- Film Review
- Reviewed By David Parkinson
-
5 out of 5
This second of David Lean's four collaborations with Noël Coward provides a fascinating picture of the way we were. The action is largely confined to an unremarkable but lovingly re-created Clapham home, but such is the ebb and flow of events (both domestic and historical) that the two hours it takes to cover the 20 inter-war years seem to fly by. Celia Johnson is superb as the eminently sensible suburban housewife, while Kay Walsh gives a spirited performance as her mouthy daughter. But the best scenes belong to neighbours Robert Newton and Stanley Holloway, as a couple of very British chroniclers of their times.
Plot Summary
Drama directed by David Lean and based on the play by Noël Coward, starring Robert Newton, Celia Johnson and John Mills. Life between the two World Wars is viewed through the eyes of a south London family.
Cast and crew
Cast
- Frank Gibbons
- Robert Newton
- Ethel Gibbons
- Celia Johnson
- Billy Mitchell
- John Mills
- Queenie Gibbons
- Kay Walsh
- Bob Mitchell
- Stanley Holloway
- Mrs Flint
- Amy Veness
- Aunt Sylvia
- Alison Leggatt
- Vi
- Eileen Erskine
- Reg
- John Blythe
- Sam Ledbetter
- Guy Verney
- Edie
- Merle Tottenham
- Phyllis
- Betty Fleetwood
- Narrator
- Laurence Olivier
Crew
- Director
- David Lean
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