The Best Picture of 1942 is…..”Mrs. Miniver.” This outstanding drama depicts a middle class English family enduring the stresses and strains of Nazi Germany’s bombardment of their nation during the early years of World War II. The film took home six Oscars (out of twelve nominations) including Best Picture, Best Director (William Wyler), Best Actress (Greer Garson), Best Supporting Actress (Teresa Wright), Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Cinematography/Black and White (Joseph Ruttenberg).
Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon star as the heads of the family living in the suburbs of London, Teresa Wright plays their daughter-in-law, May Whitty is her grandmother, Richard Ney is her Air Force husband Vin Miniver, along with co-stars Reginald Owen, Henry Travers, Henry Wilcoxon, Christopher Severn, Clare Sandars, Brenda Forbes, and Peter Lawford in an uncredited cameo role as a pilot.
The very watchable “Mrs. Miniver” was the top-grossing film of the year for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Director William Wyler (“Wuthering Heights” 1939) based the film on a series of newspaper columns by Jan Truther later published in book form, popular on both sides of the Pond. It was the first major motion picture with a World War II theme. President Franklin Roosevelt said it hastened America’s entry into the war. And the always verbose PM Winston Churchill stated that “Mrs. Miniver” did more for the Allied cause than “a flotilla of battleships.”
Mrs. Miniver (1942)
cinema
My Review
The Best Picture of 1942 is…..”Mrs. Miniver.” This outstanding drama depicts a middle class English family enduring the stresses and strains of Nazi Germany’s bombardment of their nation during the early years of World War II. The film took home six Oscars (out of twelve nominations) including Best Picture, Best Director (William Wyler), Best Actress (Greer Garson), Best Supporting Actress (Teresa Wright), Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Cinematography/Black and White (Joseph Ruttenberg).
Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon star as the heads of the family living in the suburbs of London, Teresa Wright plays their daughter-in-law, May Whitty is her grandmother, Richard Ney is her Air Force husband Vin Miniver, along with co-stars Reginald Owen, Henry Travers, Henry Wilcoxon, Christopher Severn, Clare Sandars, Brenda Forbes, and Peter Lawford in an uncredited cameo role as a pilot.
The very watchable “Mrs. Miniver” was the top-grossing film of the year for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Director William Wyler (“Wuthering Heights” 1939) based the film on a series of newspaper columns by Jan Truther later published in book form, popular on both sides of the Pond. It was the first major motion picture with a World War II theme. President Franklin Roosevelt said it hastened America’s entry into the war. And the always verbose PM Winston Churchill stated that “Mrs. Miniver” did more for the Allied cause than “a flotilla of battleships.”