Mrs. Miniver is a movie that is based on the fictional housewife Mrs. Miniver created by Jan Struther that ran as a series of stories in the newspaper in 1937. It starred Greer Garson as Mrs. Miniver, Walter Pidgeon as Clem Miniver, Teresa Wright as Carol Beldon, Dame May Whitty as Lady Beldon, Henry Travers as Mr. Ballard, and Richard Ney as Vin Miniver.
I am going to do a rather quick synopsis, because I have other things I want to get to with this movie. The story is based during World War II and chronicles the Miniver family as they live through the bombing of London by the Germans. The Minivers have 3 children, a young son and daughter and one son of age to fight in the war. He does fight as a pilot. His love interest is Carol Beldon and they do get married prior to him leaving to fight. There are also interesting scenes where Clem Miniver uses his family boat and joins many others in aiding in the British evacuation from Dunkirk. The other scene is one that I mentioned in an earlier blog. That scene being where the German pilot is shot down and ends up in the Miniver's kitchen. I haven't been able to find any supporting documentation, but I am convinced it is the same set used in a scene in the movie Smilin' Through.
The movie was somewhat a surprise success by all accounts. It received 12 Oscar nominations of which it bagged six and four in the categories that landed it on my list of movies to watch. Walter Pidgeon was nominated for Best Actor, Henry Travers was nominated for Best Supporting Actor, Greer Garson was nominated for Best Actress, Dame May Whitty and Teresa Wright were nominated for Best Supporting Actress, William Wyler was nominated for Best Director, and finally it was nominated as Best Picture.
I will start with Best Actor and Walter Pidgeon. This was one of two nominations for him. He would be nominated the following year for his role in Madame Curie. Coincidentally Greer Garson would be nominated in the same movie playing opposite of Pidgeon. They were cast together at least three times, I had trouble tracking down exactly how many, but have verified at least three. Pidgeon did not win the Oscar and I have yet to see the other movies, I am not surprised. That is not to say I did not think he did an admirable job, but the other nominees in the acting categories, far outshone him in my opinion. Pidgeon was up against the following.
- James Cagney as George M Cohen in Yankee Doodle Dandy
- Ronald Colman as Charles Ranier in Random Harvest
- Gary Cooper as Lou Gehrig in Pride of the Yankees
- Monty Woolley as Howard in the Pied Piper
Next up is the Best Supporting Actor nominee Henry Travers as Mr. Ballard. He plays a lovable old man who grows a rose to compete in a competition. This competition had been won by Lady Beldon many years in a row and is the impromptu reason for Vin and Carol Beldon meeting. This was Travers only nomination in his career. Despite this nomination he is probably better known for playing Clarence Oddbody, the angel in It's A Wonderful Life. He was up against these actors for the Oscar.
- William Bendix as Smacksie Randall in Wake Island
- Van Heflin as Jeff Hartnett in Johnny Eager
- Walter Huston as Jerry Cohan in Yankee Doodle Dandy
- Frank Morgan as The Pirate in Tortilla Flat
Next up is Best Actress and Greer Garson. Garson was nominated 7 times in the Best Actress category. She was nominated for her roles as an actress from 1939 to 1945 six times in that seven year span. The only year she did not get a nomination was in 1940. Her final nomination was in 1960 where she played Eleanor Roosevelt. Her competition in 42 was as follows.
- Bette Davis as Charlotte Vale in Now, Voyager
- Katherine Hepburn as Tess Harding in Woman of the Year
- Rosalind Russel as Ruth Sherwood in My Sister Eileen
- Teresa Wright as Eleanor Gehrig in Pride of the Yankees
I think the most interesting thing about her winning though is her legendary acceptance speech. Until I saw this movie months ago and researching Garson a bit, I was unaware of this infamous part of Oscar history. I was aware that there is a time limit for the acceptance speech, but I was unaware of who was responsible for it. Turns out it was Ms Garson, whose speech clocked in at five and a half minutes. Legend has it she rambled on for hours, but it was only five and a half minutes. Although five and a half minutes is a lifetime when it comes to an acceptance speech. At least she got her moneys worth, because it was the only Oscar she won despite the numerous nominations.
Ironically, she only won one, but she accepted two others. In 1952 she accepted Vivien Leigh's Oscar because she was not present and again in 1962 she accepted for Sophia Loren who also was not present. I was not able to find how long either of these speeches were, but I am sure they were not very long.
Moving on to Best Supporting Actress. Mrs. Miniver was graced with two nominations in this category. Teresa Wright who had three nominations in her career. She was nominated the year before for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the Little Foxes and obviously for her role in Mrs Miniver. She was also nominated as Best Actress and if you were quick you noticed she competed against Greer Garson this year for her role in Pride of the Yankees. She is only one of ten actors/actress to receive a nomination for Best Actor/Actress and Best Supporting Actor/Actress in the same year. Dame May Whitty was also nominated and it was the last of her two nominations. She was nominated as a supporting actress in 1937 for her role in Night Must Fall. Their competition was as follows.
- Gladys Cooper as Mrs. Vale in Now, Voyager
- Agnes Moorehead as Fanny Minafer in The Magnificent Ambersons
- Susan Peters as Kitty in Random Harvest
On to the Directing category. William Wyler was nominated in this category for Mrs. Miniver. William Wyler is among the greatest Directors of all time. He is second only to John Ford who won four best directing Oscars with three wins. Wyler was nominated for best director 12 times in his illustrious career. His last win coming in 1959 for probably his best known film, Ben Hur. Mrs. Miniver was his fifth nomination and his first win. I will not go on and on because I have mentioned a lot of this in my blog about Dodsworth which was his first film that received a directing nomination. He was up against the following.
- Sam Wood for Kings Row
- Mervyn Leroy for Random Harvest
- John Farrow for Wake Island
- Michael Curtiz for Yankee Doodle Dandy
- The Invaders
- Kings Row
- The Magnificent Ambersons
- The Pied Piper
- The Pride of the Yankees
- Random Harvest
- The Talk of the Town
- Wake Island
- Yankee Doodle Dandy
The thing that struck me the most about watching this movie is that it came out when the outcome of the war was uncertain. I know that there are other war movies that were made during this period, but this is the first one that made me think about it. It made me wonder how someone sitting in the theater felt at the end. It was filled with hope and promise yet the war would not end for another three years. I also liked the fact that the retreat at Dunkirk was part of the film. I think it added to the desperation and worry that the English must have felt during the Battle of Britain.
In the end, the thing I recall the most about this movie is that it was the first of the old movies that I watched when we started working on our list. I had of course seen other older movies, but this was the first black and white era movie I got from Netflix when I embarked on this voyage. To my surprise not only did I enjoy it, but I didn't feel as if I suffered throughout the film at all. I truly enjoyed it and would give it 4 out of 5 stars. I gave it 4 stars mainly because I just don't see it on the level of a classic like Gone With the Wind.
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