Mrs. Miniver (1942)

I'm not ashamed to admit that I cried at the end of Mrs. Miniver, winner of the award for Best Picture of 1942. This movie, made almost immediately after the events that it depicts, earns its emotions honestly. It is a war movie, to be sure, but one that concentrates on what happened on the home front in England during the air attacks by the Germans. Instead of numerous battle scenes, what you get instead is the way that the English people dealt with their situation in typically heroic fashion. I wasn't particularly prepared to be as moved as I was, but watching these "ordinary" people adjust to the horrors of war is a powerful experience.

The movie starts in 1939, just as Hitler's armies invade Poland. It shows how the people of England kept in touch with the events on the Continent, knowing that these events could and probably would directly affect them as well. The focus for much of the film is the Miniver family. The father (Walter Pidgeon) is an architect who becomes a leader in the patrol that keeps watch at night during the war; he also participates in a rather daring boat attack on Dunkirk, using only the small boat that his family owns for punting about on the river. The mother (Greer Garson) tries to hold her family together, but even she contributes directly to the war effort when she discovers a downed German pilot, manages to get his gun, and turns him over to the police.

The Minivers have three children, but only the oldest (Richard Ney) is key to the overall plot. He joins the Royal Air Force and keeps getting called to duty just when he's had a chance to reunite briefly with his family. He also falls in love with and marries the granddaughter of the town's wealthiest resident, Lady Beldon (the incomparable Dame May Whitty). His new bride (Teresa Wright) understands very well the possible sacrifices she might be asked to make as the wife of a pilot, a remarkably mature attitude for someone who is only 18 years old.

The ending of the film takes place in the remains of the town's church, which has almost been completely destroyed by bombs. The sermon for the day has to do with why the town has lost people who are considered innocents, why they have been the victims of the bombing instead of soldiers or pilots. It's a stirring moment when the vicar describes World War II as everyone's war. No doubt this film, particularly the ending, helped enormously with bolstering American sentiment for joining the war. I won't tell you who among the Minivers is lost in the bombing, but it's heartbreaking to watch the remains of the family joining together at the end.

Garson won the award for Best Actress that year, and you can certainly see why. I always liked her, even when it was only her voice that I heard ("The Little Drummer Boy," for example). Allegedly, she gave the longest acceptance speech in Academy history, but since they weren't televised back then, we have no film record of it. I'd love to see it sometime, though. Wright, as Carol Beldon Miniver, was chosen Best Supporting Actress, beating out Whitty for the award. In fact, five members of the cast were nominated that year, one of those few times when there was a nomination from a film in every acting category.

There are really three Mrs. Minivers in the film, by the way. Garson, of course, is the first one and perhaps the one that the title refers to. However, upon her marriage, Carol becomes Mrs. Miniver as well, a fact that Garson's character points out. The third is a rose, a beautiful one, that one of the townspeople names in honor of Garson's character. It's a fitting tribute to her as she embodies the best traits of the English people, a true "English rose." And, in a similar fashion, this film honors those same attributes.