&W. The color photography adds a handsome touch to the otherwise unspectacular story that is more a character study of a marriage and family relationships.

CELIA JOHNSON does a magnificent job as the mother who raises a daughter (KAY WALSH) unsatisfied with her family's social status, who yearns to rise above what she perceives as too provincial and runs off with a married man. It's just one of the many episodic tales in this domestic drama but it's played with such intensity by Johnson that the reunion scene toward the end is heartbreaking to watch.

All of the saga which stretches between the two wars is episodic, told in a series of vignettes which I imagine were done in blackout style on the stage, for which the tale was written. But Lean has successfully managed the transfer to the screen and all of the performances are top notch, particularly ROBERT NEWTON as the concerned father, JOHN MILLS as a man caught in an unrequited love affair and STANLEY HOLLOWAY who provides a good deal of comic relief as a boozy neighborhood friend of Newton.

Noel Coward evidently had more success in telling domestic tales with sharp observation of characters than Edna Ferber did with her own American sagas in which her characters seemed to get lost among all the vast territory she covered.

Summing up: Well worth watching for the performances alone.

This film caught me completely unawares. I had never heard of it until it presented itself on daytime television one afternoon. I really dislike this type of film, as I find most of the time is spent on mediocre happenings in predictable situations. (Ordinary peoples lives are very boring). I was therefore amazed at the fact that I couldn't leave it, Maybe it's because I am getting older or maybe the people in this film reminded me of the adults of the 1950's when I was a child.

The acting is absolutely superb, you really believe in this family and the ups and downs of their lives. The direction of David Lean polishes the excellent cast performance, what more can I say ! ......Fantastic.....