How Green Was My Valley Reviews

Eventually, this movie will be mostly remembered for winning the Best Picture Academy Award at the expense of 'Citizen Kane' but I was still eager to check it out to see if it was actually any good. Well, while the reputation of 'Citizen Kane' has only increased through the years and it is usually considered by most as one of the greatest movies ever made, this movie on the other hand didn't grow old very well, I'm afraid. I can imagine that it had been a big commercial and critical success at the time when it was released but, nowadays, it seems terribly cheesy, at least, that's what I felt like watching the damned thing. I mean, I have to admit that it was well made with some solid performances so it turned out to be OK but not much more than that. Sure, it was dealing with some nice and decent people but, as far as I'm concerned, I would rather have instead the complexity displayed in 'Citizen Kane'. At least, it was very neat to see the lovely Maureen O'Hara who must have been one of the most gorgeous actress ever. Anyway, to conclude, even though this movie has a decent reputation, I actually struggled to get into the damned thing but I still think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

Spanning 50 years, director John Ford's How Green Was My Valley revolves around the life of the Morgans, a Welsh mining family, as told through the eyes of its youngest child Huw (Roddy McDowall). Over the years, the family struggles to survive through unionization, strikes, and child abuse. As they do so, their hometown and its culture begins to slowly decline. Donald Crisp portrays Gwilym, the patriarch of the Morgan household, who dreams of a better life for young Huw. Based on the novel of the same name by Richard Llewellyn, How Green Was My Valley won five Academy Awards in 1941, including Best Director, Best Supporting Actor (Crisp), Best Art Director, Best Cinematography, and Best Picture (beating Citizen Kane). The book was later adapted into a 1975 BBC miniseries. ~ Matthew Tobey, Rovi

Two-minutes into this film and you have already fallen in love. When the film ends, the feeling is akin to waving your bestest friend goodbye at the train station, with the tears and handkerchiefs and all. It is timeless, one of the many films which constantly changes the batteries in its watch. It never once ages, nomadder how many times you watch it, it just never does. It doesn't feel like you're watching a film but rather listening to a family member, or a wise person recounting his story to you. You can feel the love, anger, sadness, happiness and whatnot and it actually makes you part of it, as if you're but one of its extras.

However, the film is today widely unappreciated by youngsters solely on the grounds that it beat Citizen Kane to the Best Picture Award back in 1942. Oh you balled-up teenagers, doesn't it clearly show which film was more appreciated back then? Anyway, I don't know why do you make a big issue out of this when you yourself yell about that Academy's don't prove the worth of a film. Citizen Kane did not win; does that make it a less valuable, or less important, film? Well, I don't see you shouting otherwise. So... there! How Green Was My Valley is highly recommended and a nice, warm, family-friendly film doesn't get any better than this.

John Ford was one of those greatest directors of yesteryears who was often competed against and used to secure a fairly good position, in the top 5 probably. Granted, he is not in my top 5 but remains one of my favourites, mostly by through this film. The directing is warm and smooth, like someone laying a blanket over you when you're sleeping, or adjusting your pillow for a better ease of rest. He knew his way around the story and showed us not only what he wanted to see but things we wouldn't have seen had another director taken over. The great directing, coupled up with the enchanting music and perfect narrating by Irving Pichel make up 80% of the success of the movie.

Performance-wise, the remaining 20%, every major cast were great. Take a look at Sarah Allgood and Donald Crisp, who also won the Academy Award. Their performances are convincing, easy to watch and easy to relate to + their chemistry is quite-impeccable. Loved every second of their screentime. Then we have Roddy McDowell in one of his well-known screen-roles, as Huw Morgan. A great performance, in fact one of the best I've seen. Following them is Walter Pidgeon, one of the best old cinema actors, as Mr. Gruffydd. It may not be a performance worthy of a standing ovation, but it is worth noticing all the same.

In conclusion, How Green Was My Valley is a very pleasing and heart-warming film that will make you wanna re-visit it again just to experience that feeling all over again. A must-watch!

9.5/10

How Green Was My Valley was a film that both broke and melted my heart. Every single thing about this film was PERFECT!! This is an inspiring classic that in my opinion didn't touch enough hearts as it should have. This is without a doubt the most underrated film of all time. What really annoys me is because it beat the so-called "greatest film of all time" Citizen Kane to Best Picture in 1941, people think that How Green Was My Valley is an embarrassment to beating it. I do love Citizen Kane but I find How Green Was My Valley better than it in almost every aspect. It is more emotional, more interesting story and I personally think it was better filmed. Citizen Kane received too much credit which is why I find it overrated. Back to How Green Was My Valley, it is a film that reminds me a lot of It's A Wonderful Life because it's a beautiful family film that has a soul and captures you all the way through. The sceneries made me feel like saying "I wanna go and live there!" It was the same thing with Salzburg, Austria where The Sound Of Music was made. It is a beautiful film all the way through that meets with a tragic conclusion. Despite that, it has a very heart melting ending.


How Green Was My Valley tells the story of a now middle-aged man called Huw Morgan who is leaving the town of Cwn Rhondda. He is telling his story of when he was a young boy. His middle-aged self is narrating the story. Huw as a young boy is portrayed by Roddy McDowall. His performance was very heartfelt and powerful which wasn't really very common back then. Walter Pigeon, Maureen O'Hara and Donald Crisp all deliver great performances in this film. Donald Crisp won a Best Supporting Actor as Mr. Morgan and a Best Supporting Actress nomination for Sara Allgood. What I find quite interesting is we never see the actor who voices middle-aged Huw (Irving Pichel) on the screen so we don't know what his life is like at that point.


John Ford directed this film absolutely perfectly!! William Wyler was the original director for this film but was replaced. Wyler selected McDowall for Huw Morgan and that is almost the only thing he did for that film. John wanted to film How Green Was My Valley in Wales and seeing as it was 1941, in Europe and during World War II, it didn't seem possible. Despite William Wyler is a great director, I don't think that it would have turned out as good if he directed it instead of John Ford. John Ford won an Academy Award for Best Director and it was rightly deserved! The narrating screenplay was very moving!! I found it narrated as beautiful as Forrest Gump, Big Fish and Curious Case Of Benjamin Button. I think it would have made a great Eric Roth script.


Overall, How Green Was My Valley is a CLASSIC MASTERPIECE that I think is the most underrated film of all time! Better than Citizen Kane and deserved every Academy Award it got. A must-see and is the best film I have seen in 2010 so far.