Facebook Twitter Instagram
    Latest
    • Thank You
    • 4000. Scenes From A Marriage (1973)
    • 3999. The Pianist (2002)
    • 3998. Philadelphia (1993)
    • 3997. Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975)
    • 3996. The Green Mile (1999)
    • 3995. Doctor Zhivago (1965)
    • 3994. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022)
    The Mad Movie Man
    • Home
    • Blog
      • All Posts
      • Best Of The Year
        • Best Of 2015
        • Best Of 2016
        • Best Of 2017
        • Best Of 2018
        • Best Of 2019
        • Best Of 2020
        • Best Of 2021
        • Best Of 2022
      • The Decade In Review
      • Box Office Analysis
      • James Bond
      • Oscars
      • RANKED
      • Star Wars
      • The Big Questions
      • Top 10
      • World Cinema
    • Ratings
      • Top 250
      • Top 100 Foreign Films
      • Bottom 50
      • 0 – 1.9
      • 2 – 3.9
      • 4 – 5.9
      • 6 – 7.9
      • 8 – 10
    • Genres
      • Action
      • Anthology
      • Animation
      • Christmas
      • Comedy
      • Crime
      • Documentary
      • Drama
      • Fantasy
      • Film-Noir
      • History
      • Horror
      • Kids’
      • Musical
      • Psychological
      • Romance
      • Sci-Fi
      • Short
      • Silent
      • Sport
      • Superhero
      • Survival
      • Thriller
      • Western
    • Release Year
      • 2020s
      • 2010s
      • 2000s
      • 1990s
      • 1980s
      • 1970s
      • 1960s
      • 1950s
      • 1940s
      • 1930s
      • 1920s
    • Country
      • Afghanistan
      • Argentina
      • Australia
      • Austria
      • Belgium
      • Brazil
      • Cambodia
      • Canada
      • Chile
      • China
      • Colombia
      • Costa Rica
      • Czechoslovakia
      • Czech Republic
      • Denmark
      • East Timor
      • Faroe Islands
      • Finland
      • France
      • Germany
      • Georgia
      • Greece
      • Hong Kong
      • Hungary
      • Iceland
      • India
      • Indonesia
      • Iran
      • Iraq
      • Ireland
      • Israel
      • Italy
      • Japan
      • Latvia
      • Lebanon
      • Laos
      • Malaysia
      • Mexico
      • New Zealand
      • Nigeria
      • North Korea
      • Norway
      • Paraguay
      • Peru
      • Philippines
      • Poland
      • Romania
      • Russia
      • Saudi Arabia
      • Singapore
      • South Korea
      • South Africa
      • Soviet Union
      • Spain
      • Sweden
      • Switzerland
      • Syria
      • Taiwan
      • Thailand
      • Turkey
      • Uganda
      • United Kingdom
      • United States
      • Uruguay
      • Vietnam
      • Zambia
    • About
    The Mad Movie Man
    You are at:Home»Review»2075. How Green Was My Valley (1941)

    2075. How Green Was My Valley (1941)

    0
    By The Mad Movie Man on March 4, 2018 110-119 mins, 1941, 6 - 7.9, Drama, Mar 18, Movies Of 2018, Review, United States
    6.8 Very traditional
    • Acting 6.9
    • Directing 6.9
    • Story 6.6
    • User Ratings (0 Votes) 0

    Starring: Maureen O’Hara, Walter Pidgeon, Anna Lee

    Director: John Ford

    Running Time: 118 mins


    How Green Was My Valley is an American film about a family from a small mining town in South Wales whose life is turned upside down after the mine begins to reduce workers’ pay.

    John Ford stands as one of the greatest directors of all time without a doubt, with some of his greatest works, such as The Searchers, The Quiet Man and Stagecoach all living on strongly to this day, but I can’t really say that How Green Was My Valley manages to achieve the same thing. Although it’s a well-directed and elegant film, it just doesn’t have the energy or riveting drama to make it as enthralling today as it was at its time, with its extremely contemporary story making for a watch that, while not boring, won’t have you fully engrossed from beginning to end.

    Let’s start on the plus side, with the fact that this is a very elegant and generally well-directed film throughout. It’s not quite the greatest work of all time from John Ford, four-time winner of the Oscar for Best Director, but his talent shines through in crafting a film that’s visually vibrant (even for black-and-white), and atmospherically consistent from beginning to end.

    Taking place in a small Welsh village, the story is already set up for a wonderful setting, with the rolling hills of the countryside brilliantly depicted by Ford in all their glory, furthered by the stark contrast with the squalid conditions that many of the miners are forced to work in at minimum wage.

    Furthermore, there’s a consistently elegant streak throughout the whole film, that matches beautifully with that visual vibrance and wonderful natural setting, but it’s something that penetrates further in providing a story that’s able to be both pleasant and heartfelt as well as the deeply political and passionate one that it is, something that gives it a strong consistency throughout and makes for a more captivating watch than otherwise could have been the case.

    However, when it comes to the story at hand, things aren’t quite so enthralling. In all, the film centres on two main plots: the trials and tribulations of the Morgan family, ranging from a young boy’s childhood to his older sister’s romance, as well as how they interact with the second major part of the story; the strife of the miners as they attempt to respond to pay cuts and heavy lay-offs.

    On the one hand, those stories do have a good degree of heart to them that matches with Ford’s elegant atmosphere, but on the other, they’re presented in a very traditional and unfortunately dated way that makes it a little hard to really grab you.

    While there is clear passion behind the delivery of both stories, neither have the on-screen energy and life to be as captivating as possible, which is a real shame considering that there are still many films from the era with similar stories (Mrs. Miniver for one) that really do have strong emotional power and intrigue throughout, bypassing any issues of age and standing strong to this day.

    It’s always very difficult to judge a film so many years after its release, and not being anywhere near a part of its intended audience, however the fact remains that I just couldn’t fall in love with or be truly engrossed by How Green Was My Valley (and I’m really shocked that it took Best Picture away from the one and only Citizen Kane back in 1941).

    Overall, then, I have to say that, while How Green Was My Valley is an elegant, visually vibrant and well-directed piece, I wasn’t all that enamoured by it, and struggled to find myself truly enthralled by its story, which is why I’m giving it a 6.8.

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
    The Mad Movie Man
    • Website
    • Facebook
    • Twitter

    The Mad Movie Man, AKA Anthony Cullen, writes articles and reviews about movies and the world of cinema. From January 1st, 2013 to December 31st, 2022, he watched and reviewed a movie every day. This is the blog dedicated to the project: www.madmovieman.com

    Related Posts

    8.2

    4000. Scenes From A Marriage (1973)

    7.8

    3999. The Pianist (2002)

    8.2

    3998. Philadelphia (1993)

    Follow Me Online!
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
    • Tumblr
    New Releases
    8.2
    December 25, 2022

    3994. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022)

    5.6
    December 10, 2022

    3969. Falling For Christmas (2022)

    6.9
    December 4, 2022

    3956. The People We Hate At The Wedding (2022)

    5.4
    December 3, 2022

    3954. Disenchanted (2022)

    7.4
    December 3, 2022

    3953. Meet Cute (2022)

    7.6
    November 23, 2022

    3934. Do Revenge (2022)

    7.0
    November 18, 2022

    3929. The Wonder (2022)

    6.7
    November 13, 2022

    3924. See How They Run (2022)

    Recommended Movies
    9.5
    Review
    January 12, 20130

    15. Anchorman: The Legend Of Ron Burgundy (2004)

    8.5
    Review
    January 15, 20140

    419. Titanic (1997)

    8.7
    Review
    September 6, 20130

    276. Requiem For A Dream (2000)

    9.0
    Review
    October 20, 20190

    2719. Parasite (기생충) (2019)

    8.0
    Review
    August 23, 20190

    2656. Crawl (2019)

    Popular Posts
    December 31, 2022

    Thank You

    8.2
    December 31, 2022

    4000. Scenes From A Marriage (1973)

    7.8
    December 30, 2022

    3999. The Pianist (2002)

    8.2
    December 29, 2022

    3998. Philadelphia (1993)

    7.5
    December 28, 2022

    3997. Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975)

    9.1
    December 27, 2022

    3996. The Green Mile (1999)

    7.6
    December 26, 2022

    3995. Doctor Zhivago (1965)

    © 2023 ThemeSphere. Designed by ThemeSphere.

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.