How Green Was My Valley
US (1941): Drama/Romance
John Ford's beautiful, heartfelt drama about a close-knit family of Welsh coal miners is one of the greatest films of Hollywood's golden age -- a gentle masterpiece based on the novel by Richard Llewellyn. The film focuses its eventful story on 10-year-old Huw (Roddy McDowall), youngest of seven children to Mr. and Mrs. Morgan (Donald Crisp, Sarah Allgood), a hardy couple who've seen the best and worst of times in their South Wales mining town. They're facing one of the worst times as Mr. Morgan refuses to join a miners union whose members have begun a long-term strike. Family tensions grow and Huw must learn many of life's harsher lessons under the tutelage of the local preacher (Walter Pigeon), who has fallen in love with Huw's sister (Maureen O'Hara). As various crises are confronted and devastating losses endured, How Green Was My Valley unfolds as a rich, moving portrait of family strength and integrity. It's also a nod to a simpler, more innocent time -- and to the preciousness of memory and the inevitable passage from youth to adulthood. An all-time classic, not to be missed. (Amazon.com)
10 nominations, 5 Awards
· Best Picture 1941: Darryl F. Zanuck, producer (20th Century-Fox)
· Best Supporting Actor 1941: Donald Crisp
· Best Directing 1941: John Ford
· Best Interior Decoration (Black and White) 1941: Richard Day & Nathan Juran - Art Direction, Thomas Little - Set Decoration
· Best Cinematography (Black and White) 1941: Arthur C. Miller
· Supporting Actress 1941: Sara Allgood
· Writing (Screenplay) 1941: Philip Dunne
· Film Editing 1941: James B. Clark
· Music Scoring Awards (Scoring of a Dramatic Picture) 1941: Alfred Newman
· Sound Recording 1941: E.H. Hansen