Hellen I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

XoWizIama Excellent adaptation.

Fatma Suarez The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Lela The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

JohnnyLee1 Title is surely ironic as the mostly unhappy Gibbons family outlasts its welcome. Despite its dramatic sweep, film is best appreciated as a comedy. Reflects the conventional attitudes of the English lower middle class. At the General Strike the left-leaning son Reg is soon straightened out by his insufferable father while his Socialist friend also sees the error of his ways and settles down to a humdrum middle-class existence that is seen as the ultimate goal. Pity it skirts around the real inter-war issues. It doesn't challenge the conventions. It could have shown the effects of war on that generation but obviously just wants to paint a superficial picture. A cuppa solves everything. This sort of thing would be the fodder of second-rate TV soap-operas. John Mills, Celia Johnson and Stanley Holloway stand out. Richard Burton characterised writer Noel Coward as a lovely man with a "slight mind." That helps me understand the lost opportunity here to put the inter-war years into some sort of real perspective. But it also makes me wonder how the same team a couple of years later produced the masterpiece that is Brief Encounter!

kijii This is the second of four David Lean-Noel Coward joint ventures. The other joint ventures are In Which We Serve (1941), Blithe Spirit (1945), and Brief Encounter(1945). This movie has a great British cast including actors that were featured in other of the Lean-Coward movies mentioned above: Celia Johnson, Stanley Holloway, Kay Walsh, and John Mills.This Happy Breed portrays a middle-class family living together in a small London flat. It takes place between the two world wars (1919- 1939). By using a limited cast over a long time span, we get to better know the 'personality' of the family and its next-door neighbors. As the story evolves, it highlights and follows the characters while relating the parallel story of England over that same period.As the movie opens, it is 1919 and the Great War has recently ended. Frank Gibbons (Robert Newton) and his wife, Ethel (Celia Johnson) are moving into their small London flat with their family of two daughters and one son. The core family is extended by Frank's widowed sister, Sylvia (Alison Leggatt), and Ethel's mother, Mrs. Flint (Amy Veness). These two women constantly argue and complain without contributing much to the family's well being. When the next door neighbor, Bob Mitchell (Stanley Holloway), introduces himself, he and Frank recall that they were in the war together and become great pals.Some years later, Bob's son, Billy (John Mills) falls in love with one of the Gibbons' daughters, Queenie (Kay Walsh—David Lean's wife at the time). But his love is not requited since Queenie wants something better out of life than the one she presently sees around her. (Though she loves Billy, future prospects with him don't look any different.) The Gibbons' son, Reg (John Blythe) goes through a politically rebellious period with his friend, Sam Leadbitter (Guy Verney), who later marries the other Gibbon's daughter, Vi (Eileen Erskine). Though all members of the family are well developed in the movie, that of Frank and Ethel are more fully realized as the judicious and loving father and the more harsh and punitive mother. Frank seems to have just the touch to guide his children through their rebelliousness; while Ethel often has to play traffic cop among the family members.On first viewing, there doesn't seem to be much going on in the movie. However, one soon realizes that this story is rich in wisdom and worthwhile seeing. I think that this is the type of movie that more aptly represents British, rather than American, sensibilities. In fact, while watching this movie, it reminded me of another one, Cavalcade (1933), based on another Noel Coward play. The latter, was nominated for 4 Academy Awards and won 2---Best Picture and Best Director (Frank Lloyd). Cavalcade covered an upper class English family marching through time—from the Boer War (1899) and death of Queen Victoria(1901) to c. 1932. While the two movies follow a similar formula with some overlap in there time lines, Cavalcade has a more 'Time Marches On 'attitude about it. It also uses both the family and its servants in sort of an "Upstairs, Downstairs" mode. On the other hand, This Happy Breed concentrates more on its characters. While it, too, tells the story of a family with concurrent English history—such as the death of Geroge V, a passing reference to abdication of Edward VIII, and the infamous Neville Chamberlain appeasement to Hitler--its approach is more intimate and deeply felt.

overthetopandhappybso i love This Happy Breed for so many reasons, not least of them being curling up on the sofa on a drizzly afternoon to watch it with my dear mum. along with brief encounter this is one of my all time favourite films. John Mills, Kay Walsh, Celia Johnson, Stanley Holloway and Robert Newton are brilliant, and by the time the credits roll, i feel as though i've been through their ups and downs, their laughter and tears with them. the interaction between the spinster sister and the old girl always makes me smile, as does the Christmas scene with the family gathered round the piano, watch the son in particular. in my humble opinion this is definitely another David Lean classic, and not to be missed if like me you enjoy glimpses into a bygone era. oh, and a little mention should be made of Percy, he had his paws buttered like the true professional he very clearly was.

MrOllie I throughly enjoyed this little gem of a film. It is very well acted and it was nice to see a smart well groomed Robert Newton being a million miles away from Long John Silver. It had some laughs,some drama and quite a bit of sadness and as you get to know the different characters you feel a genuine fondness for them. I was brought up in the 1950's and recall visiting relatives who had grandmas and spinster aunts living with them, just like in this film. Though there is bickering and some harsh words used by the family, it does represent a time when families stuck together and deep down loved and respected one another. If you get the chance to see this movie, then I am sure that you will enjoy it.