Trailer
Plot summary
Bill Rohan is ten years old and lives in a suburb of London with his mother Grace, his father Clive, and his sisters Sue and Dawn. On 3 September 1939, Britain declares war on Germany, and Clive enlists, leaving Grace to look after the children on her own. She nearly puts Bill and Sue on a train out of London, then pulls them back on the platform because she cannot bear to be parted from them, so Bill stays for the first years of the war. Through his eyes the German raids are thrilling as much as frightening, and the ruins become a place where he and other boys his age play and gather shrapnel. His older sister Dawn has her eye on Bruce, a Canadian soldier.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Hope and Glory (1987)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- John Boorman re-created the London street where he grew up for the film, on a 40-acre set costing a million dollars that was the largest built in England since World War II.
- The newsreel footage that Billy watches at the local cinema is not real wartime film: it contains scenes from the 1969 film Battle of Britain.
