SECOND HELPINGS: How Green Was My Valley** (1941)

Does anyone really believe that this film deserved Best Picture anymore? The Academy needed a fallback film because they were too scared to recognize the masterpiece that was Citizen Kane. What gets the award instead? An emotional tale of poor Welsh coal miners that band together to fight for the right to work for a decent wage.

I must admit that this film is well made if you look at the technical aspects. It is also a very emotional film, as we watch a young boy named Huw grow up in the midst of the Industrial Revolution. The coal mines change his town and his family forever. There is also a subplot involving a new pastor in town who takes a liking to Huw’s sister and speaks controversially in support of unionizing the town’s coal miners.

How Green Was My Valley is far from pro-union propaganda, but it certainly wears its liberal-leaning heart on it sleeve. The Industrial Revolution was a time when unions were actually desperately needed to help laborers get fair wages but this sentiment is laid on thick enough to the point where it is obvious that the story also advocates for the urgency for unionization in the present. Through this and other early films, it seems clear to me that it took decades for much of Hollywood to master subtlety as a filmmaking tool.

Maybe I am jaded, having grown up thinking films like this are cliché-ridden. It’s got emotional manipulation through focusing on a child, advocacy for social change, a David v. Goliath tale, and a largely negative portrayal of Christianity. Pretty standard old-school Hollywood stuff, really. Maybe in some circles How Green Was My Valley was considered important. You’ll have a hard time justifying it as great though.

Through re-watching some of these old films, some of which I was overly harsh on as an 18 and 19-year old, I have had a kind of epiphany. There are great films, there are important films, and then there are those rare few that are both great and important. These categories are still largely subjective but, for the most part, consensus builds and opinions are collected.

Maybe the vote was split widely in the Academy. Maybe this film rode the wave of being a safe and uncontroversial pick. How Green Was My Valley may not be the weakest Best Picture winner in Oscar History but it certainly doesn’t make much of an impression. If nothing else, watch it for the curiosity that it is- a mostly harmless, well-made film that beat one of the greatest American films ever made on Oscar night.

Original Rating: 3.5 out of 5

New Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Mrs. Miniver** (1942)

Of the Best Picture winners in the 1940s, this was one of the few that I had not heard of before starting my Oscar journey. I feared that the reason I hadn’t heard of it was because it suffered a similar fate as the 30s Best Picture winners no one ever mentions any more- it didn’t age well. Just the opposite happened, however. I was pleasantly surprised to find myself enjoying artfully-made thriller.

Based on a series of fictional stories run in British newspapers during the late 1930s, Mrs. Miniver focuses on the lives of a moderately well-to-do London couple (Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon). As Hitler flexes his muscles throughout Europe, the Miniver’s find themselves drawn into a new normal where air raids are a constant possibility and sacrifices are expected of all good British citizens. Love, loss, fear, class separation, and more are all addressed within this film’s two-hour, 15 minute runtime.

It took me a very long time to determine a rating for this film. Given the right context and the proper appreciation for its beautiful cinematography, it’s easy to see why this film was cherished in its day. By 1942, America had been drawn into World War II and was sharing the physical, financial, and emotional burden of war with Europe. While American civilians were far removed from any real threat from the Axis powers, Mrs. Miniver gave them a lens through which to view the impossible task of living a normal life in the cross hairs.

For modern audiences, this brand of rugged determination and sacrifice in the name of nationalism will probably seem a little over-the-top at times. Cynics will view parts as bordering on propaganda (indeed, FDR had it rushed into US theaters for just such a purpose). I will admit to being nonplussed by some of these sequences. I am normally just cynical enough to balk at such content but I am also very passionate about contextualizing films in order to understand them better. Some of this content feels very dated but the passion the actors put into their roles is undeniable.

As the titular character, Garson carries the film on her back. The range of emotions that she delivers is no small task but she produces like a champ. No indication is given to us that her family members are safe from harm (unless, I suppose, you have read the newspaper stories). Indeed, danger is lurking around every corner as the war picks up. This uncertainty keeps the tension high in all the right places. It may not be a non-stop thrill ride, but it would be hard to suspend disbelief if it were.

As I mentioned before, it’s the cinematography that won me over with this film. Camera angles and lighting choices during the more harrowing moments keep this film from becoming just another outdated war-era film. There may come a time when audiences are too cynical to appreciate Mrs. Miniver, but that time is definitely not now.

RATING: 4 out of 5

How Green Was My Valley** (1941)

Most people have never even heard of this film. The main reason I have wanted to see it for so long is that this is the film that Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane (almost unanimously heralded as the greatest American film ever made) lost to for Best Picture at the Oscars.

In a way, this film rivals Citizen Kane in its boldness. While Kane was an all-out assault on the lives of corrupt media barons, How Green Was My Valley threw its focus at the opposite end of the spectrum: the working class. The film takes a very strong pro-union stance, vilifying the money-hungry mine owners in search of higher profits. Perhaps it was this statement that earned the film Best Picture. Of course it also helps that Citizen Kane was nearly unanimously despised when it was released. My, how times have changed.

It must be understood that this film hardly presents a fair portrayal of capitalist economics. Obviously, not all mines, factories, etc. were engaged in the shady practices on display here. It must also be noted that the film takes place in Wales at the dawn of the 20th century. Industrialization hasn’t been perfected yet, and is not a direct depiction of the quality of current (1940s) industrial workplaces, although the writers would like you to believe it does.

So there’s a fair share of political give and take going on behind the scenes and in between the lines, but if you separate yourself from the politics of the film, How Green Was My Valley succeeds at being a genuinely good film. Human emotion and family drama convey a strong sense of what it might have been like to be a struggling rural family.

Much of the focus is on young Huw Morgan, played by a pre-teen Roddy McDowall. His innocent perspective on the world can be heartwarming, but also serves as a vehicle to make the mine owners even nastier. Nothing gets people upset like seeing a child get hurt physically and emotionally.

Huw’s family works in the nearby coal mine, which over time degrades the quality of their picturesque town and their quality of life. The mine owners attempt to cut wages to make bigger profits and are met with resistance. A new minister supports those who favor unionizing the workers in order to preserve their way of life. The minister’s support causes a good deal of ruckus, as unions were thought to be evil and were preached as such from the pulpit by many a hard line minister.

Several tragic events occur, wrenching the lives of many characters and add a well rounded dramatic scope to the film. Though How Green Was My Valley is a solid film, it is also somewhat forgettable, as evidenced by the fact that very few people outside of film buffs and film historians even know it exists.

RATING: 3.5 out of 5