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This Happy BreedRating:
Release Date: 07 September, 2004 Retail Price: $14.95 Sorry, this product is not currently available. Cast: |
This Happy Breed Reviews
They couldn't have possibly drank that much tea.
1st of all this is not a home front movie. To have that you need a war front & the was none. This movie may have been made in 1944 but was not released until 1947. 1919-39, was a time of peace for 20 years between the wars when England was trying to cope with the fact that they had lost 1 million men killed & a million more at least maimed & disabled. Frank is a vet who survived as is his neighbor & best friend Bob. They have settled in the suburbs & the traquility & comfort of the middle class. After 5 years of horror, they are satisfied with a quiet, maybe even a little boring, life. Frank's wife, Ethel is just thrilled to have her husband home & in one piece. Being English, she tries not to show it. Displays of strong emotions just wouldn't do. Her sister, a real head case since being widowed by the war, lives with them as does her crabby mother & their three children. Life happens, nothing spectacular & the kids are not so content. They fall in love, rebel, have babies & do all the things kids have always done to dismay their elders. Every crisis, in fact every minute of every day is faced with a cup of tea. In the larger world it's evident that England, though still a world power is tired. The years of peace bring strikes, riots, depression & disarmament through the 20's. Then there is the rise of facism & Hitler in the 30's & the slow realization that England may have to fight again. This was a fine Noel Coward play probably better suited for the live stage because of long periods of inaction. It has been adapted by David Lean. Celia Johnson did a fine job as Ethel & is the heart of this movie. She is pretty much unknown in the United States. I was surprised & pleased by how enjoyable a movie this was.
A boost for the War effort
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.
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