Mrs. Miniver (1942)

The Minivers, an English "middle-class" family experience life in the first months of World War II. While dodging bombs, the Miniver's son courts Lady Beldon's granddaughter. A rose is ... See full summary »

Director:

William Wyler

Writers:

Arthur Wimperis (screenplay), George Froeschel (screenplay),

Stars:

Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon, Teresa Wright

Won 6 Oscars. Another 3 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Greer Garson	...	Mrs. Miniver
Walter Pidgeon	...	Clem Miniver
Teresa Wright	...	Carol Beldon
Dame May Whitty	...	Lady Beldon
Reginald Owen	...	Foley
Henry Travers	...	Mr. Ballard
Richard Ney	...	Vin Miniver
Henry Wilcoxon	...	Vicar
Christopher Severn	...	Toby Miniver
Brenda Forbes	...	Gladys - Housemaid
Clare Sandars	...	Judy Miniver
Marie De Becker	...	Ada
Helmut Dantine	...	German Flyer
John Abbott	...	Fred
Connie Leon	...	Simpson

Storyline

The Minivers, an English "middle-class" family experience life in the first months of World War II. While dodging bombs, the Miniver's son courts Lady Beldon's granddaughter. A rose is named after Mrs. Miniver and entered in the competition against Lady Beldon's rose.

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Plot Keywords:

rose | middle class | dunkirk | england | air raid | 

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Taglines:

VOTED THE GREATEST MOVIE EVER MADE!

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Genres:

Drama | Romance | War

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English German

Release Date:

1 December 1942 (Sweden)

Also Known As:

A Família Miniver

Filming Locations:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,344,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

134 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

After first-choice Norma Shearer rejected the title role (as she refused to play a mother), Greer Garson was cast. Although she didn't want the part either she was contractually bound to take it, and won the Academy Award for her performance.

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Goofs

In the scene where the men in the pub are listening to the British traitor's broadcast from Berlin, he says it's been eight months since England declared war, and that now France has fallen. England declared war on September 3, 1939, so eight months later would be on or about May 3, 1940. At that time, France had not yet even been invaded (that came on May 10), let alone surrendered (which occurred on June 22).

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Quotes

Kay Miniver: Did you know that the 12th Lord Beldon was hanged?
Lady Beldon: He was beheaded! Such things happen in the best families. In fact, usually in the best families.

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Connections

Version of Mrs. Miniver (1960)

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Soundtracks

"Midsummer's Day"
Written by Gene Lockhart
Played and Sung by the local glee club at the flower show

User Reviews

It isn't sappy!

I avoided watching "Mrs. Miniver" for years because I assumed it was a treacly, sentimentalized film that ignored what I considered the real issues of war. Knowing Greer Garson, who I considered the anti-Crawford, starred in it gave me more of an excuse.

I finally watched it as "film homework" and loved it. It's about an upper-middle-class English family (although most of the American actors are terrible holding their accents) and their experience in the early years of World War II.

A swiftly-moving storyline takes us from the complacency of peace through air raids, Dunkirk and tragedy. No one is a super-hero, but decent people who understand they must put aside their personal concerns and do what must be done to fight for their country and freedom. No one preaches except the minister and he, only rarely.

Of course, it being England, there's time for a flower show, and being a movie, there's a romance (WWII was not kind to Theresa Wright's characters, however).

The film's remarkable pacing is one of its great highlights. Long transitions are covered in the merest of hints; a comment that a servant has departed, for example. Yet there's time for powerful, lengthy scenes such as that of the Minivers holed up in a crude bomb shelter with their two young children, away from their storybook home. Despite the increasingly hellish crash of bombs and bullets, they try to chat about knitting and such. But soon the fear builds to an unbearable climax and the family desperately clings to one another.

The acting is generally superb, and much of the story is told through silent shots of the stars, rather than dialog. Few moments are as touching as the shot of the glowing young wife seeing her husband off to war, admiring his courage, contrasted by the barely hidden fear and maturity of the mother.

You can nit-pick; the movie has many of the conventional stylistic hallmarks of the period. But it is the masterpiece it has long been hailed.