This Happy Breed [Blu-ray] [1944]

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.

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.

I love the old British films set in 40' 50's & 60's which are far better than the American tripe you get thesedays. I loved this film which gives you a warm feelgood feeling. It has its sad parts but it was still a lovelyfilm to watch on a rainy afternoon. One I will watch again and again.

A beautifully structured film & yet another example of David Lean's superb film direction. The story portrays the strength of the British working class when faced with times of crisis, as was the Gibbons family in this story that takes place between the two world wars. The acting of Robert Newton & Celia Johnson, ably supported by John Mills, Stanley Holloway, & other members of the cast is equal to the film's direction.

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.

It had been many years since I'd seen this,at the end of World War Two actually as a kid,but I was by no means disappointed with my purchase.,which i can recomend to any student of the interwar years,and the contribution it was supposed to have made to morale as the war started.Its interesting on more than one level as a movie,because it was created by Noel Coward,a very clever,slick,homosexual, a great playwright ,musician and actor, a cheerfully cynical intellectual with a penchant for living amongst the "upper Class"in those days,and yet he demonstrated a real capacity for understanding the needs and anxieties of the working class after the end of the first World War,.most of whom were well aware that another load of grief was coming down the pipe for them,courtesy of Adolf!The film fascinated me because the representations of the characters in the story, their concerns and the way they lived,right down to the "pinny's",turbans, and bottles of stout,exactly mirrored my own family in Southampton when I was very young,Coward could have stolen their actual dialogue,if he'd been up on the mantlepiece behind the wooden clock listening,it was uncanny! Robert Newton,remembered by many as Long John Silver in "Treasure Island",and Celia Johnson-"Brief Encounter",are superb,totally realistic,making do with their modest lot,with courage and fortitude.and theirs is an acting "tour de force!"Remarkably,Coward did not shrink from allowing the remains of the family to move to the country at the end of the script,to avoid the blitz that eveybody knew was coming,and I considered that this added to the reality of the story,as the audience are made well aware that Newton had received a right basinful during the First World War,and had little trust left in Englands political masters,or even its ability to survive... Unlike the other great early wartime movie,Mrs Miniver, supposedly depicting life in Britain as it confronted the onset of war again,this one really works,the resonance is still very strong.I gladly bow to the Master here,because Coward really got it right!!

This is one of the best restorations I’ve ever seen and the Blu-ray is exceptional value for money with lots of extras over two discs.The film itself is a wonderful story by Noel Coward and features another superb performance from the great Celia Johnson.