This Happy Breed

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This Happy Breed

1947,

1h 55m,

Drama

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Watchlist

100%

10 Reviews

Tomatometer

78%

500+ Ratings

Popcornmeter

100%

Tomatometer

10 Reviews

78%

Popcornmeter

500+ Ratings

In 1919, Frank Gibbons (Robert Newton) returns home from army duty and moves into a middle-class row house, bringing with him wife Ethel (Celia Johnson), carping mother-in-law Mrs. Flint (Amy Veness), sister-in-law Sylvia (Alison Leggatt) and three children. Years pass, with the daily routine of family infighting and reconciliation occasionally broken by a strike or a festival. By the time the children have grown into adults, another war is looming.

David Parkinson

Empire Magazine

May 1, 2013

4/5

While not exacty up to contemporary standards of social realism this domestic saga was ground-breaking in its day and still captivates.

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James Agee

TIME Magazine

May 1, 2013

This Happy Breed is Noel Coward's proud and loving tribute to the unbreakable British backbone.

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Variety Staff

Variety

Feb 23, 2012

Film's excellence comes mainly in the performances.

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Sean Axmaker

Stream on Demand

Jul 29, 2026

... or all conservatism of this portrait, right down to the modest words of wisdom regularly dispensed by the quietly but firmly paternal father, it is sensitive to the dreams and disappointments and joys and losses, of this extended family.

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Ellie Lucas

From the Front Row

Aug 6, 2019

3.5/4

A powerful piece that hammers its message home without any kind of overt propagandizing.

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MFB Critics

Monthly Film Bulletin

Feb 17, 2016

From the brilliant opening shot to the end, director Lean and photographer Ronald Neame have worked together, with originality and imagination, to produce some fine examples of camera angles and timing.

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Hermione R

Nov 1, 2017

This is a very good film. However, it's a bit like watching EastEnders, and it took me an hour just to workout who was who. But for its time it's a wonderful look on life between the two world wars. It's very well made, excellently scripted, and well acted.

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Kylo R

Jul 10, 2017

(1944) Adequate if inauspicious debut of director David Lean, tracing the ups and downs of a British family between the first and second World Wars. Stagey in parts, given its base of a Coward play, with the stiff upper lip of the English amidst even the most dour clearly its most-endearing quality.

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Anakin P

May 6, 2017

A wonderful, perfect film that just makes you feel so alive.

Harry S

Apr 28, 2017

Beautifully shot film by Ronald Neame in Technicolor, but lacking a cohesive plot. There are some really fine moments at the end, but a lot of the family's chemistry was hardly fleshed out, and I didn't see a lot of interesting dynamics that could've been there. There are a lot of manufactured conflicts and outbursts that come out of nowhere. Still worth watching though, for Robert Newton and Celia Johnson's performance as the parents.

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David Lean

Director

Robert Newton

Frank Gibbons

Celia Johnson

Ethel Gibbons

John Mills

Billy Mitchell

Kay Walsh

Queenie Gibbons

Stanley Holloway

Bob Mitchell

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Synopsis

In 1919, Frank Gibbons (Robert Newton) returns home from army duty and moves into a middle-class row house, bringing with him wife Ethel (Celia Johnson), carping mother-in-law Mrs. Flint (Amy Veness), sister-in-law Sylvia (Alison Leggatt) and three children. Years pass, with the daily routine of family infighting and reconciliation occasionally broken by a strike or a festival. By the time the children have grown into adults, another war is looming.

Director: David Lean
Producer: Noël Coward
Screenwriter: Noël Coward, Anthony Havelock-Allan, David Lean, Ronald Neame
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Production Co: Prestige Productions, Two Cities Films Ltd., Noel Coward-Cineguild
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Apr 12, 1947, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 11, 2017
Runtime: 1h 55m
Sound Mix: Mono

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