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    Nostalgia Central
    Home»Movies»Movies by Decade»Movies - 1950s
    Movies - 1950s Movies - H 2 Mins Read

    Happy Family, The (1952)

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    A working-class family are under siege in this light-hearted South London comedy.

    Government bureaucrats erroneously miss The House of Lords (a smartly-named shop in the middle of a bombed-out street near Waterloo run by Lilian Lord and family) from their Festival of Britain plans and threaten to demolish the shop and the attached family home if the building is not vacated.

    The whole family, including daughter Joan’s fiancé, Cyril (George Cole), decide to barricade themselves in and fight the powers that be.

    happyfamily1952

    They stoically cling to the property and after a week without water or light they are on the point of surrender when the Government capitulates.

    On-the-money performances abound in Muriel Box’s film. Stanley Holloway’s put-upon Henry and George Cole’s bolshy Cyril are the pick of the men while Kathleen Harrison as spirited Lilian and Dandy Nichol as screw-loose spiritualist Ada are vital and on point.

    Scenes including the construction of the festival site alongside long-gone landmarks like the Shot Tower of the Lambeth Lead Works give the film an extra note of pathos and curiosity.

    Released in the US as Mr Lord Says No.

    Henry Lord
    Stanley Holloway
    Lilian Lord
    Kathleen Harrison
    Mr Filch
    Naunton Wayne
    Ada
    Dandy Nichols
    Cyril
    George Cole
    Mr Thwaites
    Miles Malleson
    Maurice Hennessy
    Tom Gill
    Anne
    Margaret Barton
    Marina
    Shirley Mitchell
    Joan
    Eileen Moore
    Councillor
    Laurence Naismith
    Mr Granite
    John Salew
    David
    John Stratton
    Sir Charles Spanniell
    Geoffrey Sumner
    MP
    Richard Wattis
    Mayor
    Cameron Hall
    Mrs Potter
    Eileen Way

    Director
    Muriel Box

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