Citizen Kane is widely considered the greatest American movie ever made. Yet in 1941 it lost the Academy Award for Best Picture to How Green Was My Valley. For that reason alone, Valley has been dismissed as an usurper and film unworthy of the accolades laid upon it.
People talk about the brilliance of Kane and the genius of Orson Welles, who was the creative force behind it. They mention the amazing cinematography techniques developed for the film and the sharp script writing and the excellent acting. What they don't talk about is it's heart. Citizen Kane is a brilliant movie but it's a cold movie, hard edged. How Green Was My Valley has a heart and soul and spirit that uplifts even as it tells the bitter story of the dissolution of a family and years of tradition.
Roddy McDowall, at the age of 12, leads a cast of acting giants in the story of a Welsh mining village and how a fathers ideals of a company putting the person over profits soon give way to the reality of lost jobs and low wages. The father is played by Donald Crisp as the patriarch of a family of five sons and one daughter. All the sons are grown except for Huw (McDowall) and work in the mine. Maureen O'Hara is the only daughter. She has the misfortune to fall in love with the local preacher who will not subject her to his vows of poverty. Her unrequited love for him leads to scandal and further trouble for the family.
Produced by Darryl F. Zanuck and directed by John Ford How Green Was My valley is a commentary on the importance of family, the hypocrisy of religion and the rights of workers. The story is told in a long flashback by the grown son Huw, who recounts his days in the idyllic valley and how, as the working conditions at the mine deteriorated so did everything else.
The film ends on a note of tragedy, but still clings to its message of hope. I won't say it is a better movie than Citizen Kane, but it certainly deserves the honor of Best Picture just as much as Citizen Kane did.
At the Movie House rating **** stars
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