Beginning just before the start of the Second World War, the film tells the story of the Rowan family: Billy, his sisters Sue and Dawn, and his parents Grace and Clive, living in a suburb of London. After the war starts, Clive joins the army, leaving Grace alone to watch over the children. She almost sends Billy and Susie away from London, but pulls them back at the last second on the train platform when she realizes she cannot bear to be apart from them. Thus Billy stays in London for the rest of the war. Seen through the eyes of 10-year-old Billy, the "fireworks" provided by the Blitz every night are as exciting as they are terrifying. His family does not see things in quite the same way as the bombs continue to drop, but their will to survive brings them closer together. The nightly raids do not provide the only drama, however, as his older sister, Dawn, falls for a Canadian soldier, becomes pregnant and, finding her life turned upside down, soon discovers the value of her family. The family eventually moves to the Thames-side home of Grace's parents when their house burns down. This provides an opportunity for Billy to spend more time with his curmudgeonly grandfather.
The main film set was built on the disused runway at the former Wisley Airfield in Surrey and other scenes by the river were shot near Shepperton Lock. filming also took place in Hightown Road, Ringwood, Hampshire.
Archival film
The "newsreel" footage shown in the local cinema contains scenes from the 1969 film Battle of Britain.
Critical response
"Hope and Glory" received very positive reviews at the time of its release, and was named one of the best films of 1987 by over 50 critics. Only Broadcast News appeared on more top ten lists in 1987. The film was favourably reviewed by critic Pauline Kael in her film reviews collection Hooked: American critic Emanuel Levy's review was also positive; he wrote: "Director John Boorman offers a warmly nostalgic view of his childhood in a London suburb during WWII." On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 95% "Fresh" rating based on 21 reviews, with an average rating of 8.26/10.
Box office
invested £1,288,000 in the film and received £1,665,000 making them a profit of £377,000.
A sequel to the film, titled Queen and Country, was made in 2014. The film tells the story of an older Bill Rowan as a soldier during the Korean War. The film was selected to be screened as part of the Directors' Fortnight section of the 2014 Cannes Film Festival. It was released generally in 2015.
