This is "The Happy Breed" only in black and white,only covering 3 years and on a much lower budget.It tells the story of a suburban family and their ups and downs in the period.It has a marvelous cast,including not only Stanley Holloway but George Robey.The characters are well written and it gives the viewer a feeling of what it was like to live in this period and to get on with your everyday lives.Death can strike at anytime and is commonplace.People just have to get on with their lives.There are a number of patriotic speeches in this film.In particular there is one speech by Juimmy Hanley,who having just become a father decides to sign up for the army.The sentiments of the speech would not go down well today.However at the time the film was made,Britain had lost every land battle and was waiting for Americas war power to have some effect.So the exhortations to join the services are understandable
4 Reviews
"We've stuck it out so far"
hwg1957-102-26570430 April 2017
Warning: Spoilers
'Salute John Citizen' is based on novels by Robert Greenwood about the Bunting family and the film is about their experiences in WWII. It is similar to 'This Happy Breed' (though filmed before) and though made on a obviously lower budget than that film does stand up well in comparison. The main theme is endurance, sticking things out until they get better. The family undergo the wartime blitz on London and the film portrays well the paradox of life going on quite normally being interrupted continually by destruction raining from the skies. This comes together poignantly when two of the characters are married in a bombed out church.
Edward Rigby and Mabel Constanduros as the older Buntings and Jimmy Hanley, Eric Micklewood and Peggy Cummins as their children are all excellent. Stanley Holloway plays the next door neighbour (as indeed he also did in 'This Happy Breed'!) who narrates the story. The legendary George Robey gives a charming performance as the poetry quoting Corder.
It's a movie about ordinary people but it is also a moving and effective movie.
Edward Rigby and Mabel Constanduros as the older Buntings and Jimmy Hanley, Eric Micklewood and Peggy Cummins as their children are all excellent. Stanley Holloway plays the next door neighbour (as indeed he also did in 'This Happy Breed'!) who narrates the story. The legendary George Robey gives a charming performance as the poetry quoting Corder.
It's a movie about ordinary people but it is also a moving and effective movie.
Britain In The Thick Of It
howardmorley28 December 2011
This is the first time I have seen this film after requesting a search on Youtube.com for "complete film movies of 1942".I have quite an extensive collection of 1940s films on DVD & VHS video, so many of the actors appeared like old friends to me.As the synopsis advised, it charts how a typical, in this case, (lower middle class) family coped living through the Blitz during the war, how they adapted to its privations, and eventually made the ultimate sacrifice for king & country.Edward Rigby has the genial lead role as Mr Bunting and Stanley Holloway plays the part of the narrator, giving the introduction and epilogue.
Obviously filmed at the height of WWII Government censorship and official messages to viewers had to be incorporated into the script with a "we can take it" attitude.My vote was 6/10.An adequate film but not up to the standard of Noel Coward's 1946 film "This Happy Breed", mentioned by the other reviewer.
Obviously filmed at the height of WWII Government censorship and official messages to viewers had to be incorporated into the script with a "we can take it" attitude.My vote was 6/10.An adequate film but not up to the standard of Noel Coward's 1946 film "This Happy Breed", mentioned by the other reviewer.
War on the home front
Paularoc21 April 2013
Warning: Spoilers
The Buntings, with their daughter and two sons live a comfortable and harmonious life in a middle class suburban home in London. Then comes the war and the blitz. The Buntings spend many an evening in their Anderson shelter; so many that a colleague of Bunting's says "We live like troglodytes," then explaining that it means cave dwellers. By necessity and temperament, the entire family becomes involved in the war, the sons enlisting and the daughter helping her father in air raid warden duties and then later working in a hospital. It's a movie about perseverance and courage in difficult and fearful times. There are a number of particularly good scenes and one striking one is when one of the son's marriage ceremony is held amidst the rubble of a bombed out church. Stanley Halloway as narrator and Bunting neighbor does his usual fine job. The whole cast is good but especially noteworthy is Edward Rigby's portrayal of Mr. Bunting. His reaction upon hearing that his son's plane has been shot down and his later dealing with this news was both touching and believable. While certainly the production values of "This Happy Breed" were much higher, I liked this movie every bit as much. A very interesting and inspiring movie about ordinary people. I don't know for sure that the Buntings represent the typical family of the time but like to think that they do.
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