Mrs. Miniver (1942)

Mrs. Miniver
Directed by William Wyler
Written by Arthur Wimperis, George Froeschel, James Hilton and Claudine West from the book by Jan Struther
1942/USA
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Repeat viewing/Netflix rental
#164 of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

[box] Kay Miniver: But in war, time is so precious to the young people.[/box]

And yet another 1942 film that tugs at the heartstrings …

The Miniver family, headed by architect Clem Miniver (Walter Pidgeon) enjoys a peaceful middle-class existence with grown son Vin and two much younger children.  They can afford little luxuries like a frivolous hat or a new car.  Kay Miniver (Greer Garson) is the heart and soul of her family and displays a special kind of grace and charm to her neighbors.  Railway station employee Mr. Ballard (Henry Travers) thinks so much of her that he names a new rose he has developed in her honor – the “Mrs. Miniver”.  He intends to enter the rose in the annual Flower Show.

Snooty Lady Belden (Dame May Whitty) has always won the first prize for her roses and takes umbrage that lowly Mr. Ballard would dare to even enter the show.  She sends her granddaughter Carol (Theresa Wright) to persuade Mrs. Miniver to use her influence.  This does not work but for Vin it is love at first sight despite a prickly beginning.

The Minivers accept the coming of war with a stiff upper lip.  Vin immediately enlists in the RAF and is stationed at a nearby airbase.  Vin and Carol marry after a lightening courtship, over the objections of her grandmother.  The Minivers meet the many hardships and tragedies on the home front with courage befitting the bravest soldiers.  With Reginald Owen as an air warden.

Winston Churchill said that Mrs. Miniver did more for the war effort than a flotilla of destroyers.  It certainly is a sweet and touching piece of propaganda with some beautiful performances.  I preferred Wright’s Oscar-nominated leading actress performance in The Pride of the Yankees to her supporting role here – her English accent is pretty spotty for one thing – but I’m glad she was acknowledged in this breakthrough year.  This is an England that more closely resembles suburban America but that would only have made it more sympathetic to American audiences.  The ending is kind of hard to take.

I hadn’t known until today that Garson ended up marrying Richard Ney, the actor who played her son Vin in the movie.

Mrs. Miniver won six Academy Awards:  Best Picture; Best Actress (Garson); Best Supporting Actress (Wright); Best Director; Best Writing, Screenplay; and Best Cinematography, Black-and-White (Joseph Ruttenberg).  It was nominated for an additional six Oscars: Best Actor (Pidgeon); Best Supporting Actor (Travers); Best Supporting Actress (Whitty); Best Sound, Recording; Best Film Editing; and Best Effects, Special Effects.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8NInYPgofI

Trailer