This Happy Breed (1944)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

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:

1920s | Mother Daughter Estrangement | Family Relationships | Slice Of Life | WWI Veteran

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 Gibbons
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)
De lyckliga åren (Sweden) [sv]
Disse lykkelige dage (Denmark) [da]
Heureux mortels (France) [fr]
La famiglia Gibbon (Italy) [it]
La vida manda (Spain) [es]
Onnelliset vuodet (Finland) [fi]
Wunderbare Zeiten (Germany) [de]

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:

Billy works his work up in the Navy through the film. When he is first seen, he is a Leading Seaman/ Rate having a 3rd Class Quarters Rating in Gunnery. At Reg's wedding, he is now a Petty Officer, with 2 stripes (chevrons) indicating 10 Years Good Conduct, and is still working in Gunnery. When he comes to tell the Gibbons, he has found Queenie, he is now a Sub-Lieutenant, having made the transition from the ranks to the Officer Class.

Goofs:

Continuity: Queenie makes tea for Ethel and Sylvia (DVD Timing at 33.37) pouring cold water on the milk.

Quotes:

Frank Gibbons: [putting down the newspaper] Well, they're cutting down the navy, and they're cutting down the army. The only thing they don't seem to be cutting down is the unemployed!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "As Time Goes By: The House Next Door (#6.6)" (1997)

Soundtrack:

For He's A Jolly Good Fellow

Agreeable portrait of a bourgeois family during thirty years

The movie narrates the happenings of a 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 neighbour(Stanley Holloway),the seaman son(John Mills) and others. Meanwhile is reflected the course of the time and are succeeding varied historic deeds, thus : the two world wars,the soldiers recruitment,the death of the king Jorge,the jolly reception at Minister Chamberlain after of the useless Munich Convention with Hitler ,the digging trenches for the bombing over London by the Germans .

The movie is interpreted by the greatest Britain 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). The colourful and glittering cinematography is by Ronald Neame,a future director with many success(Adventure of the Poseidon). The musical conductor is Muir Mathieson ,habitual of all English classics films but was director of symphonic orchestra of London. The picture begins and finishes with a travelling camera of the exterior and interior home similar to that would copy many films later(for example:The Family by the director Ettore Scola). The motion picture is perfectly directed by David Lean considered the greatest British director. Rating:Awesome.Above average.