Hammerman Ikon

Hammerman Ikon Film Guide

How Green Was My Valley
1941
*****
Director: John Ford
Cast: Walter Pidgeon, Maureen O'Hara, Anna Lee, Donald Crisp, Roddy McDowall, Sara Allgood, Patric Knowles, John Loder, Barry Fitzgerald, Rhys Williams, Morton Lowry

A wonderfully moving and warm-hearted drama about a Welsh family who go through a transition at the turn of the 20th century. Their lives revolve around the local coal mine, which brings both prosperity and heartbreak. John Ford and Donald Crisp won two of the film's five Academy Awards. The film which pipped Citizen Kane at the Oscars is a worthy recipient. Adapted from Richard Llewellyn's 1939 novel.