
How Green Was My Valley
1941, Drama, 1h 58m
47 Reviews 5,000+ RatingsWhat to know
critics consensus
Though it perhaps strays into overly maudlin territory, this working-class drama is saved by a solid cast and director John Ford's unmistakeable style. Read critic reviews
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Movie Info
Cast & Crew
Mr. Gruffydd, Village Preacher
Angharad Morgan, Eldest Daughter
Huw Morgan, Youngest Son
Mr. Gwilym Morgan

Bronwyn Morgan, Ivor's Wife
Ianto Morgan
Critic Reviews for How Green Was My Valley
All Critics (47) | Top Critics (11) | Fresh (42) | Rotten (5)
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Captures an idyll of youth that has been lost to the corrosive practices of modern business.
November 16, 2015 | Full Review… -
One of the outstanding film productions of the year.
February 18, 2015 | Full Review… -
The acting is strong, and Arthur Miller's Oscar-winning photography gives the images a spooky luster, but a little bit of Ford's salt-of-the-earth piety goes an awfully long way.
February 19, 2013 | Rating: B | Full Review… -
Because his recollections ring true, they are certain to evoke a similar nostalgia in all but the most slab-sided of moviegoers.
February 17, 2009 | Full Review… -
This John Huston film [is] typically epic with a faithful screenplay to Richard Llewellyn's famous novel.
February 20, 2008 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review… -
How Green Was My Valley is one of the year's better films, a sure-fire critic's picture and, unlike most features that draw kudos from crix, this one will also do business.
January 30, 2008 | Full Review…
Audience Reviews for How Green Was My Valley
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Aug 09, 2020John Ford, master raconteur, does have a particular affection for "remember how good it was in the old country" stories, and that affection does shine some here. Coal mining in Wales? Remember those good old days? And child labor? They don't make 'em like that anymore! As ever Ford's sweep of the tale brings it all off much better than it sounds. There might be a tear or two. And perhaps Walter Pidgeon's best film.Kevin M. W Super Reviewer
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Jun 13, 2016It definitely needed to be longer but the movie remains a deeply sad nostalgia piece that's filled with surprising complexity.Alec B Super Reviewer
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Oct 27, 2013A boy comes of age in a Welsh village. A sprawling, ambitious epic of a film, How Green Was My Valley wreaks of nostalgia, in the voice over, in the salt-of-the-earth characters, and the cursory treatment it gives its themes. While many of these nostalgia films achieve a universality, I found the characters ultimately unrealized and unexplored. For example, Angharad's love affair with the preacher, which is aborted by her marriage to an upper class man, is portrayed only slightly, and the next time we see her, she is miserable. But what about the interceding time? What about the preacher's life between then and now? Whereas a good epic like War and Peace leaves none of its main characters ignored, this one satisfies itself with episodic fragments. Overall, epics like this one are tricky, and I think director John Ford bit off more that he could chew.Jim H Super Reviewer
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Oct 18, 2013Slightly overrated film but it is a good depiction of life in a coal mining town. We get to see young Roddy McDowall before he started wearing chimpanzee makeup. Nice imagery for an early film. The valley is clearly very green..or not.John B Super Reviewer
How Green Was My Valley Quotes
Angharad Morgan: | "Go thou and sin no more Jesus said." |
Angharad Morgan: | Go thou and sin no more Jesus said. |
Huw Morgan: | Men like my father cannot die. They are with me still -- real in memory as they were in flesh, loving and beloved forever. How green was my valley then. |
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