This Happy Breed

This Happy Breed

Eagle-Lion

28 May 1944

Historical Drama

DVD
C+

I would say I was more interested than entertained.  Director David Lean co-adapted Noël Coward's play, and I can actually see this working better onstage, where it wouldn't feel so odd to have scenes with characters referred to as being nearby.  (Including the neighbor lady we never meet, although we see her husband and son.)  Still, this domestic drama, set in 1919 to '39, is more my kind of movie than The Bridge Over the River Kwai or Lawrence of Arabia.

Easy Virtue (2008)

Easy Virtue
Ealing etc.
7 November 2008
Historical Comedy
DVD
C-

Director Stephan Elliott co-wrote this uninvolving adaptation of the Noël Coward play.  Not to be confused with the 1928 Hitchcock version reviewed earlier.

Easy Virtue (1928)

Easy Virtue (1928)

Gainsborough Pictures

5 March 1928

Drama

DVD
C-

I'm not big on silent films, mostly because my favorite thing about movies is spoken dialogue.  Still, this very early Hitchcock drama about a scandalous divorce wasn't bad in its first quarter hour.  This is based on a Noël Coward play (not technically a book, but certainly "literature").