Lean made his solo directorial debut, and debut as screenwriter, with this adaptation of Noël Coward’s play that follows London’s Gibbons family from adapting to the post-war peace of 1919 to facing the inevitability of a new conflict in 1939. Headed by Frank (Robert Newton) and Ethel (Celia Johnson), the Gibbons are touched by love when daughter Queenie Kay Walsh is romanced by neighbour Billy (John Mills), but also by tragedy as the years pass. Filmed in Technicolor, This Happy Breed was the biggest hit of its year at the UK box office, marking Lean as a talent to watch.

Screening as part of The Films of David Lean season.