How Green Was My Valley
"Possesses great beauty great charm and character." New York Times
Winner of five Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Supporting Actor (Donald Crisp), this "Hollywood milestone" (Halliwell's Film Guide) from producer Darryl F. Zanuck and director John Ford is "one of the finest" pictures ever made (Variety).
Seen through the eyes of a boy (Roddy McDowall, How Green Was My Valley) is the inspiring yet heartbreaking story of young parents (Donald Crisp and Sara Allgood) struggling to keep their family together as they endure severe hardship in a small Welsh mining town. Co-starring Maureen O'Hara and Walter Pidgeon, this acclaimed classic captures the sentiments and issues of its time while reminding us of the dreams, struggles and triumphs every family that can touch every family.
Member Reviews
Slow but really is a classic - lookingjust
The definition of a "classic" film - beautifully shot in black and white. A "tearjerker" of the old school sense - not a lot of action in the sense of modern day plots, but a wonderful and mostly historically accurate treatment of the coal mining industry and its effects on small Welsh towns in the early days of the industrial revolution. Worth watching for this value alone.Hearkens back to a different era. - cathyottawa
This is one of my Mom's favourite books, so I thought I'd give the movie a try.
I didn't find it to be a great classic, worthy of all the high praise it gets, but it was mildly enjoyable. It starts out quite cheezy, as the idillic valley is described, and there is lots of singing, but once you get past that bit, there is some meat and bones to this story.
It was ahead of it's time in having unionization in the mines as a central issue. On the periphery, there is a forbidden love story, and the coming of age story of our narrator, Roddy McDowall.
What remains confusing is, this story is meant to span many years. The descriptor actually says 50 years, but I would say more like 10 years. The problem is, McDowall doesn't age, giving the impression that these events all take place over a year or two.
It's a bone of contention on the IMDB boards between people who have read the book, where McDowall ages as the story is told, and people who think it was a choice by the director to represent McDowall remembering himself at his most happy age, even though everyone ages around him.
I think he should have aged. It would have made infinitely more sense.
Bottom line, this is pleasant, and nice, and, well, if I'm honest, kind of dull. It's nothing that special.Deserving of it's Best Picture Oscar!!! - OkaZoo
This is definitely not a movie for everyone, it is not very fast paced in fact it can be a little bit run on and even dreary in some places.
That being said it was a fantastic movie. It earned it's 1941 Oscar for Best Picture completely.
It's a love story as well as the story of average people living difficult lives under arduous circumstances in a back breaking time.
I found this film very inspiring, it will certainly have you counting your blessings just getting a glimpse of how so many lived not so long ago makes what we have today seem like riches!! I thank goodness for those people who slaved before us who were not willing to give up in the fight to build hope and a chance for a better life for so many.
Even if you are not a person who has direct lineage with those depicted in this film I am sure that your ancestors fought similar or perhaps even more treacherous battles to help us all to get here so even though it may not be your story I am convinced that you will be able to relate.
This is a film that will simultaneously show you how closed in and shut down people were in our history while at the same time showing a human spirit which is rare enough to find at any time period.
This film has depth as well as being captivating.
If you are willing to open your mind to something rather like little or nothing that you've seen before it will leave you with a new found respect for those who came before us.
I highly recommend this film, definitely time well spent!!
Member Reviews
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Slow but really is a classic - lookingjust
The definition of a "classic" film - beautifully shot in black and white. A "tearjerker" of the old school sense - not a lot of action in the sense of modern day plots, but a wonderful and mostly historically accurate treatment of the coal mining industry ...Hearkens back to a different era. - cathyottawa
This is one of my Mom's favourite books, so I thought I'd give the movie a try.
I didn't find it to be a great classic, worthy of all the high praise it gets, but it was mildly enjoyable. It starts out quite cheezy, as the idillic valley is described, ...Deserving of it's Best Picture Oscar!!! - OkaZoo
This is definitely not a movie for everyone, it is not very fast paced in fact it can be a little bit run on and even dreary in some places.
That being said it was a fantastic movie. It earned it's 1941 Oscar for Best Picture completely.
It's ...