And A Nightingale Sang

And a Nightingale Sang strikes a chord with its bittersweet and sharply humorous portrait of working-class family life on the British Home Front during World War Two. Despite air raid sirens, gas masks, ration books and whistling bombs punctuating their everyday lives, the Stott family remain stoic as they focus on keeping life as normal as possible. Joan Plowright is the beleaguered, church-going matriarch, who finds herself drawn to her priest. John Woodvine plays her husband, who escapes from awkward family situations by banging out popular tunes on the piano. Helen Stott (Phyllis Logan) is their sensible 30-year-old daughter. She is a kindly, if self-deprecating, soul but life hasn t been very kind to her. She walks with a limp and falls for a soldier who could be toying with her heart. Joyce (Pippa Hinchley) is her young sister, a flirt who is attracted to every soldier except her husband (Stephen Tompkinson). This is a heart-warming household where misery and happiness mingle as naturally as they do in real life, reminding us that in the face of adversity, humanity will keep calm and carry on loving. Includes three short public information films from the Imperial War Museum. They Keep the Wheels Turning (1942); Britannia Is a Woman (1940); and The New Britain (1940)