Scanialara You won't be disappointed!

Inclubabu Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.

Kien Navarro Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Dana An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

evanston_dad "How Green Was My Valley" has the personal distinction of being the very last Best Picture Oscar winner I watched in order to be able to claim that I've seen them all. From the stinkeroos to the masterpieces (and there have been both), I can now claim that I know which way the Academy wind blew in any given year. Where does "How Green Was My Valley" fall on the list, you might ask. Somewhere between "there were better films that year" and "are you kidding me?"I mean come on. The 1941 Academy Awards, which would have been held in early 1942, took place soon after the U.S. had just been bombed at Pearl Harbor and pulled into WWII. Ok, so the Academy was never going to give the award to the rightful recipient of it, "Citizen Kane." But if they weren't going to give it to "Kane," why on earth didn't they give it to "Sergeant York," a film I don't even like but that would have at least had the stamp of relevancy. Instead, they vote for this turn-of-the-century yarn about a young man coming of age in a Welsh mining town. I mean, it's an ok film, but it has virtually nothing to say to me now, and I can't imagine it had much to say to audiences back then. The stars of the film are Richard Day and Nathan Juran, the art directors who admirably recreate a mining village. I also liked Sara Allgood, as a feisty matron who practically bitch slaps the entire town when they step out of line. As for the rest, I had some trouble keeping my eyes open.Along with Best Picture, John Ford won his third of record four awards for Best Director; Donald Crisp won the Best Supporting Actor award for playing one of the most recognized character types in this category, that of the world-wise dad; Arthur Miller took home the Best Cinematography award for his black and white compositions; and Richard Day and Nathan Juran won for Best B&W Art Direction. Allgood was nominated for Best Supporting Actress, as was the film's screenplay by Phillip Dunne, and its editing, score, and sound recording.Grade: B-

bigverybadtom Admittedly I watched this with the idea that this movie was such a classic and had great performers in it. It wasn't quite as good as I had expected.People have panned this for the performers not having proper Welsh accents or the scenario looking too much like California. But the truth is that even without World War Two going on, the Hollywood film industry was actually in bad financial shape during the Great Depression like everybody else, and it would have been too expensive and difficult to make everything properly look and sound like Wales, let alone go on location. The idea was to show essentially a poor mining town, even if the settings didn't match the interiors of actual Welsh houses.I have not seen the book, so I cannot say how well the movie follows it. Admittedly the major problem was that the script was rather disjointed. It starts off with the protagonist talking about leaving his village and describing how it was when he was growing up. The first part has the miners going on strike when their wages are cut, and the father denounces the idea of his sons joining a labor union (though not explaining why). Later on, the mine owner's son wants to marry the family's daughter, and she is in love with the local preacher but marries the son anyway. Huw, the son who tells the story, is sent to the local school, gets bullied by classmates and teacher, fights back, and eventually graduates with honors, but chooses to work in the mine. That is never explained either.The movie's fundamental problem is that things happen one after another, but without explanations about people's attitudes and why they are what they are, or why people make certain choices which seem illogical. In the end, we don't even know why the protagonist finally leaves the valley when he does, or what he plans to do.

lasttimeisaw As a picture forever been cursed by critics as "the one undeservedly trumped CITIZEN KANE (1941) for BEST PICTURE in the Oscar game", John Ford's traditional family chronicle about the Morgans in the South Wales Valleys based on Richard Llewellyn's 1939 eponymous novel, is truly born in the wrong year, for all we can see, it has a solemn rigour with first-rate camera compositions and Black-and-White cinematography, but tellingly it is also dated for its musty Protestant sense of worth in certain ways, say, the grating small- town parochiality is too overtly in-your-face, the socialism slamming is rather political and the puritan doctrine that a love-struck romance can be a man's undoing of his belief in God, thus he cannot marry the woman he loves simply because he chooses a lifestyle of austerity as a preacher, and doesn't reckon that she can tag along, only results in misery of both, it's all the same old story detached from our times. Starts with an euphonious voice-over (by an uncredited Irving Pichel), Huw Morgan (McDowall) recalls his earlier life with his parents Gwilym (Crisp) and Beth (Allgood), as well as his five elder brothers and an elder sister Angharad (O'Hara). His father and all his brothers work in a coal mine, and Angharad grows an affection towards the new preacher Mr. Gruffydd (Pidgeon), and the feeling is mutual. After a happy marriage of the eldest brother Ivor (Knowles) and Bronwyn (Lee), life begins to show a stern face towards the family. In the spirit of beating the drum for the traditional family values, the Morgans stick together, against all the havoc, and as parents, Gwilym and Beth have to accept the departures of their children when mining jobs slump and an enveloping danger regards to the danger index of this line of work. For Huw, his rite-of-passage is also composed of violence and prejudice, McDowall is the sole leading actor here, a staggering child performance with earnest compassion and empathy; Crisp portrays a quintessential steely father with benevolence under his rugged surface, and Allgood is a great scene-stealer as the tough mother, abiding by her family relentlessly, occasionally, she can also give audience a good laugh to appease the daunting reality, both nominated for Oscar and only Crisp won the trophy. Although Pidgeon and O'Hara are first billed, but their story doesn't fill up too much screen- time to be considered as the lead, Pidgeon's indignant deliverance in the church before he leaves embodies an archetype of Hollywood machination of hyping up a catharsis during its climax, considerably it was soul-inspiring to behold at then, but retrospectively speaking, its gloss has lessened since the method has become universally in the cinematic realm, now, it is barely an asset for new audience. Winning 5 Oscars, including BEST PICTURE, DIRECTOR and SUPPORTING ACTOR, the film can be listed as one of the most embarrassing winner, not a bad movie at all, only it revealingly reflects that the academy is not as prescient as what we give its credits for, which is a rather unfortunate gauge befalls on this one, otherwise, we could appreciate it more as a John Ford's brainchild.

gavin6942 At the turn of the century in a Welsh mining village, the Morgans (he stern, she gentle) raise coal-mining sons and hope their youngest will find a better life.William Wyler, the original director, saw the screen test of McDowall and chose him for the part. Wyler was then replaced by John Ford, who thankfully kept McDowall. Fox wanted to shoot the movie in Wales in Technicolor, but events in Europe during World War II made this impossible. Instead, Ford built a replica of the mining town at the nearly 3,000-acre Fox Ranch in Malibu Canyon. Can you tell the difference? Of course, the cast had only one Welsh actor: Rhys Williams, and he was only in a minor role.At the Academy Awards, the film won Best Picture, Best Director (John Ford), Best Actor (Donald Crisp) and Best Cinematography. Today we complain that the Best Picture did not go to "Citizen Kane". For me, the bigger insult is the Cinematography award. Gregg Toland is among the best who ever lived.