How Green Was My Valley

Starring: Walter Pidgeon; Maureen O'Hara & Anna Lee Director: John Ford

DVD Features:

Additional Release Material:

• Audio Commentary - 1. Maureen O'Hara - Star
• Trailers - 1. ALL ABOUT EVE
               2. GENTLEMAN'S AGREEMENT

Text Galleries:

• Screenplay (240 Stills)
• Stills/Photos

Major Awards:

Academy Awards - Best Black-and-White Interior Decoration (1941)

Academy Awards - Best Picture (1941)

Academy Awards - Best Supporting Actor (1941)

Academy Awards - Best Cinematography (1941)

Academy Awards - Best Director (1941)

Description by OLDIES.com:

Winner of five Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Supporting Actor (Donald Crisp), this "Hollywood milestone" (Halliwell's Film Guide) from producer Darryl F. Zanuck and director John Ford is "one of the finest" pictures ever made (Variety).

Seen through the eyes of a boy (Roddy McDowall), How Green Was My Valley is the inspiring yet heartbreaking story of young parents (Donald Crisp and Sara Allgood) struggling to keep their family together as they endure severe hardship in a small Welsh mining town. Co-starring Maureen O'Hara and Walter Pidgeon, this acclaimed classic captures the sentiments and issues of its time while reminding us of the dreams, struggles and triumphs that can touch every family.

Product Description:

In John Ford's HOW GREEN IS MY VALLEY, Huw Morgan, now a middle-aged man leaving the mining town of Cwm Rhondda, recalls the events that most impressed themselves upon his younger self (Roddy McDowall). His first memories are of the marriage of his brother, Ivor (Patric Knowles), and the burgeoning romance of his sister, Angharad (Maureen O'Hara), and the new preacher, Mr. Gruffydd (Walter Pidgeon). Still too young to work in the local coal mine like his father, Gwilym (Donald Crisp), and his five older brothers, he senses the seriousness of an imminent strike by the rift it creates between his father and the other boys when three of them move out of the family abode. During the tensions of the strike, Huw saves his mother (Sara Allgood) from drowning and in so doing loses the use of his legs. As Gruffydd aids in Huw's recovery, insisting on a positive attitude, he suggests that it is only the first of many trials the boy will have to face.

Richard Llewellyn's nostalgic novel, with its Fordian themes of family and community, could hardly have found a better director. While the acting and writing are excellent, this is truly Ford's film, one in which his brilliantly chosen groupings and compositions are the most expressive elements. Possibly the most moving film of Ford's career, HOW GREEN IS MY VALLEY received five Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director.

Plot Keywords:

Classic | Classic Fight Scenes | Drama | Epic | Essential Cinema | Family Interaction | Politics | Recommended | Social Issues

Production Notes:

• HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY was added to the Library of Congress National Film Registry in 1990.

Cast and Crew: