How Green Was My Valley (1941) 20th Century Fox Director: John Ford Producer: Darryl F. Zanuck Cast: Walter Pidgeon, Maureen O'Hara, Donald Crisp, Anna Lee, Roddy McDowell. Awards ceremony: -14th Academy Awards: February 26, 1942. Biltmore Hotel, Los Angeles, California. Other films nominated for Outstanding Production this year: -Blossoms In The Dust. -Citizen Kane. -Here Comes Mr. Jordon. -Hold Back The Dawn. -The Little Foxes. -The Maltese Falcon. -One Foot In Heaven. -Sergeant York. -Suspicion. Plot summary: The Morgan family are a close-nit group of coal miners in a small village community of south Wales. When wages are reduced for the men, the miners stage a strike out of protest. Head of the family Mr. Morgan tries to carry on as normal but his sons decide to leave home out of defiance. When the strike is over several of the men find themselves out of work and those who continue to work have their wages cut. The youngest son, Huw (RODDY McDOWALL) has an accident which leaves him bedridden for several weeks but he recovers and is sent to school for an education. Unfortunately, he is bullied by both the teacher and the children. Upon learning about Huw's poor treatment, he is taught boxing lessons by two men from the village who also avenge Huw by paying the teacher a visit (one of the best scenes in the film). Amongst all of this, Mr. Morgan's daughter (MAUREEN O'HARA) falls in love with a preacher (WALTER PIDGEON) and the two of them get married, then separated, then reunited. Standout scene: Not many to choose from but the scene I enjoyed the most was when Huw and the school bully have their second (shirt-less) fight in the schoolyard. When the teacher intervenes and starts dishing out his punishment to Huw, the boy whom he was fighting with suddenly comes to Huw's aide and tries to help him. This scene sets up the best moment (for me) when the two men go to the school and give the teacher Mr. Jonas (MORTON LOWRY) a taste of his own medicine! Facts: -The 14th Academy Awards. -The film was nominated for 10 Academy Awards, winning 5 of them. John Ford won his third Academy Award for Best Director, his second in a row after winning the same award the previous year for The Grapes Of Wrath. Oscars were also awarded to Donald Crisp (Best Supporting Actor, and well deserved), Best Art Direction and Best Cinematography (black and white). -Roddy McDowall, very early in his long film career, plays the young boy Huw Morgan and is listed in the opening credits as 'Master Roddy McDowall'. -I lost count of the number of times the words "is it?" are mentioned during the film! (It's a Welsh thing, is it.) -The last line of dialogue is the title of the film. Personal opinion: I'm indifferent with this one if I am honest. Yes, it had a half-decent storyline and the acting was okay but nothing really stood out for me. There were a couple of very good scenes in amongst a majority of average ones. The film starts strongly and sets the tone early on but slumps a bit after Huw's accident. For second-billed Maureen O'Hara, we hardly see her and the rest of the cast don't do much to shine with the exception of Douglas Crisp (who plays the father Mr. Morgan), who is probably the stand-out performance in the film. All things considered, it's a fairly decent film but just lacks something. There is no brilliance about it, just an okay film which is watchable and for the most part is enjoyable. I didn't like the scene with Mr. Jonas punishing Huw, but I did like the bit where Mr. Gruffydd (WALTER PIDGEON) called the church congregation a bunch of hypocrites (something I have been saying for years about church-goers in general). Did it deserve the Oscar? YES. So up yours, Orson Welles! 6/10

Review date: 15 February 2025