The Corn is Green (1945)

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In this 1945 filmization of Emlyn Williams' semi-autobiographical 1938 play The Corn is Green, Bette Davis steps into the role originated on Broadway by Ethel Barrymore. Davis plays Miss Moffat, a turn-of-the-century schoolteacher in a Welsh mining town. She has opened her own school in hopes of… More In this 1945 filmization of Emlyn Williams' semi-autobiographical 1938 play The Corn is Green, Bette Davis steps into the role originated on Broadway by Ethel Barrymore. Davis plays Miss Moffat, a turn-of-the-century schoolteacher in a Welsh mining town. She has opened her own school in hopes of lowering the town's illiteracy rate, thus enabling the younger residents to seek out more fulfilling lives than merely sweating away in the mines until they drop. She runs into a great deal of resistance from mine-owner Nigel Bruce, who realizes that as soon as the citizens can read and write, they'll rebel against his benevolent despotry. Even Miss Moffat concludes that her mission is hopeless until she is visited by young miner John Dall, who wants to know "what is behind all those books". Within two years, Dall has made so much progress that he has qualified for Oxford. A last-minute snag involving Dall's illegitimate child is solved when Miss Moffet herself agrees to adopt the baby so that her student can complete his education. Emlyn Williams himself came from a backward mining town, and was himself inspired to better things by a compassionate schoolteacher; the pregnancy angle was (probably) added to provide the story with a third act. The Corn is Green was remade for television in 1978, with Katharine Hepburn as Miss Moffat. Watch for one amusing gaffe in the original: despite carefully setting up the premise that the villagers are illiterate, they are shown hovering around a poster and reading it out loud in an early scene. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Play Trailer

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 55 min.
Directed By: Irving Rapper
Written By: Casey Robinson, Frank Cavett
Genres: Drama, Classics

In Theaters: Mar 29, 1945 Wide
Studio: MGM Home Entertainment

Critic Reviews

Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com
Irving Rapper's screen version of Emlyn Williams semi-autobiographical play is well acted by Bette Davis as the spinster-teacher, but is too theatrical, sentimental and conventional.

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Featured Audience Ratings

jay n

the katharine hepburn version is better but this is still worth checking out

Cast

            Bette Davis as Miss Lilly Moffat

            Nigel Bruce as The Squire

            John Dall as Morgan Evans

            Joan Lorring as Bessie Watty

            Mildred Dunnock as Miss Ronberry

            Rhys Williams as Mr. Jones

            Arthur Shields as William Davis

            Rosalind Ivan as Mrs. Watty

            Gwyneth Hughes as Sarah Pugh

            Thomas Louden as Old Tom

            Billy Roy as Idwal Morris

            Brandon Hurst as Lewellyn Powell

            Tony Ellis as Will Hughes

            Leslie Vincent as John Owen

            Robert Cherry as Dai Evans

            Gene Ross as Gwilym Jones

            Robert Regent as Rhys Norman

            Edmund Breon
            
            John Dehner as Welshman

            Sarah Edwards as Mrs. Watty's Friend

            Herbert Evans
            
            Margaret Hoffman as Militant Corps woman

            George Mathews as Trap Driver

            Leonard Mudie as Station Master

            Adeline de Walt Reynolds as Old Woman Reading

            Rhoda Williams as Wylodine

            David Hilary Hughes
            
            Robert Cory as Miners in Bar
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