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How Green Was My Valley
Theatrical Poster
Directed by	John Ford
Produced by	Darryl F. Zanuck
Written by	Story: Richard Llewellyn Screenplay: Philip Dunne
Starring	Walter Pidgeon Maureen O'Hara Anna Lee
Music by	Alfred Newman
Cinematography	Arthur C. Miller
Editing by	James B. Clark
Distributed by	Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
Release date(s)	October 28, 1941 (USA)
Running time	118 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English Welsh
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

How Green Was My Valley is an American 1941 film directed by John Ford.^[1] The film was produced by Darryl F. Zanuck, written by Philip Dunne, and based on the Richard Llewellyn novel of the same name. The film stars Walter Pidgeon, Maureen O'Hara, Anna Lee, Donald Crisp, and Roddy McDowall.

The film tells the story of the Morgans, a close and hard-working Welsh family at the turn of the century as a socio-economic way of life passes and the family unit disintegrates.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Background 3 Cast 4 Awards 4.1 Academy Awards 4.1.1 Wins 4.1.2 Nominations 4.2 Other 5 Cultural references 6 Footnotes 7 External links

Gwilym Morgan (Donald Crisp) is the patriarch of a Welsh family. He and all of his sons, Ianto (John Loder), Ivor (Patric Knowles), Gwilym Jr. (Evan S. Evans), Davy (Richard Fraser), Owen (James Monks) and the youngest Huw (Roddy McDowall), are coal miners. Rounding out the family are Gwilym's wife Beth (Sara Allgood) and daughter Angharad (Maureen O'Hara). The story is seen through the eyes of Huw.

When C. Evans (Lionel Pape), the mine owner, reduces the barely adequate wages, the family is divided. When Gwilym, as the leader of the miners, is unable to negotiate a satisfactory accommodation, his sons organise a strike despite his opposition and move out of the house. As the weeks pass, the people begin to blame Gwilym for their desperate straits. One cold winter night, Beth takes Huw to a meeting, where she fiercely defends her husband. On the way back, she falls into a river. Huw rescues her from the freezing water, but as a result, the doctor thinks he may never be able to walk again. However, he gradually recovers. The new preacher, Mr. Gruffydd (Walter Pidgeon), and Gwilym finally get the strike settled, but Owen and Gwilym Jr. emigrate to America, looking for a better future.

Angharad and Gruffydd fall in love, but he cannot bear having her share his poverty and refuses to marry her. Finally Angharad weds the son of the mine owner and moves to South Africa.

Ivor is killed in a mine accident. Then, Ianto and Davy are fired so that Evans can hire less-experienced workers for less pay. They also leave Wales. In the end, Gwilym is caught in a mine collapse. A rescue party led by Gruffydd searches for him. Huw finds him and hugs his father before he dies.

Director John Ford wanted to shoot the movie in Wales, but events in Europe, World War II made this impossible. Instead, he built a replica of the mining town^[2] at the close-to 3,000 acre Fox Ranch in Malibu Canyon.

• Walter Pidgeon as Mr. Gruffydd
• Maureen O'Hara as Angharad Morgan
• Anna Lee as Bronwyn, Ivor's wife
• Donald Crisp as Gwilym Morgan
• Roddy McDowall as Huw Morgan
• John Loder as Ianto Morgan
• Sara Allgood as Beth Morgan
• Barry Fitzgerald as Cyfartha
• Patric Knowles as Ivor Morgan
• Morton Lowry as Mr. Jonas
• Arthur Shields as Mr. Parry
• Ann E. Todd as Ceinwen
• Frederick Worlock as Dr. Richards
• Richard Fraser as Davy Morgan

• Best Picture - Darryl F. Zanuck. It beat out Citizen Kane and The Maltese Falcon.
• Best Director - John Ford
• Best Supporting Actor - Donald Crisp
• Best Black-and-White Cinematography - Arthur C. Miller
• Best Black-and-White Art Direction-Interior Decoration - Richard Day, Nathan Juran and Thomas Little

• Best Adapted Screenplay - Philip Dunne
• Best Supporting Actress - Sara Allgood
• Best Film Editing - James B. Clark
• Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic Picture - Alfred Newman
• Best Recording Sound - Edmund H. Hansen

• New York Film Critics Circle Awards: NYFCC Award; Best Director, John Ford; 1941.
• Argentine Film Critics Association Awards: Silver Condor; Best Foreign Film, John Ford, USA; 1943.
• In 1990 the film was selected for preservation by the United States National Film Registry.

• The film was part of the opening storyline in the Frasier episode "High Crane Drifter".

• How Green Was My Valley at Rotten Tomatoes.
• How Green Was My Valley at Reel Classics.
• How Green Was My Valley at Film Site web site; contains plot detail.

Awards
Preceded by Rebecca	Academy Award for Best Picture 1941	Succeeded by Mrs. Miniver

v • d • e Academy Award for Best Picture: Winners (1941–1960)

1941: How Green Was My Valley · 1942: Mrs. Miniver · 1943: Casablanca · 1944: Going My Way · 1945: The Lost Weekend · 1946: The Best Years of Our Lives · 1947: Gentleman's Agreement · 1948: Hamlet · 1949: All the King's Men · 1950: All About Eve · 1951: An American in Paris · 1952: The Greatest Show on Earth · 1953: From Here to Eternity · 1954: On the Waterfront · 1955: Marty · 1956: Around the World in Eighty Days · 1957: The Bridge on the River Kwai · 1958: Gigi · 1959: Ben-Hur · 1960: The Apartment Complete List · Winners (1927–1940) · Winners (1961–1980) · Winners (1981–2000) · Winners (2001– )