Rent How Green Was My Valley (1941)

Fake views. - How Green Was My Valley review by RhysH

"How Green Was My Valley" beat "Citizen Kane" for the 1941 best picture Oscar, I would love to have see Orson Wells's face at the award ceremony. Based on the novel by Richard Llewellyn who claimed to be a Welsh miner's son born in St David's. He was in fact born in Hendon, London and his name was Vivian Lloyd.

The film gives a rather over sentimental picture of life in a 1940s Welsh mining village. The set was constructed in Malibu, California, even the chimney smoke looks carefully manufactured. The miner's cottage is spacious and well furnished. Maureen O'Hara as the miner's daughter is immaculate in hair and makeup and a dress for every occasion. The Sunday-suited men have walked straight out of the draper's catalogue. And of course the miners on their way to work start singing at the drop of a Davy lamp.

There are, however, beneath the unrealistic chocolate box lid some hard centres. The hypocrisy of some religious leaders; the class ridden, punitive education system; how a strike can divide families; how the death of one miner touches the whole community.

It is powerfully acted, particularly by Donald Crisp, the patriarch and Sara Allgood as his outspoken wife.

An Absolute Gem - How Green Was My Valley review by GI

This Oscar winning drama about a small Welsh mining village at the turn of the nineteenth century is a film that every cinephile should ensure they see and see again. It's a wonderfully directed and edited film full of love, hope and heartbreak - a story about family, about good times and bad times and the loss of community. Like a lot of John Ford's films it relishes folklore with song and dance, tradition and attacks religion and the stifling of freedom. A great cast including Walter Pidgeon as the village preacher, Maureen O'Hara, Donald Crisp and a young Roddy McDowall. The story follows a loving family of miners overseen by strict but loving mother and father as seen through the eyes of the youngest boy (McDowall) who watches the break up of the family as economical disaster strikes and eventually tragedy. A beautiful and moving classic and a film that deserves a fresh appreciation from a new audience. If you've never seen this then seek it out you'll not be disappointed. This is a real gem.