How Green Was My Valley (1941)by Tristi Pinkston | More from this Blogger 06 May 2008 08:36 PM
In this film we meet the Morgans. They have several sons, only one daughter, and every son old enough works in the coal mines. Their earnings are meager but their mother is frugal, and they have enough to live on and very little else. Still, they are a tight-knit family and strive together for all that they accomplish. Roddy McDowell stars as Hew, youngest son of the family. As such, he's a little bit doted upon, but he's in a unique position of being our narrator for the film, so we see much of what takes place through his eyes. We have a bit of romance as the Morgan daughter, Angharad (Maureen O'Hara) falls in love with the town preacher, Mr. Gryffudd (Walter Pidgeon). He has feelings for her as well, but can't reconcile his calling to preach with his earthly desires. We have socioeconomic drama as the coal miners decide to go on strike. Mr. Morgan, as an influential man in the community, gets caught in the middle, and while going to find her husband one night, Mrs. Morgan slides into an icy pond and nearly drowns. Hew saves her, but the cost is high-he nearly loses the use of his legs. We see the Morgan brothers divide over the strike and for the first time, the family is not united. The movie ends with a climax that is, unfortunately, all too realistic when it comes to mining. There is an explosion and the mine collapses. Lives are lost, people are devastated, and we don't know until the last if the Morgans survived. I enjoyed this movie. The lives of these good people are quite bleak, and I would say that rather than this being a feel-good movie with moments of sadness, it's actually a sad movie with moments of redemption. Maureen O'Hara's accent isn't believable, but then, I didn't care for her accent in "The Quiet Man" either, so I think I'm just not on her page as far as accents go. This film was not rated. Related Blogs: Learn more about Tristi Pinkston  I've been a blogger for Families.com since August of 2006. Relevantmovies tags User Comments janetkayjensen (10) 20 May 2008 08:53 AMI have loved that book for many years. When I saw the movie, the only thing that disappointed me was that, of course, it couldn't tell as much of the story as you read in the book. But the film was brilliant. If you view the DVD, there are comments about what the director did and how he did it, and the different actors who are featured in the movie, and that's as interesting as the film itself. I thought it was just marvelous. And even though it was in black and white (that story is fascinating, too), and one of the themes is about Wales and its gorgeous lush green hills and clear streams and abundant flowers, it still captures the imagination. I highly recommend it and plan to add it to my own permanent collection.  Tristi Pinkston (10839) 20 May 2008 02:41 PMThanks, Janet! Yep, pretty hard to capture green hills in black and white . . . Discuss this article
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In 1941, Hollywood released a film which introduced Americans to a life they knew little about unless they came from similar backgrounds themselves. "
