Cheap This Happy Breed (DVD) (Robert Newton, Celia Johnson) (David Lean) Price

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Customer Reviews of This Happy Breed

At Home Between The Wars
Robert Newton and Celia Johnson star as the parents of the Gibbons family in this episodic David Lean film that charts the history of the family between the two World Wars. It tells the story of homefront re-adjustment following WWI, the family conflicts that arise as social and political pressures mount, and it demonstrates the need for solidarity and courage in the face of the imminent war. As always with a David Lean film, the British cast is exceptionally strong, with a notable performance by Celia Johnson. Although the story is slow in parts, the changes in the family as reflected by the events around them nonetheless maintains the viewer's attention. During the 1940's, Lean had an impressive record of quality films, and this certainly belongs on that list.

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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 By today's standards the pacing is a little slow, but it's a good movie and an interesting historical document.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.