This Happy Breed [1944]

How we once were true British film

Well, they certainly don't make films like this any more, and that's a pretty sad state of affairs.This one, however, released in 1944, is an out-and-out masterpiece, withno violence; no bad language; no gratuitous sex-scenes and no banalities.Set between the years 1919 - 1939, It tells the story of ordinary people doing ordinary things in an every-day ordinary manner. Sound boring? Not a bit of it. This film has everything going for it: a fabulous script by Noel Coward; brilliant direction by David Lean, and absolutely superb acting by Celia Johnson, Robert Newton, John Mills and Stanley Holloway. For those who enjoy a good weep, there are plenty of 'lump-in-the-throat moments', yet the film never loses its dignity or lapses into mawkish sentimentallity. If anything, it's quietly majestic. We shall not see its like again, so make the most of it.This is the restored version in wonderful Technnicolor, resulting in cleaner sound and picture, which are marvellous to behold.

Interesting film i have seen many times about a family living in Clapham between the wars made during WW2.. Interesting to me particularly because i was born there. This blu-ray edition is better than the vhs as they’ve sorted the rather lurid colour out the original suffered from. Good film.

An interesting look at working class family life between WW1 & WW2 set in terraced housing in London

I have watched this great British film over 30 times and just never get bored with it. The cast are excellent and just shows a normal family between the wars and covers all the emotions.This new bluray version is exquisite,someone has spent hours to make it look this good and it shows.I love all these wartime movies and all the younger generations should watch them.

A favourite vintage film - and, surprisingly, an accurate portrayal of family life in the inter-war years, when I look at my family's history. A masterpiece by the director, Dean Lean.I no longer have a DVD as I have a Smart TV which does not have a DVD slot. I watched this on Amazon Prime last Christmas over several days. I had not realised it would be taken down, so missed the last 20 minutes.I will, though, watch this on my laptop. I imagine that the film's popularity puts it in the same batch as all the other Christmas "Greats", which is fine, so long as we keep in mind that Christmas films may only be on Amazon Prime for a short period and then, for the rest of the year, resting under the narrative "The video is currently unavailable."The DVD is excellent quality. Thank you.

Included as extras with This Happy Breed are two outstanding editions of London Weekend Television’s The South Bank Show - David Lean: A life in Film (1985) and David Lean & Robert Bolt (1990), both edited and presented by Melvyn Bragg.While it is good to have these documentaries available on DVD, it’s sad that both have had to be edited because the copyright owners of Doctor Zhivago and Ryan’s Daughter stupidly refused or wanted silly money for the use of clips. Extended clips from both films were shown in the original programmes to accompany the sometimes detailed discussion and in-depth interviews. Without them, the gaps are really noticeable. At the end of David Lean: A life in Film Steven Spielberg refers to three specific scenes that, for him, sum up Lean’s talent and two of those scenes are from Zhivago. The lack of clips here is really quite embarrassing. I am quite certain that if Melvyn Bragg enlisted Spielberg’s support these clips might have been made available and we could have seen these documentaries in their original form.One hopes that, in time, these edits might be restored; in the meantime, the original versions of these South Bank Shows can be seen (in poor quality) on YouTube.

Arrived within 24 hours of ordering and well packaged. Who does not love this fillm. So full of nostalgia, a heart warming look at working class family life in London just after WW1 taking the years through to the 2nd World War and after. The family move into theirnew terraced home with french windows leading to the postage stamp garden (typical for those days) & we are taken through many years of ups and downs and scenes of happiness and heartbreak until ma & pa reach old age and are encouraged to move into (of all horrid things) the newly developed London High Rise. Written by and narrated by Noel Coward as part of the after war nostalgia, this flim hits everyones heart with its fun and reality of everyday London life. Noel knew what he was doing and made his valid point. A lovely film and one which I and most people have watched many times and look forward to watching time and again.

In my case, a walk down memory lane. Post WWI two families find themselves neighbours, and as fortune would have it, the two fathers were war buddies. This is the tale of the growth of the two families and their friendship, and explores the trials and tribulations experienced by so many in those fractious years between the two World Wars. A marvelous cast who beautifully capture those bygone years in a manner so crisp and natural, one might fancy they can smell the smoke from the coal fires burning in the grates. Well worth watching, especially for history buffs, and the more so for those interested in the changes in society and social mores of then and the present day.

Noel Coward and David Lean made several pictures together during WWII as a way of boosting the morale in Britain. The most famous is probably "Brief Encounter" and the most war themed is "In Which We Serve", but "This Happy Breed" is the homefront movie. It follows the life of one family from before the war to "the present." The men who go away to war aren't followed it's their loved ones at home. Great Britain went through far more during World War II than the United States, rationing started earlier, lasted longer, and was more severe there. They were under constant bombardment and as many civilians died as military men. This film brings it all home. By today's standards the pacing is a little slow, but it's a good movie and an interesting historical document. John Mills plays a young sailor and his daughter Juliet made her screen debut as the baby.

This movie was somewhat of a disappointment to both me and my family. I ordered it because it starred Celia Johnson. I thoroughly enjoyed Celia in Brief Encounter and The Astonished Heart. This movie was a letdown for me. It was NOT Celia at her best. The dialogue was annoying - way too fast and unclear, that is, we were unable to make out a lot of the dialogue because the cast spoke way too fast and in accents that were so low class and high-pitched that it was almost unintelligible. There was no modulation to their voices and that got old fast. Also, there was not a lot of depth to the scenes. They sped through 20 years too quickly and Celia Johnson was not in enough scenes. I wanted to see more of just her.

Color faded, picture fuzzy & sound does not match video movements. All in all, very disappointing.