How Green Was My Valley
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Movie Reviews of How Green Was My Valley
Movie Review: "It makes me think of so much that is good, that is gone"
Summary: 5 Stars
"How Green Was My Valley" is one of John Ford's best films, the sentimental story of the Morgans, a family of Welsh coal miners. Adapted by screenwriter Philip Dunne from Richard Llewellyn's best-selling novel, this is the story of a close-knit, hard-working family at the turn of the last century that sees its livelihood at the mine start to slip away and the family starts to fall apart. The story is told in flash back by the youngest boy, Huw (Roddy McDowall, with the actual narration by Irving Pichel), who wants to grow up to be just like his father (Donald Crisp, in his Oscar winning role) and older brothers, at a time when that way of life is no longer viable.This is a gloriously beautiful black and white film, with several foundations for that beauty. First, there is the Oscar winning set design of Richard Day, Nathan Juran and Thomas Little, who recreated a totally believable Welsh town on the side the Santa Monica Mountains at Brent's Crags, near Malibu (plans to film the movie in Wales were abandoned when World War II broke out). This is one of the most memorable built sets in Hollywood history. Second, there is the Oscar winning photography of Arthur C. Miller, who would go on to win Oscars for cinematography of "Song of Bernadette" and "Anna and the King of Siam." Third, there is the singing of the Welsh Singers, who set the tone during the opening credits of the film (the same song that is song in a great moment in "Zulu," except this time it is sung in Welsh). Fourth, there is the young Irish actress Maureen O'Hara as the one daughter in the Morgan household. The only regret that this film is not in color comes from being denied the sight of O'Hara's red hair.
Beyond director Ford, who also won an Oscar, the key to this film becomes McDowell in terms of both his character and his performance. Huw is the character that brings the various episodes and plot threads together, and despite the deaths and departures that come during the film, the greatest tragedy in the film belongs to Huw. McDowell's simple and earnest performance is indeed the lynch pin of the film. The socio-political tone of the novel with regards to the labor union issue is toned down considerably, although the harsh realities faced by these Welsh coal miners are clearly represented.
"How Green Was My Valley" was the film that beat out "Citizen Kane" for the Academy Award for Best Picture (not to mention "The Maltese Falcon" and seven other films), although if you know the story of Orson Welles' masterpiece then you really have to be surprised the film was nominated (I bet it would not have been if there had been only five nominations allowed). This film was added to the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress in 1990.
Movie Review: A great, timeless classic
Summary: 5 Stars
The Amazon review is wonderful and I don't have anything to add; just to nod in agreement that this is a film not to be missed! The story is lovely, deeply sentimental. One wonders if the idyllic village life was truly that beautiful or if that was the way the author wanted to remember it. Anyway, realistic or not, it is refreshing to see a tight knit community, in this day of alienation. I found the singing of the coal miners as they marched to work to be very touching. Can you imagine marching to work with your friends, singing, in three part harmony?!
Of course bad things happened to mar the happiness and that is part of the human experience. The story doesn't gloss over the hardships but they are all met with such heroism that one is heartened to see them. Truly these folks were not trivialized by watching too much Seinfeld.
The cast is perfect. I had never seen Roddy McDowell as a child and was amazed at his flawless performance. Obviously John Ford had a way with actors. He loved them, (the Special Features says) and it shows. There is a natural innocence to all of them. Maureen O'Hara was fresh over from Ireland and in full beauty. Walter Pidgeon is the embodiment of strength, charm and integrity as the parson. (No wonder the O'Hara character fell for him!) Donald Crisp certainly deserved the Oscar he won for his performance as the father! Anna Lee as the big bosomed mother who has her own strength and humor is impressive, too. She makes
you realize what it is to be a mother--to bring babies into the world, only to lose them.
There is a political theme, of the exploitation of the workers by the mine owners and the necessity for the formation of unions. But the human drama is the main focus of the film and one isn't oppressed by dreary polemics. There is a bit of preaching by the preacher when an unwed mother is castigated by the church folks, but it is certainly deserved and, again, it isn't too much.
The film was made at the time when America was about to enter WWII and the audience was ready for such a hearty and comforting tale about human strength in the face of adversity. But it is, like all fine works of art, a film that has something for all of us at any time. Basic human values and virtues never go out of style.
Movie Review: Wonderful old classic
Summary: 5 Stars
This film was one of the greatest achievements of Hollywood's Golden Age, winning many awards (it beat out Citizen Kane at the 1941 Academy Awards) and is still worth watching today, as I discovered after watching it all the way through for the first time recently.
It follows the trials and tribulations of a close-knit family in a Welsh mining town, through the eyes of young Huw (Roddy MacDowell) the youngest of 7 brothers, who is still a school boy. The patriarch of the family (played flawlessly by Donald Crisp, who won Best Actor), and his older brothers all work in the mine. When the workers try to unionize, the sons want to join, but the father, representing the older generation's values, opposes it. This sets the stage for the inevitable and tragic disintegration of the formerly close-knit family, whose misfortunes parallel the misfortunes of the whole Welsh village as it comes to be dominated by the one over-riding economic force in the town--the dangerous and even deadly coal mine.
At first pleased to have regular wages, discontent sets in when wages remain low, some workers are mistreated, and older, more experienced workers are laid off to make way for cheaper, younger workers who will accept less pay. As the machinery and technology progresses, more and more workers are laid off as the need for manual workers continually decreases. I'm reminded of the situation chronicled by Dickens in one of his novels (unfortunately my failing memory doesn't recall the title), in which the early generation of manual loom operators were replaced by more skilled automated loom operators. Until then their skills had protected them from being fired.
In the end we see how the advent of the new technology was truly a two-edged sword for many of these small towns. Eventually the town goes into a social and psychological decline and its formerly peaceful and traditional way of life is destroyed. Cheap coal from the Welsh mines fuels England's greater Industrial Revolution, enabling the growth of great cities like London, but at the expense of what was in many ways a simpler, more peaceful, harmonious, and better small-town life.
Despite its overall downer theme, this is still one of the great movies and well worth your time.
Movie Review: "Trees" Also Grow in Wales
Summary: 5 Stars
Frankly, I had forgotten how excellent this film is until seeing it again recently. (It received the Academy Award for best film in 1941in competition with Citizen Kane and the other nominees.) The impact on me of a film at a given time is almost wholly dependent on how accessible I am when seeing it. I first saw How Green Was My Valley as a child and then again several years later. Probably because since then I have become a father and then a grandfather, I am much more appreciative now than I was before of what director John Ford achieves in his portrayal of a Welsh mining town and of a specific family there which struggles so courageously to enable one of its own, not only to escape from the mines but from the limits of a culture (albeit loving and supportive) to fulfill his human potentialities which would otherwise be denied. The film covers a 50-year period as an adult Huw Morgan recalls it (he is played by Roddy McDowell), with the primary focus on his ordeals as the youngest of several children. Donald Crisp received an Academy Award as best actor in a supporting role as Morgan family's patriarch. Many believe this is Ford's best film and I would be hard-pressed to disagree with them. It really has everything. With Philip Dunne's screenplay based on Richard Llewellyn's novel, How Green Was My Valley combines superior acting and cinematography with Alfred Newman's complementary musical score. For me, this film's greatness is found in its graphic portrayal of hardship and despair in a bleak mining town which are offset by a proud family's enduring faith in Huw and their determination to protect and support him. Ford affirms their essential dignity with a respect and admiration he invites us to share.Movie Review: Best picture winner
Summary: 5 Stars
John Ford's nostalgic film of a Welsh mining town in late Victorian times is a cinematographic masterpiece. It was filmed in the hill's of Malibu because WWII made filming it on location impossible. It so resembles what one would imagine an old Welsh mining town to look like that the settings itself make this a great movie. The story centers around the Morgan family, a close knit mining family held together with what today we would refer to as rock solid "family values." Donald Crisp plays the pricipled, loving patriarch of the family. Roddy McDowall plays his youngest son Huw. Maureen O'Hara is Angharad, the only daughter in this large family.
The Morgan family goes through it's trials and, at one point, the family appears to become unglued as the elder sons move out but, ultimately, the bonds of this strong family hold it together. Th narrator is Huw, as an adult, who is leaving the town many decades after the saga takes place. Most of the people he knew had died and the character of the place had changed. Although it had always been a mining town, the growth of the industry took away the valley, which had earlier survived in all it's beauty, despite the existence of the mine; thus the title of the film. Certainly, there is melancholy in this film as both Angharad and Huw fail to reach their destinies. Huw was a good student who could have accomplished much, and Angharad never fullfills her romantic destiny with the local preacher played by Walter Piggeon. The poignant taste of an era gone by and the depiction of close relationships make this a deserving academy award winner.