What makes ‘How Green Was My Valley’ an excellent movie?

 

               ‘How Green Was My Valley’ (1941) is one of John Ford’s masterpieces of sentimental human drama. It is a melodramatic and nostalgic story, adapted by screenwriter Philip Dunne from Richard Llewellyn’s best-selling novel of the same name.

               The film was nominated for a total of ten awards, and walked away with five Oscars, Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, Best Cinematography and Best Art Direction. Its other nominations were for Best Supporting Actress, Best Screenplay, Best Editing, Best Score and Best Sound.

              The most controversial aspect of its Best Picture and Director win was that it defeated two of the greatest pictures ever made: Orson Welles’ ‘Citizen Kane’ and John Huston’s ‘The Maltese Falcon’.

               The movie tells the story of a close-knit, hard-working Welsh coal-mining family, the Morgans, living in the heart of the South Wales Valleys during the 19th century.

Picture Credit : Google