On Blu-ray and DVD

4-Disk Box Set

By Raymond Benson

Any fan of British cinema must celebrate Criterion’s deluxe packaging of David Lean’s first four films as a director. These collaborations with writer, performer, and “personality” Noël Coward are exemplary examples of the fine work made by the Two Cities Unit production house, which was formed during the Second World War. In each case, the films are presented in beautiful new high-definition digital transfers from the 2008 BFI National Archive’s restorations. And, as this is a review for Cinema Retro, the readers of which include many 007 fans, it must be pointed out that there is indeed a connection between the films (three of them, anyway) and Bond. Actress Celia Johnson was Ian Fleming’s sister-in-law (her husband was Ian’s older brother, Peter Fleming), and her daughters Kate Grimond and Lucy Fleming are currently on the Board of Directors of Ian Fleming Publications Ltd., which of course guides the Bond literary franchise. And if you’ve never seen Celia Johnson perform, you’ve been missing something. She is arguably one of the greatest actresses the UK has ever given us.

In Which We Serve, co-directed by Coward and Lean, and starring Coward as a naval captain (not his usual persona), John Mills, Bernard Miles, and Celia Johnson, is pure war propaganda stuff, but it’s well done and compelling. The 1942 picture was made when Britain was fighting for her life, and it was the year it seemed the Axis might win. Lean was plucked from the ranks of clever film editors to handle the technical aspects of the production whilst Coward concentrated on acting. According to all accounts, Lean ended up actually directing most of it because Coward grew bored with the process. It’s a surprisingly good picture, despite its sentimentality. Look for a very young Richard Attenborough in his first film role—he’s just a kid!

This Happy Breed, 1944, stars Robert Newton, Celia Johnson, Kay Walsh, and John Mills, and it’s a poignant drama about a working-class family’s life between the two world wars. Coward rarely wrote about anyone that wasn’t upper-class, so in many ways the film is a novelty. Like How Green Was My Valley, it is an honest and wonderfully-acted ensemble piece about a people, based on Coward’s stage play of the same name. It’s the second-best picture in the set.

Blithe Spirit, 1944, stars Rex Harrison, Constance Cummings, and Kay Hammond, but the film is stolen by Margaret Rutherford, who displays so much verve and energy as the medium Madame Arcati that the rest of the cast seems asleep. Based on Coward’s hugely popular stage play, the film won an Oscar for Visual Effects (namely creating Hammond’s ghostly apparition). It’s pure fluff, but it’s entertaining and whimsical in a way Lean never explored again.

Brief Encounter, 1945, is the jewel in the crown here. Based on Coward’s short play, Still Life, the picture features the performance for which Celia Johnson is primarily known (she was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar). Paired with Trevor Howard, she displays a truthfulness and believability not often found in 1940s cinema. Brief Encounter is the often sentimental yet profoundly effective tale of two would-be adulterers who take an affair to the line—but do not cross it. The picture deservedly provided Lean with his first Oscar nomination for Best Director.

Extras abound. Each disk includes a video interview with Coward scholar Barry Day about each respective film; an episode of The Southbank Show from 1992 examines the life and career of Coward; and a couple of vintage documentaries on Lean are among the more interesting features. A booklet of essays rounds out the handsome package.

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