Mrs. Miniver (1942)

Director:

William Wyler

Writers:

Arthur Wimperis (screenplay) &
George Froeschel (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

1 December 1942 (Sweden)

Genre:

Drama | Romance | War

Tagline:

VOTED THE GREATEST MOVIE EVER MADE!

Plot:

The Minivers, an English "middle-class" family experience life in the first months of World War II. While dodging bombs...

Plot Keywords:

Rose | Middle Class | England | Dunkirk | Architect

Awards:

Won 6 Oscars. Another 3 wins & 6 nominations

Cast

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
Rhys Williams	...	Horace
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Harry Allen	...	William (uncredited)
Frank Atkinson	...	Man in Tavern (uncredited)
Sybil Bacon	...	Contestant (uncredited)
Frank Baker	...	Policeman (uncredited)
Virginia Bassett	...	Glee Club Member (uncredited)
Louise Bates	...	Miniver Guest (uncredited)
Guy Bellis	...	Barman (uncredited)
Charles Bennett	...	Milkman (uncredited)
Florence Benson	...	Contestant (uncredited)
Art Berry Sr.	...	Man in Store (uncredited)
Billy Bevan	...	Bus Conductor (uncredited)
Ted Billings	...	Man in Tavern (uncredited)
John Burton	...	Halliday (uncredited)
Gene Byram	...	Glee Club Member (uncredited)
Walter Byron	...	Man in Tavern (uncredited)
Colin Campbell	...	Bickles - Flower Show Manager (uncredited)
Leonard Carey	...	Chandler - Lady Beldon's Butler (uncredited)
Aileen Carlyle	...	Glee Club Member (uncredited)
St. Luke's Episcopal Church Choristers	...	Choir (uncredited)
Herbert Clifton	...	Doctor (uncredited)
David Clyde	...	Carruthers (uncredited)
Tom Conway	...	Man (uncredited)
Edward Cooper	...	Waiter (uncredited)
Jules Cowles	...	Man at Flower Show (uncredited)
Alec Craig	...	Joe (uncredited)
Sidney D'Albrook	...	Man in Store (uncredited)
Irene Denny	...	Glee Club Member (uncredited)
David Dunbar	...	Man in Store (uncredited)
Billy Engle	...	Townsman (uncredited)
Herbert Evans	...	Glee Club Member (uncredited)
Mary Field	...	Miss Spriggins (uncredited)
E.L. Fisher-Smith	...	Policeman (uncredited)
Leslie Francis	...	Doctor (uncredited)
Sidney Franklin	...	Man at Flower Show (uncredited)
Douglas Gordon	...	Porter (uncredited)
Gibson Gowland	...	Man on Boat (uncredited)
Hugh Greenwood	...	Contestant (uncredited)
Bobby Hale	...	Old Man (uncredited)
Eddie Hall	...	RAF Flyer Running Out the Door (uncredited)
Forrester Harvey	...	Mr. Huggins (uncredited)
Harold Howard	...	Judge (uncredited)
Charles Irwin	...	Mac (uncredited)
Colin Kenny	...	Policeman (uncredited)
Henry King	...	Man in Tavern (uncredited)
Peter Lawford	...	Pilot (uncredited)
Eric Lonsdale	...	Marston (uncredited)
Thomas Louden	...	Mr. Verger (uncredited)
Miles Mander	...	German Agent on Radio (voice) (uncredited)
Stanley Mann	...	Workman (uncredited)
Aubrey Mather	...	George (uncredited)
Dan Maxwell	...	Man in Tavern (uncredited)
Alice Mock	...	Lady Passenger (uncredited)
Eula Morgan	...	Glee Club Member (uncredited)
Ottola Nesmith	...	Saleslady (uncredited)
Gil Perkins	...	Man in Tavern (uncredited)
John Power	...	Man in Tavern (uncredited)
Charles Ray	...	Man getting on Bus (uncredited)
Clara Reid	...	Mrs. Huggins (uncredited)
Paul Scardon	...	Nobby (uncredited)
Leslie Sketchley	...	Policeman (uncredited)
Gerald Oliver Smith	...	Car Dealer (uncredited)
Vernon Steele	...	Glee Club Member (uncredited)
Vivia Steele	...	Glee Club Member (uncredited)
David Thursby	...	Farmer (uncredited)
Leslie Vincent	...	Carol's First Dancing Partner (uncredited)
Kitty Watson	...	Contestant (uncredited)
Ben Webster	...	Ginger (uncredited)
Frank Whitbeck	...	Trailer Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
Tudor Williams	...	Glee Club Member (uncredited)
Arthur Wimperis	...	Sir Henry (uncredited)
Marek Windheim	...	Glee Club Member (uncredited)
Florence Wix	...	Woman with Dog (uncredited)
Ian Wolfe	...	Dentist (uncredited)

Directed by
William Wyler

Writing credits
Arthur Wimperis		(screenplay) &
George Froeschel		(screenplay) &
James Hilton		(screenplay) &
Claudine West		(screenplay)
Jan Struther		(based on the book by)
Paul Osborn		contributing writer (uncredited)
R.C. Sherriff		contributing writer (uncredited)

Produced by
Sidney Franklin	....	producer

Original Music by
Herbert Stothart		(musical score)

Cinematography by
Joseph Ruttenberg		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Harold F. Kress		(film editor)

Art Direction by
Cedric Gibbons

Set Decoration by
Edwin B. Willis

Costume Design by
Robert Kalloch		(gowns) (as Kalloch)

Makeup Department
Sydney Guilaroff	....	hair stylist: Miss Garson

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Walter Strohm	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Urie McCleary	....	associate art director

Sound Department
Douglas Shearer	....	recording director

Special Effects by
A. Arnold Gillespie	....	special effects (as Arnold Gillespie)
Warren Newcombe	....	special effects

Visual Effects by
Max Fabian	....	special photographic effects (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Gile Steele	....	wardrobe: men

Editorial Department
John McSweeney Jr.	....	assistant editor (uncredited)

Music Department
Daniele Amfitheatrof	....	composer: additional music (uncredited)
Murray Cutter	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Paul Marquardt	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Leonid Raab	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Other crew
Ripley Dorr	....	director: St. Luke's Choristers
Howard Dietz	....	publicist (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (controlled by Loew's Incorporated) (presents) (A William Wyler Production)

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1942) (USA) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1942) (UK) (theatrical)
• Chapel Distribution (1997) (Australia) (theatrical) (35mm & 16mm prints)
• Státní Pujcovna Filmu (194?) (Czechoslovakia) (theatrical)
• Living Colour Entertainment (2008) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2004) (Germany) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Vídeo (2004) (Brazil) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

134 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | German

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Australia:G (original rating) | Australia:PG (TV rating) | UK:U | Spain:T | USA:Approved (PCA #8034) | Canada:G (video rating) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | West Germany:12 | USA:TV-G | Argentina:13 | Finland:(Banned) (1943-1944) | Finland:K-16 (1944) | Finland:S (1964) | Sweden:15 (cut)

Filming Locations:

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

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

Winston Churchill once said that this film had done more for the war effort than a flotilla of destroyers.

Goofs:

Factual errors: 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).

Quotes:

Kay Miniver:But in war, time is so precious to the young people.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Dick Van Dyke Show: Long Nights Journey into Day (#5.30)" (1966)

Soundtrack:

Good Night, Ladies

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.