This Happy Breed was David Lean's first picture as sole credited director, and continued his collaboration with playwright Noel Coward. It's a far cry from the massive epics that Lean is best known for, although there are links between the early Lean and the later Lean. The focus couldn't be much more different, but just like Laurence of Arabia nearly twenty years later, Lean (or rather Coward, since it's his play) is here telling the story of historical events through the experiences of individual, well-defined characters.
One thing that's always struck me about these early David Lean pictures is how similar his technique was to that of Alfred Hitchcock. His subject matter was vastly different, but you could say this is what it would look like had Hitch made dramas. You can see this right from the opening shot, as the camera pans over the Thames then homes in on one house, echoing the beginning of many a Hitchcock thriller like Hitch, Lean is here saying "this could be any home, any family". He shows similarities with Hitch in the way he arranges the actors in a shot, and there is some fairly classy handling of characters emotional states a more gentle take on Hitchcock's aim to always show character psychology.
It's a mystery to me why this was made in colour. For a start, Technicolor was not easy to get hold of in Britain at this time (for example The Archers had to delay making A Matter of Life and Death til after the war was over). There's nothing about the subject matter that really demands colour, and to be honest Lean doesn't make that good use of it (he was to demonstrate great skill with black and white in subsequent films up until the mid 1950s). The only reason I can think of is to inject more realism into it. Also, in spite of its small focus, the picture does seem to give itself the airs and sweep of a "big" picture, what with the grand orchestral score and the location shooting.
There's some good acting talent on display here. Stanley Holloway and Frank Mills are great in their supporting roles, but the real standout is Celia Johnson. Her performance is both powerful and naturalistic. She may not have had the looks to be given many lead roles, but she really was one of the best English actors of her generation.
This Happy Breed was probably quite something for the British public at the time of its release. It wasn't that common to see a film depicting a normal, average family having normal, average experiences, particularly where these were related to events in recent memory. However, it hasn't aged well, and looking at it now I'd say it probably says more about the inside of Noel Coward's head than it does about the British people or the British experience in the inter war years. The dialogue is full of meaningless waffle about Britain or the British character. There are some rather obvious attempts to represent a variety of political standpoints through different characters, although This Happy Breed is extremely subjective in its portrayal of actual historical events.
Another clue as to why This Happy Breed was such a major success at the time is its bolstering optimism. David Lean is often said to have captured the post war mood with his late-40s output, and here in 1944 he seems to be looking forward to the end of the war. This Happy Breed starts with the end of the last war, and ends with the beginning of the then-current one, and there is that air of "we took it before, we can do it again". But unlike the superlative war and post-war films of Michael Powell, or Lean's own Brief Encounter, no matter how timely it was in its day, this is no great picture here and now.
One thing that's always struck me about these early David Lean pictures is how similar his technique was to that of Alfred Hitchcock. His subject matter was vastly different, but you could say this is what it would look like had Hitch made dramas. You can see this right from the opening shot, as the camera pans over the Thames then homes in on one house, echoing the beginning of many a Hitchcock thriller like Hitch, Lean is here saying "this could be any home, any family". He shows similarities with Hitch in the way he arranges the actors in a shot, and there is some fairly classy handling of characters emotional states a more gentle take on Hitchcock's aim to always show character psychology.
It's a mystery to me why this was made in colour. For a start, Technicolor was not easy to get hold of in Britain at this time (for example The Archers had to delay making A Matter of Life and Death til after the war was over). There's nothing about the subject matter that really demands colour, and to be honest Lean doesn't make that good use of it (he was to demonstrate great skill with black and white in subsequent films up until the mid 1950s). The only reason I can think of is to inject more realism into it. Also, in spite of its small focus, the picture does seem to give itself the airs and sweep of a "big" picture, what with the grand orchestral score and the location shooting.
There's some good acting talent on display here. Stanley Holloway and Frank Mills are great in their supporting roles, but the real standout is Celia Johnson. Her performance is both powerful and naturalistic. She may not have had the looks to be given many lead roles, but she really was one of the best English actors of her generation.
This Happy Breed was probably quite something for the British public at the time of its release. It wasn't that common to see a film depicting a normal, average family having normal, average experiences, particularly where these were related to events in recent memory. However, it hasn't aged well, and looking at it now I'd say it probably says more about the inside of Noel Coward's head than it does about the British people or the British experience in the inter war years. The dialogue is full of meaningless waffle about Britain or the British character. There are some rather obvious attempts to represent a variety of political standpoints through different characters, although This Happy Breed is extremely subjective in its portrayal of actual historical events.
Another clue as to why This Happy Breed was such a major success at the time is its bolstering optimism. David Lean is often said to have captured the post war mood with his late-40s output, and here in 1944 he seems to be looking forward to the end of the war. This Happy Breed starts with the end of the last war, and ends with the beginning of the then-current one, and there is that air of "we took it before, we can do it again". But unlike the superlative war and post-war films of Michael Powell, or Lean's own Brief Encounter, no matter how timely it was in its day, this is no great picture here and now.