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Walter Pidgeon, Maureen O'Hara, Donald Crisp, Roddy McDowall, Barry Fitzgerald ... see more see more... , Anna Lee , John Loder , Sara Allgood , Patric Knowles , The Welsh Singers , Morton Lowry , Arthur Shields , Frederic Worlock , Richard Fraser , Evan S. Evans , James Monks , Rhys Williams , Clifford Severn , Lionel Pape , Ethel Griffies , Dennis Hoey , Marten Lamont , Eve March , Tudor Williams , Ruth Clifford , Minta Durfee , Herbert Evans , Pauline Garon , Mary Gordon , Gibson Gowland , Ben Hall , Louis Jean Heydt , Tiny Jones , J.M. Kerrigan , Mae Marsh , Una O'Connor , Ann E. Todd , Mary Field , Irving Pichel

Spanning 50 years, director John Ford's How Green Was My Valley revolves around the life of the Morgans, a Welsh mining family, as told through the eyes of its youngest child Huw (Roddy McDowall). Ove... read more read more...r the years, the family struggles to survive through unionization, strikes, and child abuse. As they do so, their hometown and its culture begins to slowly decline. Donald Crisp portrays Gwilym, the patriarch of the Morgan household, who dreams of a better life for young Huw. Based on the novel of the same name by Richard Llewellyn, How Green Was My Valley won five Academy Awards in 1941, including Best Director, Best Supporting Actor (Crisp), Best Art Director, Best Cinematography, and Best Picture (beating Citizen Kane). The book was later adapted into a 1975 BBC miniseries. ~ Matthew Tobey, Rovi

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34 critics

Unrated, 2 hr. 5 min.

Directed by: John Ford

Release Date: January 1, 1941

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DVD Release Date: March 7, 2000

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Stats: 454 reviews

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How Green Was My Valley John Ford and Roddy McDowall on the set Sara Allgood, Maureen O'Hara & Donald Crisp in How Green Was My Valley Walter Pidgeon and Roddy McDowall Maureen O'Hara, Donald Crisp & Anna Lee in How Green Was My Valley Donald Crisp in How Green was My Valley Sara Allgood, Roddy MacDowall & Donald Crisp in How Green Was My Valley Sara Allgood, Roddy MacDowall & Donald Crisp in How Green Was My Valley Donald Crisp in How Green Was My Valley Roddy McDowall in How Green Was My Valley Donald Crisp in How Green was My Valley Sara Allgood in How Green was My Valley Donald Crisp and Sara Allgood How Green Was My Valley
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Flixster Reviews (454)

  • cosmo313
    November 19, 2011
    cosmo313
    If I'm not mistaken, this film is probably best remembered as the won that scored an upset victory over Citizen Kane at the Oscars by nabbing five out of the ten awards it was nominated for (the most signicant being best Picture, Best Director, Best Cinematography (black and whit... read moree), and Best Art Direction (black and white). Donald Crisp also won for his acting, but that wasn't an upset over CK.

    The story here spans a few decades and concerns a working class mining family named the Millers in Wales in the early 20th Century in a small community going through significant change. The story is told from the perspective of the youngest Miller, Huw (a very young, but impressive Roddy McDowall). Maureen O'Hara plays his sister, and she's also quite good, but then again, when is she not?

    A lot of what goes on in the film is still relatable- socio economic change and hardships, and they affect they have on family life and dynamics, but, to be honest, as decent as this film is, it's not really all that special or significant. Ford has never made a film I haven't gotten some sort of enjoyment out of, but this is one of his weaker ones for me. Also,, I really start to lose interest after a while and become fidgety. The film never totally failed to lose my interest, but still, boredom began to set in.

    That aside, the performances are good, the cinematography is pretty nice, and the music (especially the music) is quite wonderful. This film isn't amazing, but it's still pretty decently made and an okay variation on a theme, despite its flaws.
  • ajv2688
    September 29, 2010
    ajv2688
    Other than getting to see a young Roddy McDowall, there wasn't anything of interest in this movie. I did just watch the beginning, really, but it's a very long movie spanning 50s years of the character's life! And what a boring life it was. Maybe some people like these real l... read moreife dramas, but not me.
  • bottcorecords1
    February 13, 2010
    bottcorecords1
    It's a rare quality in film to be able to look back at the safety of youth and remember long dead family members in their healthiest days, but director John Ford does the near impossible thing of inspiring nostalgia for the good old days we never lived. Roddy McDowall stars as H... read moreuw Morgan, the youngest son in a big family of welsh coal miners. With the same rose-colored glasses all older people view their youth, the adult Huw recalls his childhood in idealized fashion, where family members don't fight and the men come home from work with a song on their lips. In a little picturesque coal mining town in Wales, the turn-of-the-century family all live and work together- a household of 9 (6 boys and 1 daughter) where all the men work in the mine and turn their weekly wages into the family pot. All except young Huw, who's much younger than the rest. Things all start to go downhill for the family when the miner's wages are cut and the workers decide to go on strike. The american minister (Walter Pidgeon- at least I think he's supposed to be american, as he doesn't attempt any sort of accent) is a gentle and duty-bound man who tries to keep his feelings for the Morgans daughter (Maureen O'Hara) in check. The trials and tribulations of this family at times remind me of a welsh version of "A Tree Grow in Brooklyn", only shot better. Seriously, the sets and photography are just beautiful. It's easy to see why it won the academy award that year (even beating out the greatest movie of all time, Citizen Kane).
  • MidnightMadwoman
    February 13, 2007
    MidnightMadwoman
    The sheer irony of this movie being in black and white killed me, and it got an entire star for that fact alone. However, this film never ended up going anywhere, was poorly narrated and didn't have any characters I really cared about. Disappointing.
  • fb1619601747
    October 25, 2011
    fb1619601747
    So this was the movie that beat Citizen Kane and The Maltese Falcon out for Best Picture 1941 - bad call ref. If you thought Forrest Gump was overly sentimental, this will make you vomit. Way too syrupy. Hell, it was like watching an episode of The Waltons. But it was well filmed... read more and had a beautiful style to it.
  • michaelcorleone
    September 8, 2010
    michaelcorleone
    An awe-striking achievement in black-and-white photography, this film is a showcase for John Ford's abilities as a director. Filled with shameless sentimentality, epic sequences and technical mastery, it is a truly absorbing piece of work.
  • StefanoEarnest
    April 18, 2012
    StefanoEarnest
    I'd like to say that "How Green Was My Valley" was given the short end of the stick when it won the Best Picture Oscar in 1941 over "Citizen Kane" and that its poor reputation is entirely undeserved, but I'd be lying. The film is overly sentimental, sappy, uneven, and a real bore... read more of a motion picture. From a critic's standpoint, it's a visual and technical feat, but as a member of the audience, I wasn't entertained for a second.
  • Ivan6655321
    May 8, 2010
    Ivan6655321
    John Ford was known then and today as a delicate director of films in the western genre, but "How Green Was My Valley", his Oscar Best Picture winner, tackles not the mythical facade of the west, but the everyday lives of a Welsh family, chronicled on an epic scope but with its e... read moremotions still on the ground, still reachable and affecting. Lavish pictures made at the time contains melodrama performed by A list larger than life movie stars just to show how towering the emotions contained in such films(e.g. Family Chronicle), a recycle formula John Ford never bothered to include in this film. "How Green Was My Valley" was about Huw's(great juvenile performance by Roddy Mcdowell) coming to terms with his consciousness of his place in the family as much as the film is about the family itself and its trials. The unexpected familial tragedies that has occured in the picture was common plot devices today, but the way these turbulent events was turned from present anguish to Huw's melancholic longing of the valley, a narration not as a plot mover, but fragments of memories, of how green the valley used to be, and how blue it is to go, and leave it all to pass away.
  • snakegeek1
    July 1, 2009
    snakegeek1
    ya know, I can't see why this won. it had a decent film and some good performances and some great plot points. for instance the last scene when the boy is bringing his dying father up from the coal mine cave in, wow that was a brutal and powerful moment. however it was very weak ... read morein a lot of places and there were spots that just downright bored me. it was overall a decent. Final Verdict: it was undeserving of it's Best Picture win. and the 1941 Best Picture win goes to...CITIZEN KANE! Citizen Kane just blew past this movie. this movie doesn't even remotely compare to the magnitude of Citizen Kane.
  • placeinthesun455
    July 22, 2011
    placeinthesun455
    not really the most interesting movie, but it has its bright spots--a few inspirational pick-me-ups and a dry sense of humour. as far as romance or family drama are concerned, there's not much there, and the overall story is pretty depressing. the acting is decent, but the perf... read moreormances are kind of bland, even from standout Roddy McDowall. John Ford should have stuck to Westerns, because while this is somewhat enjoyable, it's not all that wonderful.

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Critic Reviews

February 17, 2009
TIME Magazine

Because his recollections ring true, they are certain to evoke a similar nostalgia in all but the most slab-sided of moviegoers. Full Review

Abel Green
January 30, 2008
Abel Green, Variety

How Green Was My Valley is one of the year's better films, a sure-fire critic's picture and, unlike most features that draw kudos from crix, this one will also do business. Full Review

Don Druker
December 12, 2006
Don Druker, Chicago Reader

Expert performances from Donald Crisp, Walter Pidgeon, Maureen O'Hara, and a host of brilliant character actors enhance a magnificent movie experience. Full Review

Bosley Crowther
May 20, 2003
Bosley Crowther, New York Times

You can never expect to see a film more handsomely played. Full Review

James Berardinelli
January 1, 1941
James Berardinelli, ReelViews

If not for the inevitable comparisons to Citizen Kane, How Green Was My Valley might have aged better. Full Review

Dennis Schwartz
March 17, 2008
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews

Beat out the much superior Citizen Kane for the Oscar for Best Picture. Full Review

David Parkinson
February 20, 2008
David Parkinson, Empire Magazine

This John Huston film [is] typically epic with a faithful screenplay to Richard Llewellyn's famous novel. Full Review

January 30, 2008
Film4

A complex account of family life and strife that takes in traumas, hardships, romances, conflicts and the odd happy moment without ever sentimentalizing or becoming unbelievable. Full Review

Derek Smith
October 30, 2006
Derek Smith, Cinematic Reflections

[Its] moralizing is dishonest and at times offensive. No matter how effectively a story is told, it's hard to buy into one that so often deceives its audience. Full Review

Emanuel Levy
October 26, 2006
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

Emotionally effective if also sentimental evocation of working class life in a Welsch mining community, reaffirming John Ford's populist ideology and strong belief in the family as society's most impo... Full Review

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    • Huw Morgan: Men like my father cannot die. They are with me still -- real in memory as they were in flesh, loving and beloved forever. How green was my valley then.
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  • How many academy awards did "How Green Was My Valley" 1941 win ?  Answer »
  • Because of pressure from William Randolph Hearst, what film took best picture from Citizen Kane?  Answer »
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  • What is the name of the movie that starred Roddy McDowell, Maureen O'Hara as brother and sister?  Answer »
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