This Happy Breed

Beautifully cast and superbly performed comedy drama is that rarest of films that functions as an exquisite period piece of its own period, without ever feeling starchy or dated. Johnson as matriarch, Mills as naïve innocent, and Holloway as jolly, blokey neighbour are all fine, but Newton steals the film as the indomitable patriarch. Lean eschews bold directorial choices, but still leaves a mark - note the chilling silence and longshot used upon the delivery of some bad news.

It's intelligently written, very well acted and nicely shot, but ultimately a rather boring melodrama. It has a few ups and downs, several scenes shine, other times it slumps into sermons exalting the lofty values of the salt-of-the-earth middle class, but most of the time it's just flat.

Classic.

Its "this is why we fight" messaging is laid on only a little too thick in a couple of patriarchal monologues, but this generational saga is affectionate in its warm humanism, charting the passage of time with such an easy-going ebb and flow that it might rightly be half an hour longer.

Incredibly charming and quite touching family saga. The moral of the "Father knows best"-variety and feels quite dated but that's part of the package when watching this type of wartime melodrama. The acting is tremendous, the entire thing has a very particular genuine feel and I will never not love this type of Technicolor look.