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This Happy Breed

This Happy Breed

Drama · 1944

A chronicle of the lives of the Gibbons family, from shortly after the end of the First World War to the beginning of the Second.

Movie details

This Happy Breed

“A Sweeping Panorama of Living”

1944 Drama 1h 51m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

7.1 / 10

Community rating

A chronicle of the lives of the Gibbons family, from shortly after the end of the First World War to the beginning of the Second.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over This Happy Breed?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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The Bookshop

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Set in a small English town in 1959, a woman decides, against polite but ruthless local opposition, to open a bookshop, a decision which becomes a political minefield.

The Dig

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Belfast

Belfast

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Buddy is a young boy on the cusp of adolescence, whose life is filled with familial love, childhood hijinks, and a blossoming romance. Yet, with his beloved hometown caught up in increasing turmoil, his family faces a momentous choice: hope the conflict will pass or leave everything they know behind for a new life.

Pearl Harbor

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Darkest Hour

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It's a Wonderful Life

It's a Wonderful Life

Drama · 1946

George Bailey has spent his entire life giving to the people of Bedford Falls. All that prevents rich skinflint Mr. Potter from taking over the entire town is George's modest building and loan company. But on Christmas Eve the business's $8,000 is lost and George's troubles begin.

Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

David Lean

Written by

Ronald Neame · David Lean · Anthony Havelock-Allan

Robert Newton

Robert Newton

Frank Gibbons

Celia Johnson

Celia Johnson

Ethel Gibbons

Amy Veness

Amy Veness

Mrs. Flint

Alison Leggatt

Alison Leggatt

Aunt Sylvia

Stanley Holloway

Stanley Holloway

Bob Mitchell

John Mills

John Mills

Billy Mitchell

Kay Walsh

Kay Walsh

Queenie Gibbons

Court is in session

Put This Happy Breed on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Prestige Tourist

“Ambition earns the room.”

The film reaches for consequence and scale, accepting the risk of seriousness instead of shrinking from it.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Importance has entered the chat.”

The production keeps announcing its significance, as though awards-season posture were proof of insight.