The Valley of Decision (1945)

An Irish maid falls for the son of her wealthy boss, though their disapproving fathers and a bitter strike at the steel mill complicates matters.

Director:

Tay Garnett

Writers:

John Meehan (screen play), Sonya Levien (screen play)

Stars:

Greer Garson, Gregory Peck, Donald Crisp

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Greer Garson	...	Mary Rafferty
Gregory Peck	...	Paul Scott
Donald Crisp	...	William Scott
Lionel Barrymore	...	Pat Rafferty
Preston Foster	...	Jim Brennan
Marsha Hunt	...	Constance Scott
Gladys Cooper	...	Clarissa Scott
Reginald Owen	...	McCready
Dan Duryea	...	William Scott Jr.
Jessica Tandy	...	Louise Kane
Barbara Everest	...	Delia
Marshall Thompson	...	Ted Scott
Geraldine Wall	...	Kate Shannon
Evelyn Dockson	...	Mrs. Callahan
John Warburton	...	Giles

Storyline

Mary Rafferty comes from a poor family of steel mill workers in 19th Century Pittsburgh. Her family objects when she goes to work as a maid for the wealthy Scott family which controls the mill. Mary catches the attention of handsome scion Paul Scott, but their romance is complicated by Paul's engagement to someone else and a bitter strike among the mill workers.

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Plot Keywords:

factory | city | railroad tracks | birdhouse | job | 

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Taglines:

The Book That Thrilled Millions!

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

June 1945 (USA)

Also Known As:

El valle de la abnegación

Filming Locations:

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

Box Office

Budget:

$2,160,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

119 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Despite her youthful appearance, Greer Garson was twelve years older than her leading man, Gregory Peck.

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Goofs

When Mary is leaving for Europe after stopping in at her father's house, she rushes away without her satchel containing all her belongings. She is seen boarding the carriage without it, and Jim, who accompanies her outside, is not carrying it, either.

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Quotes

Paul Scott: [Mary is upset over her father's stubbornness and begins crying. Paul leads her to a bluff overlooking Pittsburgh's steel mills] You can see all of Pittsburgh from here, but Pittsburgh can't see you. Why don't you sit down and cry it out?

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Connections

Referenced in About Mrs. Leslie (1954)

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Soundtracks

Pop! Goes the Weasel
(uncredited)
Traditional 17th century English song
Whistled by Gregory Peck several times

User Reviews

An Important Attempt; a Memorable Production; Intelligent Characters

This is a fine historical-era drama, about a Pennsylvania mill-town. In this absorbing drama, which is only one book of a monumental Catholic work by Marcia Davenport, Greer Garson plays a pretty and bright young woman who takes a job in the lavish home of a Pittsburgh steel magnate, played honestly and strongly veteran actor Donald Crisp. Gregory Peck plays one of his sons, the serious one, who is devoted to his father's mill and who works alongside some of the mill workers, including his friend Preston Foster. The father has two other sons--Dan Duryea, who is more desirous of having money rather than of working; and Marshall Thompson, who has turned to alcohol in his unhappiness...There is also a daughter played by the fine actress Marsha Hunt, perhaps one of her best performances. Gladys Cooper plays the matriarch of the family, who befriends Garson, and leaves her her shares in the mill. Garson's father, played with skill by Lionel Barrymore, is an embittered man, who lost the use of his legs in an accident in the mill, and did not want his daughter working for the owners. It is he who begets violence that has tragic consequences. Jessica Tandy plays Peck's wife, a bitter woman; Peck should have married Garsop all along, of course; but the climax of the film is the troubles at the steel mill that are started by the angry workers and the consequences on all concerned of this violent crisis action. There are many finely-developed characters in this long film, but I sense also a fair sense of fatality about the events, intended by the author, against which the attraction of persons, characters and dispositions of Peck and Garson are played, like two rays of sunlight illuminating a dark jungle's zone. Thiis attractive B/W production was directed by Tay Garnett. Marcia Davenport long novel was adapted to the screen by fine scenarist Sonya Levien and John Meehan. The cinematography for the film was the work of Joseph Ruttenberg and Herbert Stothart composed the dramatic score. When I say that the art direction was done by Cedric Gibbons with Paul Groesse, the set decorations by Edwin B. Willis and the costume designs by Irene, I have accounted for the film's very-opulent and vivid production values. In the cast apart from the principals already mentioned, one can see Barbara Everest, Geraldine Wall, Eveline Dockson, John Warburton, Rusell Hicks, Mary Lord, Arthur Shields, young Dean Stockwell, Maru Courier, Lumsden Hare, Connie Golchrist and Anna Q. Nilsson. This is always an attractive and a carefully-considered production, which occasionally seems to me to lack warmth; with a great script, everyone concerned could perhaps have produced a masterpiece. With the one they had, the talents involved produced a memorable adventure that rises on occasion to first-rate dramatic heights. Not to be missed, perhaps. I would love to see it redone, with another fine cast; more than melodrama, it has I believe as a writer, an important dramatic potential.