My Favourite Film: This Happy Breed by Noel Coward
Vložit
- čas přidán 27. 11. 2023
- This Happy Breed is a 1944 British Technicolor drama film directed by David Lean and starring Robert Newton, Celia Johnson, Stanley Holloway and John Mills. The screenplay by Lean (who also made his screenwriting debut), Anthony Havelock-Allan and Ronald Neame is based on the 1939 play This Happy Breed, by Noël Coward. It tells the story of an inter-war suburban London family, set against the backdrop of what were then recent news events, moving from the postwar era of the 1920s to the inevitability of another war, and the passing of the torch from one generation to the next. Domestic triumphs and tragedies play against such transformative changes as the coming of household radio and talking pictures. The film was not released in the United States until April 1947.
YES, YES, YES! One of the finest films ever made. I love every minute, the wonderful opening, following the camera on the stairs, to that closing following the camera back down the stairs and out the door again. . . it's the old circle of life, and sadly, a bygone era. I watch it over and over and never tire. ❤❤❤
Having grown up in S. London in the years just after WW2, this great film brings back memories of how families were - all generations living together under one roof. It is so evocative. Less than 2 hours long and it was a lifetime. They certainly don't make 'em like that anymore.
A great film that I first saw fifty years ago and have watched and enjoyed as many times since. An England now vanished with its sense of nationhood and humour that no longer exists.
Neither the British, nor the French, had recovered from WW I before WW II broke out. And, England remained on rations into the early fifties.
I asked my old mum (94) what happened directly after hearing war being declared on the radio ? She said "well it was a Sunday so all the men went back out and finished cutting the lawns"
I felt transported to a more loving and thoughtful time. I feel nostalgic for this time and these people...
A Britain that is now unrecognisable.
Love Robert Newton, and for a change basically playing "himself" here. Here as Mr. Gibbons, and also when he played the vicious ragged Bill Sikes in "Oliver Twist" four years later, were his greatest roles for me. Kay Walsh, here playing his daughter Queenie, was Nancy, whom he brutally murdered in "Oliver..." . Absolutely perfect cast, gorgeous original 1944 Technicolor, brilliant music score - Noel Coward's "London Pride". John Mills as the boy next door, Stanley Holloway as his comical Dad, Celia Johnson as the careworn wife and mother, and John Blythe - real-life son of Edwardian stage actress Dorothy Monkman, as the rebellious son. A true gem. Classic British films don't get better than this.
❗ Thank you Noel Coward, David Lean and you, Sean James, for this delicious break in my day ! This movie never gets old...❤️
thank you very much for showing this wonderful film. A a German I love to see how it was in England so many years ago - and even in color. Otherwise I would never get to see a movie like this. Love the actors, the setting, the speaking, the story, the furniture, the culture, the time🌺🌹💐💝
I love Celia Johnson and anything directed by David Lean.
Beautiful and very moving.
My mum is British and now is 98 still living in her own home and taking of herself. She lived through the bombing of London and married my dad in 1944, and American. My grandparents in England and my mother told me what it was like growing up for all her years in that Second WW, it was awful.
This is one that never gets old. Ageless.
Oh yes it’s been a yearly favorite of our family for many years. A sterling cast.
The Absolute Funniest part of this movie-aside from her “Buttering” his paws is when she says “He’s up to no good I shouldn’t wonder” & “ We should have had him “Arranged”!!😂😂Gotta Love the English!!
I love this film beautifully acted out the cream de la cream of British actors ❤❤❤❤❤
It is so beautifully crafted, composed as a work of art is composed. The casting could not be more perfect.
My paternal grandparents were married in London on Christmas Day, 1928. They had my Dad in 1940. He married my mother in 1964 and they immigrated to New Zealand in 1965. I was born in 1973 and didn't visit my grandmother until 1992. Seeing the buildings and people in this movie gives me a window into life for my grandparents generation in earlier life.
Only just managed to watch this all the way through.