This Happy Breed (1944) British drama film directed by David Lean. The screenplay by Lean, Anthony Havelock-Allan, and Ronald Neame is based on the 1939 play of the same title by Noël Coward. The title, a reference to the English people, is a phrase from John of Gaunt's monologue in Act II, Scene 1 of William Shakespeare's Richard II.
Opening shortly after World War I, the film focuses on landmark events in the lives of the working class Gibbons ...
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This Happy Breed (1944) British drama film directed by David Lean. The screenplay by Lean, Anthony Havelock-Allan, and Ronald Neame is based on the 1939 play of the same title by Noël Coward. The title, a reference to the English people, is a phrase from John of Gaunt's monologue in Act II, Scene 1 of William Shakespeare's Richard II.
Opening shortly after World War I, the film focuses on landmark events in the lives of the working class Gibbons family after they settle in a new home in Clapham in South London. The household includes Frank, his wife Ethel, their three children — Reg, Vi, and Queenie — his widowed sister Sylvia, and Ethel's mother. Living next door is Bob Mitchell, who served with Frank in the army.
Frank finds employment in a travel agency. As the children grow up and the country adapts to peacetime, the family attend a number of events, such as the British Empire Exhibition held at Wembley in 1924.
Reg becomes friendly with Sam, a staunch Socialist, who is attracted...
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