Click here for the review of How Green Was My Valley (1941)

Best Picture winner at the 1942 Oscar ceremony.

Oops!

Walter is not a bird. His last name is spelled Pidgeon, not Pigeon.

Spoiler alert:

The answer is "very green, before all the coal ruined things"

I mostly remember that damn elevator (?) coming up and down after the accident. I remember liking it a good deal better than James did. Citizen Kane and The Maltese Falcon were better films that year, but most years How Green Was My Valley winning wouldn't raise an eyebrow.

It would be interesting to watch this and October Sky back to back. October Sky takes place in a coal-mining town and the film has almost as much to do with that as rocketry.

Even without the comparisons to Citizen kane, this would be a bad movie. In fact, the infamy of this movie has helped it more than hurt it. I give it 2 stars out of 4. It's a very dated, very dull movie. While I can't think of any horrible scenes, I also can't think of any good ones. Even the scene where the lovers meet is weak, because it plays too safe. It has the feel of a mediocre Hallmark Hall of Fame TV movie.

I saw this a few years ago and was staggered to hear it won best movie
Then I heard what it was up against.
It's OK, but not that much more
Rob