This Happy Breed
Encyclopedia
This Happy Breed is a play by Noël Coward
. It was written in 1939 but, because of the outbreak of World War II
, it was not staged until 1942, when it was performed on alternating nights with another Coward play, Present Laughter
. The two plays later alternated with Coward's Blithe Spirit
. The title, a reference to the English people
, is a phrase from John of Gaunt
's monologue
in Act II, Scene 1 of William Shakespeare
's Richard II
.
The story of the play concerns the working class
Gibbons family between the end of World War I
and the outbreak of World War II
. It anticipates the non-violent ways in which social justice issues might be incorporated into post-war national reconstruction, examines the personal trauma caused by the sudden death of sons and daughters and anticipates the forthcoming return of English men from the war. It is also an intimate portrait of the economy and politics of Great Britain in the 1920s and 30s (such as the General Strike of 1926
), as well as showing the advances in technology – the arrival of primitive crystal radio sets and telephone
s, home gas lights being replaced by electricity and mass broadcast radio.
This Happy Breed is one of a very few Coward plays to deal entirely with domestic events outside an upper class
or upper middle class
setting. A number of scenes are reminiscent of previous Coward works, such as Cavalcade
(1931) or the short play Fumed Oak
from Tonight at 8:30
(1936).
) in 1939, in the months before World War II
. The producer Binkie Beaumont
originally wanted to stage Present Laughter on its own, but Coward insisted that, given the political situation at the time, it should be played alternately with the more sombre This Happy Breed. The original script called for the abdication speech
of King Edward VIII
to be heard on the radio by the Gibbons family in Act 3 scene 1, but the Lord Chamberlain
(Britain's official play censor until 1968) objected to its inclusion, citing the embarrassment it would cause any member of the royal family who happened to see the play. The final dress rehearsal was held on 31 August 1939. The following day Germany
invaded Poland
; Britain declared war on Germany on 3 September, and the production was immediately abandoned.
Coward departed for Paris
to meet Jean Giraudoux
, who wanted the playwright to set up a Bureau of Propaganda and serve as a liaison
with the Commissariat d'Information. Coward engaged in war work in intelligence and propaganda in Europe and America for the next two years. Winston Churchill
advised Coward that he could do more for the war effort by entertaining the troops and the home front than by attempts at intelligence work: "Go and sing to them when the guns are firing – that's your job!" Though disappointed, Coward followed this advice. He toured, acted and sang indefatigably in Europe, Africa, Asia and America. This Happy Breed and Present Laughter were finally staged in September 1942 in Blackpool
on Coward's wartime tour of Britain after he returned to acting. The sets and costumes were designed by Gladys Calthrop
.
Coward later said, "I have always had a reputation for high-life, earned no doubt in the twenties with such plays as The Vortex
. But, as you see, I was a suburban boy, born and bred in the suburbs of London, which I've always loved and always will." This Happy Breed, like his short play Fumed Oak
, is one of his rare stage depictions of suburban life.
The Gibbons family has just moved into 17 Sycamore Road in Clapham
in South London
. Ethel expresses her relief that her husband Frank has survived army service in World War I and her pleasure at moving into their new home. Their new next-door neighbour, Bob Mitchell, introduces himself. He turns out to be an old army colleague of Frank's, and the two reminisce.
Scene 2 – December 1925
After Christmas dinner, the grown-ups, Frank and Ethel, Ethel's mother Mrs Flint and Frank's sister Sylvia, have retired to another room to leave the young people alone. These are Frank and Ethel's children, Vi, "a pleasant nondescript-looking girl of twenty", Queenie, "a year younger... prettier and a trifle flashy", Reg, aged eighteen, "a nice-looking intelligent boy", Reg's friend Sam and Queenie's friend Phyllis. Sam indulges in a spot of socialist preaching against capitalism and injustice. The young women fail to accord him the respect he thinks he deserves, and he and Reg leave. Bob Mitchell's son Billy visits the house. He is left alone with Queenie, and there is a short love scene between them. Queenie baffles him by saying that she so hates suburban life that she would not make him a good wife. She rushes out. Frank enters and encourages Billy. After Billy leaves, Ethel and Frank chat together, partly to avoid Sylvia's singing in the room next door and partly for the pleasure of each other's company.
Scene 3 – May 1926
It is the time of the General Strike of 1926
. The women of the household bicker. Frank and Bob are strike-breaking as volunteer driver and conductor of a London bus. Reg, encouraged by Sam, is backing the strikers and has not been seen for some days. Frank and Bob enter, singing "Rule, Britannia!
" at the top of their voices, having had a few drinks to celebrate their successful strike-breaking. Sam and Reg enter, the latter slightly injured from a fracas connected with the strike. Vi confronts Sam for leading Reg astray and throws him out. Left alone together, Frank and Reg exchange views, Frank's being traditionalist and Reg's idealistic. They bid each other good night on good terms.
On Reg's wedding day, Frank gives him paternal advice. The women of the household bicker. Queenie again complains of the tedium of suburban life. The family all leave for Reg and Phyl's wedding ceremony.
Scene 2 – November 1931, midnight
Queenie tip-toes downstairs in street clothes, carrying a suitcase. She puts a letter on the mantelpiece and leaves. Frank and Bob arrive after a convivial evening at a regimental dinner and amiably discuss the world in general. Ethel, woken by their noise, tells them off. Bob leaves. Frank and Ethel see Queenie's letter and open it. She has been having an affair with a married man and has run off with him. Ethel disowns Queenie as a member of the family. Frank is shocked at Ethel's intransigence. They retire to bed unhappily.
Scene 3 – May 1932
The older members of the family discuss a letter they have received from Queenie in France. They are interrupted by the news that Reg and his wife have been killed in a road accident.
The family have been listening to ex-king Edward VIII's abdication broadcast
. Mrs Flint is no longer alive, Vi and Sam, now married, have become comfortably middle-aged. Billy enters with the news that he has run into Queenie in Menton
. Her lover had left her and returned to his wife, leaving Queenie stranded. After some prevarication Billy says that Queenie is with him and indeed is now his wife. Queenie enters, and there is an awkward but loving reconciliation between her and Ethel.
Scene 2 – September 1938
It is the time of Neville Chamberlain
's return from Munich and the false hopes of averting war. Sylvia is as delighted by the Munich agreement
as Frank is bitterly opposed to it. Bob comes in to say goodbye. He is moving to the country. He and Frank reminisce and look forward to the future anxiously.
Scene 3 – June 1939
Frank and Ethel are about to move to the country. The house is now almost empty of furniture as they prepare to leave. Frank is left alone with his youngest grandchild, also called Frank. He talks to the baby philosophically, in a long monologue about what it means to be British. Ethel calls him to supper.
, noting that This Happy Breed had opened the night after the London première of Present Laughter, commented, "both plays, though widely separated in mood and kind, are successful, the one attaining to brilliant comedy, the other creating and sustaining an interest in a family of the lower middle class which may fairly be called absorbing.... Mr Coward keeps firm control of his narrative and in his own part occasionally permits himself to speak for an England which, though tired, is still possessed of an invincible stamina." The Manchester Guardian thought some of the scenes too long, but added "the author's skill is shown in each one, unabated and breaking fresh ground; the play obviously moved and excited the audience, and we must admit, once again, that Mr Coward remains one of the most remarkable men of the theatre of our time." The Daily Express wrote, "Mr Coward's Clapham cavalcade is perfectly acted. It is history dramatised in the back parlour and a most moving portrait of small people living greatly.
, was directed by David Lean
and starred Robert Newton
and Celia Johnson
.
Noël Coward
Sir Noël Peirce Coward was an English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what Time magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise".Born in Teddington, a suburb of London, Coward attended a dance academy...
. It was written in 1939 but, because of the outbreak of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, it was not staged until 1942, when it was performed on alternating nights with another Coward play, Present Laughter
Present Laughter
Present Laughter is a comic play written by Noël Coward in 1939 and first staged in 1942 on tour, alternating with his lower middle-class domestic drama This Happy Breed...
. The two plays later alternated with Coward's Blithe Spirit
Blithe Spirit (play)
Blithe Spirit is a comic play written by Noël Coward which takes its title from Percy Bysshe Shelley's poem "To a Skylark" . The play concerns socialite and novelist Charles Condomine, who invites the eccentric medium and clairvoyant, Madame Arcati, to his house to conduct a séance, hoping to...
. The title, a reference to the English people
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
, is a phrase from John of Gaunt
John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster
John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster , KG was a member of the House of Plantagenet, the third surviving son of King Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault...
's monologue
Monologue
In theatre, a monologue is a speech presented by a single character, most often to express their thoughts aloud, though sometimes also to directly address another character or the audience. Monologues are common across the range of dramatic media...
in Act II, Scene 1 of William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
's Richard II
Richard II (play)
King Richard the Second is a history play by William Shakespeare believed to be written in approximately 1595. It is based on the life of King Richard II of England and is the first part of a tetralogy, referred to by some scholars as the Henriad, followed by three plays concerning Richard's...
.
The story of the play concerns the working class
Working class
Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...
Gibbons family between the end of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and the outbreak of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. It anticipates the non-violent ways in which social justice issues might be incorporated into post-war national reconstruction, examines the personal trauma caused by the sudden death of sons and daughters and anticipates the forthcoming return of English men from the war. It is also an intimate portrait of the economy and politics of Great Britain in the 1920s and 30s (such as the General Strike of 1926
1926 United Kingdom general strike
The 1926 general strike in the United Kingdom was a general strike that lasted nine days, from 4 May 1926 to 13 May 1926. It was called by the general council of the Trades Union Congress in an unsuccessful attempt to force the British government to act to prevent wage reduction and worsening...
), as well as showing the advances in technology – the arrival of primitive crystal radio sets and telephone
Telephone
The telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...
s, home gas lights being replaced by electricity and mass broadcast radio.
This Happy Breed is one of a very few Coward plays to deal entirely with domestic events outside an upper class
Upper class
In social science, the "upper class" is the group of people at the top of a social hierarchy. Members of an upper class may have great power over the allocation of resources and governmental policy in their area.- Historical meaning :...
or upper middle class
Upper middle class
The upper middle class is a sociological concept referring to the social group constituted by higher-status members of the middle class. This is in contrast to the term "lower middle class", which is used for the group at the opposite end of the middle class stratum, and to the broader term "middle...
setting. A number of scenes are reminiscent of previous Coward works, such as Cavalcade
Cavalcade (play)
Cavalcade is a play by Noël Coward. It focuses on three decades in the life of the Marryotts, a quintessential British family, and their servants, beginning at the start of the 20th century and ending on New Year's Eve in 1929....
(1931) or the short play Fumed Oak
Fumed Oak
Fumed Oak is a short play in two scenes by Noël Coward, one of ten that make up Tonight at 8:30, a cycle written to be performed across three evenings. Coward billed the work as an "unpleasant comedy in two scenes"...
from Tonight at 8:30
Tonight at 8:30
Tonight at 8.30 is a cycle of ten one-act plays by Noël Coward. In the introduction to a published edition of the plays, Coward wrote, "A short play, having a great advantage over a long one in that it can sustain a mood without technical creaking or over padding, deserves a better fate, and if,...
(1936).
Background
Coward completed the playscript for This Happy Breed (as well as that for Present LaughterPresent Laughter
Present Laughter is a comic play written by Noël Coward in 1939 and first staged in 1942 on tour, alternating with his lower middle-class domestic drama This Happy Breed...
) in 1939, in the months before World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. The producer Binkie Beaumont
Binkie Beaumont
Hugh 'Binkie' Beaumont was a British theatre manager and producer, referred to as the "Eminence Grise" of the West End Theatre. He was one of the most successful manager-producers in the West End during the middle of the 20th century...
originally wanted to stage Present Laughter on its own, but Coward insisted that, given the political situation at the time, it should be played alternately with the more sombre This Happy Breed. The original script called for the abdication speech
Edward VIII abdication crisis
In 1936, a constitutional crisis in the British Empire was caused by King-Emperor Edward VIII's proposal to marry Wallis Simpson, a twice-divorced American socialite....
of King Edward VIII
Edward VIII of the United Kingdom
Edward VIII was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth, and Emperor of India, from 20 January to 11 December 1936.Before his accession to the throne, Edward was Prince of Wales and Duke of Cornwall and Rothesay...
to be heard on the radio by the Gibbons family in Act 3 scene 1, but the Lord Chamberlain
Lord Chamberlain
The Lord Chamberlain or Lord Chamberlain of the Household is one of the chief officers of the Royal Household in the United Kingdom and is to be distinguished from the Lord Great Chamberlain, one of the Great Officers of State....
(Britain's official play censor until 1968) objected to its inclusion, citing the embarrassment it would cause any member of the royal family who happened to see the play. The final dress rehearsal was held on 31 August 1939. The following day Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
invaded Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
; Britain declared war on Germany on 3 September, and the production was immediately abandoned.
Coward departed for Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
to meet Jean Giraudoux
Jean Giraudoux
Hippolyte Jean Giraudoux was a French novelist, essayist, diplomat and playwright. He is considered among the most important French dramatists of the period between World War I and World War II. His work is noted for its stylistic elegance and poetic fantasy...
, who wanted the playwright to set up a Bureau of Propaganda and serve as a liaison
Liaison officer
A liaison officer or LNO is a person that liaises between two organizations to communicate and coordinate their activities. Generally, they are used to achieve the best utilization of resources or employment of services of one organization by another. In the military, liaison officers may...
with the Commissariat d'Information. Coward engaged in war work in intelligence and propaganda in Europe and America for the next two years. Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
advised Coward that he could do more for the war effort by entertaining the troops and the home front than by attempts at intelligence work: "Go and sing to them when the guns are firing – that's your job!" Though disappointed, Coward followed this advice. He toured, acted and sang indefatigably in Europe, Africa, Asia and America. This Happy Breed and Present Laughter were finally staged in September 1942 in Blackpool
Blackpool
Blackpool is a borough, seaside town, and unitary authority area of Lancashire, in North West England. It is situated along England's west coast by the Irish Sea, between the Ribble and Wyre estuaries, northwest of Preston, north of Liverpool, and northwest of Manchester...
on Coward's wartime tour of Britain after he returned to acting. The sets and costumes were designed by Gladys Calthrop
Gladys Calthrop
Gladys E. Calthrop was an artist and leading British stage designer. She is best known as the set and costume designer for many of Noël Coward's plays and musicals.-Life and career:...
.
Coward later said, "I have always had a reputation for high-life, earned no doubt in the twenties with such plays as The Vortex
The Vortex
The Vortex is a play by the English writer and actor Noël Coward. The story focuses on sexual vanity and drug abuse among the upper classes. The play was Coward's first great commercial success....
. But, as you see, I was a suburban boy, born and bred in the suburbs of London, which I've always loved and always will." This Happy Breed, like his short play Fumed Oak
Fumed Oak
Fumed Oak is a short play in two scenes by Noël Coward, one of ten that make up Tonight at 8:30, a cycle written to be performed across three evenings. Coward billed the work as an "unpleasant comedy in two scenes"...
, is one of his rare stage depictions of suburban life.
Act 1
Scene 1 – June 1919The Gibbons family has just moved into 17 Sycamore Road in Clapham
Clapham
Clapham is a district in south London, England, within the London Borough of Lambeth.Clapham covers the postcodes of SW4 and parts of SW9, SW8 and SW12. Clapham Common is shared with the London Borough of Wandsworth, although Lambeth has responsibility for running the common as a whole. According...
in South London
South London
South London is the southern part of London, England, United Kingdom.According to the 2011 official Boundary Commission for England definition, South London includes the London boroughs of Bexley, Bromley, Croydon, Greenwich, Kingston, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Southwark, Sutton and...
. Ethel expresses her relief that her husband Frank has survived army service in World War I and her pleasure at moving into their new home. Their new next-door neighbour, Bob Mitchell, introduces himself. He turns out to be an old army colleague of Frank's, and the two reminisce.
Scene 2 – December 1925
After Christmas dinner, the grown-ups, Frank and Ethel, Ethel's mother Mrs Flint and Frank's sister Sylvia, have retired to another room to leave the young people alone. These are Frank and Ethel's children, Vi, "a pleasant nondescript-looking girl of twenty", Queenie, "a year younger... prettier and a trifle flashy", Reg, aged eighteen, "a nice-looking intelligent boy", Reg's friend Sam and Queenie's friend Phyllis. Sam indulges in a spot of socialist preaching against capitalism and injustice. The young women fail to accord him the respect he thinks he deserves, and he and Reg leave. Bob Mitchell's son Billy visits the house. He is left alone with Queenie, and there is a short love scene between them. Queenie baffles him by saying that she so hates suburban life that she would not make him a good wife. She rushes out. Frank enters and encourages Billy. After Billy leaves, Ethel and Frank chat together, partly to avoid Sylvia's singing in the room next door and partly for the pleasure of each other's company.
Scene 3 – May 1926
It is the time of the General Strike of 1926
1926 United Kingdom general strike
The 1926 general strike in the United Kingdom was a general strike that lasted nine days, from 4 May 1926 to 13 May 1926. It was called by the general council of the Trades Union Congress in an unsuccessful attempt to force the British government to act to prevent wage reduction and worsening...
. The women of the household bicker. Frank and Bob are strike-breaking as volunteer driver and conductor of a London bus. Reg, encouraged by Sam, is backing the strikers and has not been seen for some days. Frank and Bob enter, singing "Rule, Britannia!
Rule, Britannia!
"Rule, Britannia!" is a British patriotic song, originating from the poem "Rule, Britannia" by James Thomson and set to music by Thomas Arne in 1740...
" at the top of their voices, having had a few drinks to celebrate their successful strike-breaking. Sam and Reg enter, the latter slightly injured from a fracas connected with the strike. Vi confronts Sam for leading Reg astray and throws him out. Left alone together, Frank and Reg exchange views, Frank's being traditionalist and Reg's idealistic. They bid each other good night on good terms.
Act 2
Scene 1 – October 1931On Reg's wedding day, Frank gives him paternal advice. The women of the household bicker. Queenie again complains of the tedium of suburban life. The family all leave for Reg and Phyl's wedding ceremony.
Scene 2 – November 1931, midnight
Queenie tip-toes downstairs in street clothes, carrying a suitcase. She puts a letter on the mantelpiece and leaves. Frank and Bob arrive after a convivial evening at a regimental dinner and amiably discuss the world in general. Ethel, woken by their noise, tells them off. Bob leaves. Frank and Ethel see Queenie's letter and open it. She has been having an affair with a married man and has run off with him. Ethel disowns Queenie as a member of the family. Frank is shocked at Ethel's intransigence. They retire to bed unhappily.
Scene 3 – May 1932
The older members of the family discuss a letter they have received from Queenie in France. They are interrupted by the news that Reg and his wife have been killed in a road accident.
Act 3
Scene 1 – December 1936The family have been listening to ex-king Edward VIII's abdication broadcast
Edward VIII abdication crisis
In 1936, a constitutional crisis in the British Empire was caused by King-Emperor Edward VIII's proposal to marry Wallis Simpson, a twice-divorced American socialite....
. Mrs Flint is no longer alive, Vi and Sam, now married, have become comfortably middle-aged. Billy enters with the news that he has run into Queenie in Menton
Menton
Menton is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France.Situated on the French Riviera, along the Franco-Italian border, it is nicknamed la perle de la France ....
. Her lover had left her and returned to his wife, leaving Queenie stranded. After some prevarication Billy says that Queenie is with him and indeed is now his wife. Queenie enters, and there is an awkward but loving reconciliation between her and Ethel.
Scene 2 – September 1938
It is the time of Neville Chamberlain
Neville Chamberlain
Arthur Neville Chamberlain FRS was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from May 1937 to May 1940. Chamberlain is best known for his appeasement foreign policy, and in particular for his signing of the Munich Agreement in 1938, conceding the...
's return from Munich and the false hopes of averting war. Sylvia is as delighted by the Munich agreement
Munich Agreement
The Munich Pact was an agreement permitting the Nazi German annexation of Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland. The Sudetenland were areas along Czech borders, mainly inhabited by ethnic Germans. The agreement was negotiated at a conference held in Munich, Germany, among the major powers of Europe without...
as Frank is bitterly opposed to it. Bob comes in to say goodbye. He is moving to the country. He and Frank reminisce and look forward to the future anxiously.
Scene 3 – June 1939
Frank and Ethel are about to move to the country. The house is now almost empty of furniture as they prepare to leave. Frank is left alone with his youngest grandchild, also called Frank. He talks to the baby philosophically, in a long monologue about what it means to be British. Ethel calls him to supper.
Original cast
- Mrs Flint – Gwen Floyd
- Ethel – Judy CampbellJudy CampbellJudy Campbell was an English light comedy actress and occasional playwright, Noël Coward's muse. Her daughter is the actor and singer Jane Birkin, her son the screenwriter and director Andrew Birkin, and among her grandchildren are the actresses Charlotte Gainsbourg and Lou Doillon, the poet Anno...
- Sylvia – Joyce CareyJoyce CareyJoyce Carey, OBE was a British actress, best known for her long professional and personal relationship with Noël Coward. Her stage career lasted from 1916 until 1984, and she was performing on television in her nineties. Though never a star, she was a familiar face both on stage and screen...
- Frank Gibbons – Noël Coward
- Bob Mitchell – Gerald Case
- Reg – Billy Thatcher
- Queenie – Jennifer Gray
- Vi – Molly Johnson
- Sam Leadbitter – Dennis PriceDennis PriceDennis Price was an English actor, remembered for his suave screen roles, particularly Louis Mazzini in Kind Hearts and Coronets, and for his portrayal of the omniscient valet Jeeves in 1960s television adaptations of P. G...
- Edie – Beryl Measor
- Billy – James DonaldJames DonaldJames Donald was a Scottish actor. Tall and thin, he usually specialised in playing authority figures.Donald was born in Aberdeen, and made his first professional stage appearance sometime in the late-1930s, having been educated at Rossall School on Lancashire's Fylde coast...
Critical reception
The TimesThe Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
, noting that This Happy Breed had opened the night after the London première of Present Laughter, commented, "both plays, though widely separated in mood and kind, are successful, the one attaining to brilliant comedy, the other creating and sustaining an interest in a family of the lower middle class which may fairly be called absorbing.... Mr Coward keeps firm control of his narrative and in his own part occasionally permits himself to speak for an England which, though tired, is still possessed of an invincible stamina." The Manchester Guardian thought some of the scenes too long, but added "the author's skill is shown in each one, unabated and breaking fresh ground; the play obviously moved and excited the audience, and we must admit, once again, that Mr Coward remains one of the most remarkable men of the theatre of our time." The Daily Express wrote, "Mr Coward's Clapham cavalcade is perfectly acted. It is history dramatised in the back parlour and a most moving portrait of small people living greatly.
Film adaptation
A 1944 film adaptation, also called This Happy BreedThis Happy Breed (film)
This Happy Breed is a 1944 British drama film directed by David Lean. The screenplay by Lean, Anthony Havelock-Allan and Ronald Neame is based on the 1939 play of the same title by Noël Coward...
, was directed by David Lean
David Lean
Sir David Lean CBE was an English film director, producer, screenwriter, and editor best remembered for big-screen epics such as The Bridge on the River Kwai , Lawrence of Arabia ,...
and starred Robert Newton
Robert Newton
Robert Newton was an English stage and film actor. Along with Errol Flynn, Newton was one of the most popular actors among the male juvenile audience of the 1940s and early 1950s, especially with British boys...
and Celia Johnson
Celia Johnson
Dame Celia Elizabeth Johnson DBE was an English actress.She began her stage acting career in 1928, and subsequently achieved success in West End and Broadway productions. She also appeared in several films, including the romantic drama Brief Encounter , for which she received a nomination for the...
.