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 | Dunkirk | England | Air Raid

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

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)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1943) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• MGM/UA Home Video (1989) (USA) (VHS)
• Chapel Distribution (1997) (Australia) (theatrical) (35mm & 16mm prints)
• Argentina Video Home (2001) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2004) (Germany) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Vídeo (2004) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Argentina Video Home (2006) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Living Colour Entertainment (2008) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Central Motion Picture Exchange (1949) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Státní Pujcovna Filmu (194?) (Czechoslovakia) (theatrical)

Other Companies

• Turner Entertainment  VHS package design

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:

Argentina:13 | Finland:(Banned) (1943-1944) | Finland:K-16 (1944) | Finland:S (1964) | Sweden:15 (cut) | 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 | South Korea:All

Filming Locations:

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

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

William Wyler openly admitted that he made the film for propaganda reasons. Wyler - who was born in Germany - strongly believed that the US should join the war against Nazism, and was concerned that America's policy of isolationism would prove damaging, so he made a film that showed ordinary Americans what their British equivalents were undergoing at the time. The film's subsequent success had a profound effect on American sympathy towards the plight of the British.

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: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.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Hollywood Hist-o-Rama: Greer Garson" (1961)

Soundtrack:

God Save the King!

Watch out for the backs of the heads!

What a wonderful film Mrs Miniver still is 58 years later. Like Coppola's 'Gardens of Stone', it deals with war by following the lives of those affected by it, and without showing any combat. It's moving, but unlike many other films of the period, totally unsentimental, though has many warm and winning moments (Pidgeon spanking Garson as the maid walks in, following an eventful morning, to say the least!)

Two sequences particularly clicked on this viewing. The first involves the son/pilot who is recalled to service abruptly when his leave has only just begun. He goes upstairs to get his belongings, the mother and fiancée are left in the room, with the backs of their heads to camera - a most unusual shot 'against the rules' of filming. Then you realise the centre of attention is the space left on the stair by the son - they and we are missing him, awaiting his return, but only for a moment as he must leave again. It's as poignant as the doorway framing scenes in 'The Searchers', and rather subtle.

Another scene is the family in the air raid shelter undergoing a bombing attack. The claustrophobia of the situation, and the bravery and dignity of the powerless family caught there, is focused by a single point of view. The unspoken fear is on the face of Garson, vocalised by the kids who finally awake as the bombardment increases. Long, simple takes perfectly capture the intense atmosphere (and exceptional acting.

When I was young I never appreciated this art of 'invisible' film-making, and just why such directors as William Wyler or Preston Sturges or Billy Wilder do such a good job without you even noticing. The fact their films stand the test of time so well is testament to their wonderful abilities as film-makers.