Sometimes, you need luck on your side. As you can probably imagine, many of the celebrity interviews I conduct are arranged well in advance. . . though, not always. A prime example of said luck, as I attended a National Hockey League game a few months back, I just happened to bump into the one and only Alex Trebek.
A man who definitely does not need an introduction, he has hosted one of the most popular game shows in the history of television – Jeopardy, since its revival in 1984 (when it became a daily syndicated show). . . he has also emceed many others, including High Rollers and Classic Concentration, to name but a few. So popular in fact, Trebek was spoofed for years by Will Ferrell on Saturday Night Live (always the butt end of one of Darrell Hammond’s Sean Connery puns/gags about his mother).
Gracious with his time, I had the rare opportunity to flip the script. . . able to ask the longtime question giver one of his very own – “what is your favourite film?”. In the blink of an eye, he named the 1941 classic How Green Was My Valley, adding that every time he watches it, it makes him cry.
The winner of five Academy Awards (and nominated for ten), iconic director John Ford tells the family oriented tale from the perspective of a young boy. . . though the film almost never came to be. Producer Darryl F. Zanuck originally wanted to make a four hour Technicolor epic, filming in Wales (where the story is set).
Attached to another legendary director, William Wyler, it was he who actually discovered child star Roddy McDowall for the key role of the boy. Though, with Adolf Hitler on the rise, war soon broke out, making it impossible for Zanuck to transport a team over to shoot in Wales. Complicating things further, 20th Century Fox had no interest in funding the project, deterred by the costly budget and union-centric narrative.
Becoming a nightmare, Wyler eventually stepped away (his contract having expired with Fox – his lengthy, extravagant shoots scared the Fox execs in regards to this picture), and in jumps Ford, a man known for shooting films quickly. With the war forcing them to film in California (the sand strewn hills and valleys unusable unless shot in black and white – movie magic to make it look like the green valleys of Wales), these new prospects dropped the budget drastically, and Zanuck was able to convince the Fox stockholders to green light the project.
A film that hinges on memory and time, Huw Morgan (though played by Roddy McDowall, the retrospective voice over is provided by Irving Pichel) is the youngest child of the Morgan clan, a working class coal miner family living in Wales. Led by level-headed patriarch Gwilym (Donald Crisp – Oscar winner for Best Actor in a Supporting Role) and the heart of the family, matriarch Beth (Sara Allgood), the couple are blessed with a gaggle of children: besides Huw, there is Ivor (Patric Knowles), Ianto (John Loder), Davy (Richard Fraser), Owen (James Monks), Gwilym Jr. (Evan S. Evans), and sole daughter Angharad (Maureen O’Hara).
Shot with a simple grace by Ford, he takes us through the trials and tribulations of the boy’s childhood – it is a story of cheer and melancholy, love and loss; a living, breathing family in a (usually) united community. Each and every male member of the family works (other than Huw) in the coal mines, as does most of the town. It is the lifeblood of the area, its difficult labour and inky soot the thing that puts food on the table for a family. Walking to work each day as a group, they sing, laugh, cry and die together. . . united in their toil.
There is an idyllic feeling to the setting, the surrounding area still vivid and alive, despite the filthy mine. Everyone is more or less happy – families eat suppers together, go to church together, work for the betterment of the other. Huw navigates it all with that relentless, almost magical spirit only a child has. His first love is Ivor’s fiancée, Bronwyn (Anna Lee), while his sister’s is the new preacher, Mr. Gruffydd (Walter Pidgeon) – it is utterly evident that the pair are smitten.
Even when danger flits into his life, he bounces back mostly unscathed (often thanks to the amazing support group that is his family and Mr. Gruffydd). Yet, this is a drama, and drama there is. Wages eventually drop (with new workers arriving after nearby mines shutter their doors), threatening the well-being of the family. Rifts start to crop up, as Mr. Morgan believes that they should not strike, finding a compromise with upper management, while his children believe that they should unionize and strike.
Time also changes things, as, over the years, jobs come and go. Certain family members depart, looking for better opportunities elsewhere, fracturing the tightknit group. Also impacting things in an unusual way, Angharad is courted by the mine owner’s son, Iestyn Evans (Marten Lamont), hindering her subtly flirtatious dance with Mr. Gruffydd – who realizes she will be better taken care of by the rich man.
Building an eighty-acre authentic Welsh mining town in the Santa Monica Mountains near Malibu (a six month project), the Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration Oscar went to the How Green Was My Valley team of Richard Day, Nathan Juran, and Thomas Little. And rightfully so, as it feels very much alive: the giant factory which constantly billows smoke, the ancient little stone row-houses, the well worn carriage tracks in the streets, each detail that of a real mining town in Wales.
Yet, all of this would be for not if the world built within it didn’t feel authentic. Despite how idealistic it might sound – anger, gossip, violence, and small-mindedness permeate the piece. . . petty cruelty projected onto people for numerous reasons. Met with courage, strength, and perseverance by little Huw and his family, it feels like a realistic portrait of an upbringing circa the turn of the century – a bittersweet retrospective of a simpler time long since passed.
Each step of this heart-filled cadence is directed perfectly by Ford. With a deft touch, his subtle nuance delivers powerful punches. After receiving news that a group of local singers will be heading to perform in front of the Queen, they practice (“God Save the Queen”), while two members of the Morgan family slip away in the background, turning their backs on their country as they go job searching in America. Another superb moment is Angharad’s marriage, as she sullenly walks to her carriage, the wind (fans carefully placed by Ford) swings her long veil as if even it is in protest (it bristling in frustrated anger). . . and, in the distance, Mr. Gruffydd watches in despair from the shadows of the graveyard (their love separated by an unconquerable distance, Ford wisely decided against a closeup of Pidgeon to punctuate the vast chasm between them). To provide one final scene to watch for, Ford brings hilarity after Huw has been beaten by his schoolteacher. Two locals, one a boxer no less, decide to teach their own lesson to the instructor. . . it will likely link some to the boxing sequence in another Ford classic, The Quiet Man. Intriguingly, How Green Was My Valley was Ford’s most personal movie (it very much linked to his own upbringing) until he made The Quiet Man – and, they were two of his favourites from his lengthy career (funnily enough, each earned him an Academy Award for Best Director – in total, he nabbed four, a record to this day).
Though definitely a classic, the film is often criticized for its win over Citizen Kane. A thinking man’s piece compared to a heartfelt feature, How Green Was My Valley speaks to the need at the time. Released just a few weeks prior to America’s entry into World War II (following Pearl Harbour), its hopeful story of a family unified despite separation and death spoke to audiences at the time, an emotive message that elevated it to one of the top grossing motion pictures of the year. I, for one, do not hold its win against it, a beautifully built narrative that stills moves to this day (somewhat similar to the excellent I Remember Mama). Dear Mr. Trebek – you are the winner for this final question: which poignant Oscar winning movie beat out Citizen Kane for Best Picture at the 14th annual Academy Awards? So, don’t feel like you’ll have to cave to see this classic, as movies like this are, “with me still, real in memory as they were in flesh, loving and beloved forever. How green was my valley then.”