My 2020 quest to see all the Oscar-Winning Best Pictures continues. First up this weekend was How Green Was My Valley. It was the winner in 1942, infamously beating out Citizen Kane. A bit preachy and often melodramatic, I felt like I was watching an early draft of Peyton Place by way of The Waltons Mountain.
The story is an overly sentimental look at the life of the Morgan family, most of whom are coal miners in a small Welsh town. It's told through the grown-up eyes and narration of the youngest Morgan, Huw (pronounced Hugh), who is portrayed on screen by a very young "Master" Roddy McDowell.
The movie featured some great acting by Donald Crisp, Maureen O'Hara, Walter Pidgeon, Anna Lee, and Sara Allgood. Directed by John Ford, the dialogue is minimized, and the story is told largely through the visuals and the dramatic score.
The film addresses issues of classism, tragedy & fortune, life and loss, faith vs. religion, and the dangers that capitalism can hold for humans if left unregulated. It's also a coming-of-age film as young Huw outgrows the place of which he holds such grand fondness.
Much like watching an episode of The Waltons, I finished the film with a warm "feel good” but knew that the story told by the author/narrator was one idealized and not inclusive of the bigger world around him.
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