How Green Was My Valley (B+ or 3/4 stars)
'How Green Was My Valley' (directed by the great John Ford & adapted from a popular novel) tells a warm-hearted, nostalgic mining family tale set in a turn of the last century Welsh valley. It is effective, affectingly & lovingly told; full of joys, but also many sorrows. It is exceedingly well-crafted & did well with critics & audiences. So why is it known for something ... negative? Well, because it beat out Citizen Kane for the Academy Award for Best Picture of 1941 -- a film that most cinephiles would agree is better, and even an all-time 'great'. But I digress from that for now.
This film tells a heartwarming mining tale, set at the turn-of-the-century and, is told via flashback. Through narration, we learn of the trials & tribulations of the Morgans; a mining family in Wales. We view them through the prism of Huw - now 50 yrs. old - but mostly seen as a child (Roddy McDowall, so good). The youngest of 6 children, bookworm Huw tries to obey his father, Gwilym (Donald Crisp), an old-fashioned, stern man who works hard for his large family as an anti-union miner. Also in the family is Huw's loving mom, Beth (Sara Allgood), his beautiful, lovelorn sister, Angharad (Maureen O'Hara), & his 5 older miner brothers; led by eldest, Ivor (Patric Knowles); he is set to marry newcomer to town, Bronwyn (Anna Lee).
The narrative traces through Huw's childhood of fond memories of a time when their valley was literally green. As the years go on, great change occurs; leading to melodramatic episodes that involve health concerns, school abuse, family tragedies, family disbandment, union conflicts, & marriage issues -- O'Hara's Angharad wishes to marry the new-to-town preacher, Mr. Gruffydd (Walter Pidgeon), but HER ideas of a relationship are quite different than his. The Morgan's hometown & its culture slowly begins to decline and, by the end, the aforementioned lush valley is literally covered with black dust. The green valley would be a mere memory of a simpler, kinder bygone era. And Huw's youthful innocence would be a thing of the past, too.
Now, parts of this movie are contrived. It is also episodic, by nature. But, so what. It packs an emotional wallop in the end. It is visually fantastic. And the film would be nothing without its expert performances from the large ensemble cast. 12 yr. old Roddy McDowall is wonderful as the sensitive, full-of-promise young Huy {pronounced Hugh}. Donald Crisp rightfully wins the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1941 for his intensely charismatic portrayal, here. As the mother, Sara Allgood conveys understanding, hope & faith; even in the darkest times. Walter Pidgeon is solid as the impoverished idealistic chapel preacher. And Maureen O'Hara - in her 1st of 5 collaborations with director John Ford - is just luminous.
Although the plot is quite dark at times, it is all buoyed by the movie's overall beauty. It is easy to tear-up in the end and, whenever that happens, I know that the movie has done its job. It's a film about life, death, the power of nostalgia, unfulfilled love, labor strife, family disintegration, & how you deal with a lack of fulfillment. More concretely, it is also clearly about nature's beauty vs. pollution. That all sounds miserable, haha. But I promise you that it is the type of film that rewards you in the end. With stellar direction, involving melodrama, Arthur Miller's shimmering black-&-white cinematography, Richard Day's superb sets, Arthur Newman's music & those warm performances ... I can see why - if not completely agree with the fact that - this movie won Best Picture over the more brainy Citizen Kane. Classic-era studio filmmaking won against the more audacious masterwork.
This film tells a heartwarming mining tale, set at the turn-of-the-century and, is told via flashback. Through narration, we learn of the trials & tribulations of the Morgans; a mining family in Wales. We view them through the prism of Huw - now 50 yrs. old - but mostly seen as a child (Roddy McDowall, so good). The youngest of 6 children, bookworm Huw tries to obey his father, Gwilym (Donald Crisp), an old-fashioned, stern man who works hard for his large family as an anti-union miner. Also in the family is Huw's loving mom, Beth (Sara Allgood), his beautiful, lovelorn sister, Angharad (Maureen O'Hara), & his 5 older miner brothers; led by eldest, Ivor (Patric Knowles); he is set to marry newcomer to town, Bronwyn (Anna Lee).
The narrative traces through Huw's childhood of fond memories of a time when their valley was literally green. As the years go on, great change occurs; leading to melodramatic episodes that involve health concerns, school abuse, family tragedies, family disbandment, union conflicts, & marriage issues -- O'Hara's Angharad wishes to marry the new-to-town preacher, Mr. Gruffydd (Walter Pidgeon), but HER ideas of a relationship are quite different than his. The Morgan's hometown & its culture slowly begins to decline and, by the end, the aforementioned lush valley is literally covered with black dust. The green valley would be a mere memory of a simpler, kinder bygone era. And Huw's youthful innocence would be a thing of the past, too.
Now, parts of this movie are contrived. It is also episodic, by nature. But, so what. It packs an emotional wallop in the end. It is visually fantastic. And the film would be nothing without its expert performances from the large ensemble cast. 12 yr. old Roddy McDowall is wonderful as the sensitive, full-of-promise young Huy {pronounced Hugh}. Donald Crisp rightfully wins the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1941 for his intensely charismatic portrayal, here. As the mother, Sara Allgood conveys understanding, hope & faith; even in the darkest times. Walter Pidgeon is solid as the impoverished idealistic chapel preacher. And Maureen O'Hara - in her 1st of 5 collaborations with director John Ford - is just luminous.
Although the plot is quite dark at times, it is all buoyed by the movie's overall beauty. It is easy to tear-up in the end and, whenever that happens, I know that the movie has done its job. It's a film about life, death, the power of nostalgia, unfulfilled love, labor strife, family disintegration, & how you deal with a lack of fulfillment. More concretely, it is also clearly about nature's beauty vs. pollution. That all sounds miserable, haha. But I promise you that it is the type of film that rewards you in the end. With stellar direction, involving melodrama, Arthur Miller's shimmering black-&-white cinematography, Richard Day's superb sets, Arthur Newman's music & those warm performances ... I can see why - if not completely agree with the fact that - this movie won Best Picture over the more brainy Citizen Kane. Classic-era studio filmmaking won against the more audacious masterwork.