Mrs. Miniver (1942)
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91% of critics liked it
(22 reviews) -
84% of users liked it
(5,324 ratings)
As Academy Award-winning films go, Mrs. Miniver has not weathered the years all that well. This prettified, idealized view of the upper-class British home front during World War II sometimes seems over-calculated and contrived when seen today. In particular, Greer Garson's Oscar-winning performance… More As Academy Award-winning films go, Mrs. Miniver has not weathered the years all that well. This prettified, idealized view of the upper-class British home front during World War II sometimes seems over-calculated and contrived when seen today. In particular, Greer Garson's Oscar-winning performance in the title role often comes off as artificial, especially when she nobly tends her rose garden while her stalwart husband (Walter Pidgeon) participates in the evacuation at Dunkirk. However, even if the film has lost a good portion of its ability to move and inspire audiences, it is easy to see why it was so popular in 1942-and why Winston Churchill was moved to comment that its propaganda value was worth a dozen battleships. Everyone in the audience-even English audiences, closer to the events depicted in the film than American filmgoers-liked to believe that he or she was capable of behaving with as much grace under pressure as the Miniver family. The film's setpieces-the Minivers huddling in their bomb shelter during a Luftwaffe attack, Mrs. Miniver confronting a downed Nazi paratrooper in her kitchen, an annual flower show being staged despite the exigencies of bombing raids, cleric Henry Wilcoxon's climactic call to arms from the pulpit of his ruined church-are masterfully staged and acted, allowing one to ever so briefly forget that this is, after all, slick propagandizing. In addition to Best Picture and Best Actress, Mrs. Miniver garnered Oscars for best supporting actress (Teresa Wright), best director (William Wyler), best script (Arthur Wimperis, George Froschel, James Hilton, Claudine West), best cinematography (Joseph Ruttenberg) and best producer (Sidney Franklin). Sidebar: Richard Ney, who plays Greer Garson's son, later married the actress-and still later became a successful Wall Street financier. Mrs. Miniver was followed by a 1951 sequel, The Miniver Story, but without the wartime setting the bloom was off the rose. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Rating, Runtime
- Unrated, 2 hr. 14 min.
- Directed By
- William Wyler
- Written By
- Arthur Wimperis, George Froeschel, James Hilton, Claudine West
- Genres
- Drama, Romance, Classics
- In Theaters
- Jun 4, 1942 Wide
- On DVD
- Feb 3, 2004
- Studio
- MGM Home Entertainment
Critic Reviews
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, TIME Magazine
That almost impossible feat, a great war picture that photographs the inner meaning, instead of the outward realism of World War II.
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Herb Golden, Variety
A poignant story of the joys and sorrows, the humor and pathos of middle-class family life in wartime England.
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Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader
The most famous and perhaps most effective propaganda film of World War II.
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Bosley Crowther, New York Times
Certainly it is the finest film yet made about the present war, and a most exalting tribute to the British, who have taken it gallantly.
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James Berardinelli, ReelViews
It's one of a few highly regarded contemporaneous motion pictures to deal frankly with the domestic aspects of World War II.
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Cast
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Greer Garsonas Mrs. Kay Miniver -
Walter Pidgeonas Clem Miniver -
Teresa Wrightas Carol Beldon
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Dame May Whittyas Lady Beldon -
Reginald Owenas Foley -
Henry Traversas Mr. Ballard
