An outstanding David Lean film examining England between the World Wars. It deals with the Gibbons family and their lives during this tumultuous time.

Robert Newton and Celia Johnson are absolutely fabulous as the couple with 3 children. A stellar supporting cast enables this picture to be even better. We experience happiness, tragedy, the Charleston, general strikes hitting an endearing British people.

We see a family in crisis. The mother is quite a character, and even with her morbid ways, we can chuckle as this is what occurs as our seniors get older. A strong family structure committed to family values is terribly hurt by the actions of the youngest daughter, but in life there is redemption, and that is admirably shown in this film.

Life goes on. The question of what happens when we leave our homes and new occupants come in, is there some sort of link between the old and new? This is a fascinating question and this period piece, shot in bright textures, well answers this. Yes, we keep up that stiff upper lip.

It's the Technicolor photography which is the star of this family saga that covers the post World War I years through the onslaught of World War II, the day a family moves into a home where they live for 20 years. It surrounds the generation gap of a changing world, from the grumpy granny who rolls along like old man river (and always complaining that the family can't wait for her to croak) to her descendants in a changing view of romance, sex and family structure. Like the over-rated "Cavalcade", this glosses over much of its history, parodying bizarre trends, dances and ideals while philosophizing about death, man's corruption and the advancements in society, which includes the onslaught of talking pictures. The patriarch, played by Robert Newton, in particular, makes comments about how the blame for society has turned out goes way beyond the lawmakers and those in power.

No one character dominates and some, particularly the older generations, are better detailed than others. In spite of the general lack of continuity, it is superbly directed by David Lean and lushly photographed by the future director Ronald Neame. The ultimate message of the film is that as everything changes, nothing changes.

Kind of overlapping the era of British history that his previous work Cavalcade had covered, Noel Coward wrote one of his most popular plays in The Happy Breed which premiered in London in 1942 as Great Britain was fighting for its life. This film adaption coming as it did in 1944 when the tide of the war had turned, almost seems to justify Coward's faith in his country and the pluck of its people.

The image we have today of Noel Coward is the ultra-sophisticate hanging around with royalty and other titled folks, amusing them with a sample of his acclaimed wit. But the kind of middle class background that the Gibbons and their neighbors the Mitchells come from is exactly where Noel Coward had his roots. His early years are covered in Cavalcade and the years overlap into This Happy Breed. Both films really ought to be seen back to back as a great sample of British social history.

Newly discharged veteran from the Great War, Robert Newton and his wife Celia Johnson buy their dream house on Sycamore Lane to raise their three children. By chance their neighbors happen to be Stanley Holloway, Newton's wartime buddy and his family the Mitchells. The film is the story of the Mitchells and the Gibbons and how their lives interconnect in the years between the World Wars. Their family situations are seen against the backdrop of the events of the times like the General Strike, the Depression and the formation of the Coalition National Government to fight it, and the death of King George V.

Anyone who expects the eye rolling Blackbeard from Robert Newton will be pleasantly surprised. Newton could be restrained if he had to, and in David Lean he certainly had a director that would rein in his excesses if it were ever necessary. What surprised me was that Noel Coward himself played the lead when This Happy Breed debuted in London. I certainly would have liked to have seen Coward's interpretation of the part.

Kay Walsh who was Mrs. David Lean at the time played the elder daughter Queenie for Newton and Johnson. John Mills who is a career Navy man and Holloway's son loves Walsh, but she's a naughty thing and out for a good time. Let's say I think Mills just might qualify for sainthood in his performance with what he put up with.

This Happy Breed is a great play with average folks that Mr. Average American, let alone Mr. Average British could identify with and it's great social commentary of an important era in history.