This Happy Breed (1944)

The film opens in an empty house in 1919 just as a family is set to move in and it ends with the same empty house in 1939 after the remaining family members leave. In between, an ordinary British family lives out their lives with equal measures of happiness and tragedy. Based on the play by Noel Coward and directed by David Lean (GREAT EXPECTATIONS) in his solo directorial debut. Sandwiched in between WWI and WWII, it's amazing that a story so simple with unexceptional people can have so much power. Perhaps it is manufactured and Coward's attitude toward his protagonists is slightly patronizing but overall, I found it quite touching. Curiously, the film didn't reach U.S. shores until three years later. With Robert Newton, Celia Johnson, John Mills, Kay Walsh, Alison Leggatt and John Blythe.