''Mrs. Miniver'' is a 1942 American romantic

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

film directed by

William Wyler William Wyler (; born Willi Wyler (); July 1, 1902 – July 27, 1981) was a Swiss-German-American film director and producer who won the Academy Award for Best Director three times, those being for '' Mrs. Miniver'' (1942), '' The Best Years o ...

, and starring

Greer Garson Eileen Evelyn Greer Garson (29 September 1904 – 6 April 1996) was an English-American actress and singer. She was a major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer who became popular during the Second World War for her portrayal of strong women on the hom ...

and

Walter Pidgeon Walter Davis Pidgeon (September 23, 1897 – September 25, 1984) was a Canadian-American actor. He earned two Academy Award for Best Actor nominations for his roles in '' Mrs. Miniver'' (1942) and ''Madame Curie'' (1943). Pidgeon also starred in ...

. Inspired by the 1940 novel '' Mrs. Miniver'' by

Jan Struther Jan, JaN or JAN may refer to: Acronyms * Jackson, Mississippi (Amtrak station), US, Amtrak station code JAN * Jackson-Evers International Airport, Mississippi, US, IATA code * Jabhat al-Nusra (JaN), a Syrian militant group * Japanese Article Numb ...

, it shows how the life of an unassuming British housewife in rural England is affected by

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. Produced and distributed by

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...

, its supporting cast includes Teresa Wright,

Dame May Whitty ''Dame'' is an honorific title and the feminine form of address for the honour of damehood in many Christian chivalric orders, as well as the British honours system and those of several other Commonwealth realms, such as Australia and New Zeal ...

Reginald Owen John Reginald Owen (5 August 1887 – 5 November 1972) was a British actor. He was known for his many roles in British and American films and television programs. Career The son of Joseph and Frances Owen, Reginald Owen studied at Sir Herbert ...

Henry Travers Travers John Heagerty (5 March 1874 – 18 October 1965), known professionally as Henry Travers, was an English film and stage character actor. His best known role was the guardian angel Clarence Odbody in the 1946 film ''It's a Wonderful Life' ...

Richard Ney Richard Maximilian Ney (November 12, 1916 – July 18, 2004) was an American actor, author, and investment counselor. Life and career Ney was born in New York City, the son of Erwin Maximilian Ney (1893-1968), an insurance salesman, and Charlott ...

and

Henry Wilcoxon Harry Frederick Wilcoxon (8 September 1905 – 6 March 1984), known as Henry Wilcoxon, was an actor born in Roseau, Dominica, British West Indies, and who was a leading man in many of Cecil B. DeMille's films, also serving as DeMille's associ ...

. It was a critical and a commercial success, becoming the highest-grossing film of 1942 and winning six

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

, including Best Picture, Best Director,

Best Actress Best Actress is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organisations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actresses in a film, television series, television film or play. The first Best Actress aw ...

(Garson), and Best Supporting Actress (Teresa Wright). It was the first film centered on World War II to win Best Picture, and the first to receive five acting nominations. A sequel, '' The Miniver Story'' (1950) was made with Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon reprising their roles.

Plot

Kay Miniver (

) and her family live a comfortable life at a house called "Starlings" in Belham, a fictional village outside London. The house has a large garden, with a private landing stage on the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...

at which is moored a motorboat belonging to her devoted husband, Clem (

), a successful architect. They have three children: the youngsters Toby (

Christopher Severn Christopher Aubrey Reginald Severn (born Los Angeles) is an American former screen actor. Severn is the son of Dr. Clifford Brill Severn (1890-1981). His parents had emigrated from South Africa to Los Angeles shortly before he was born. He had s ...

) and Judy ( Clare Sandars), and an older son, Vin (

), a student at

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. They have live-in staff: Gladys, the housemaid ( Brenda Forbes), and Ada, the cook (

Marie De Becker Marie Kathleen De Becker (13 June 1880 – 23 March 1946) was an English-American stage and screen actress. Family She was born in Islington, London, the daughter of Benevenuto Nicola de Becker, a shipping clerk, and his wife Catherine (or Kate) ...

). As

looms, Vin returns from the university and meets Carol Beldon ( Teresa Wright), granddaughter of Lady Beldon (

) from nearby Beldon Hall. Despite initial disagreements—mainly contrasting Vin's idealistic attitude to class differences with Carol's practical altruism—they fall in love. As the war comes closer to home, Vin feels he must "do his bit", and enlists in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

, qualifying as a fighter pilot. He is posted to a base near to his parents' home and can signal his safe return from operations to his parents by "blipping" his engine briefly (rapidly open and closing the throttle, which results in short, sharp roars of sound) as he flies over the house. Vin proposes to Carol in front of his family at home, after his younger brother prods him to give a less romantic, but more honest, proposal than he had envisioned. Together with other boat owners, Clem volunteers to take his motorboat, the ''Starling'', to assist in the

Dunkirk evacuation The Dunkirk evacuation, codenamed Operation Dynamo and also known as the Miracle of Dunkirk, or just Dunkirk, was the evacuation of more than 338,000 Allies of World War II, Allied soldiers during the World War II, Second World War from the bea ...

. Early one morning, Kay, unable to sleep as Clem is still away, wanders down to the landing stage. She is startled to discover a wounded

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

pilot (

Helmut Dantine Helmut Dantine (7 October 1918 – 2 May 1982) was an Austrian-American actor who often played Nazis in thriller films of the 1940s. His best-known performances are perhaps the German pilot in '' Mrs. Miniver'' and the desperate refugee in '' ...

) hiding in her garden, and he takes her to the house at gunpoint. Demanding food and a coat, the pilot aggressively asserts that the

Third Reich Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

will mercilessly overcome its enemies. She feeds him, calmly disarms him when he collapses, and then calls the police. Soon after, Clem returns home, exhausted, from Dunkirk. Lady Beldon visits Kay to try and convince her to talk Vin out of marrying Carol on account of her granddaughter's comparative youth at age eighteen. Kay reminds Her Ladyship that she, too, had been young—sixteen, in fact—when she married her late husband. Lady Beldon concedes defeat and realizes that it would be futile to try to stop the marriage. Vin and Carol marry; Carol has now also become a Mrs. Miniver, and they return from their honeymoon in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. A key theme is that she knows Vin is likely to be killed in action, but their short love will fill her life. Later, Kay and her family take refuge in their Anderson shelter in the garden during an air raid, and attempt to keep their minds off the frightening bombing by reading ''

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (commonly ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English novel by Lewis Carroll. It details the story of a young girl named Alice who falls through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world of anthropomorphic creature ...

'', which Clem refers to as a "lovely story". They barely survive as a bomb destroys part of Starlings. The Minivers take the damage with nonchalance. At the annual village flower show, Lady Beldon silently disregards the judges' decision that her rose is the winner. Instead, she announces that the rose entered by the local stationmaster, Mr. Ballard (

), named the "Mrs. Miniver", as the winner, with her own Beldon Rose taking second prize. As air raid sirens sound and the villagers take refuge in the cellars of Beldon Hall, Kay and Carol drive Vin to join his squadron. On their journey home, they witness fighter planes in a dogfight. For safety, Kay stops the car, and they see a German plane crash. Kay realizes Carol has been wounded by machine-gun fire from the plane, and takes her back to Starlings. She dies a few minutes after they reach home. Kay is devastated. When Vin returns from battle, he already knows the terrible news. Ironically, he is the survivor, and Carol the one who died. The villagers assemble at the badly damaged church where their vicar affirms their determination in a powerful sermon: A solitary Lady Beldon stands in her family's church pew. Vin moves to stand alongside her, united in shared grief, as the members of the congregation rise and stoically sing "

Onward, Christian Soldiers "Onward, Christian Soldiers" is a 19th-century English hymn. The words were written by Sabine Baring-Gould in 1865, and the music was composed by Arthur Sullivan in 1871. Sullivan named the tune "St Gertrude," after the wife of his friend Erne ...

". The camera pans to empty sky showing through the gaping hole in the bombed church's roof. Underscored by a full orchestra triumphantly playing “

Land of Hope and Glory "Land of Hope and Glory" is a British patriotic song, with music by Edward Elgar written in 1901 and lyrics by A. C. Benson later added in 1902. Composition The music to which the words of the refrain 'Land of Hope and Glory, &c' below ar ...

,” flight after flight of RAF fighters in the V-for-Victory formation depart to face the enemy.

Cast

as Kay Miniver *

as Clem Miniver * Teresa Wright as Carol Beldon *

as Lady Beldon *

as Foley *

as Mr. Ballard *

as Vin Miniver *

as the Vicar *

as Toby Miniver * Brenda Forbes as Gladys (Housemaid) * Clare Sandars as Judy Miniver *

as Ada *

as German flyer *

John Abbott Sir John Joseph Caldwell Abbott (March 12, 1821 – October 30, 1893) was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the third prime minister of Canada from 1891 to 1892. He held office as the leader of the Conservative Party. Abb ...

as Fred *

Connie Leon Connie Leon (1881 in Cheshire, England – 10 May 1955 in Los Angeles, California) was an English singer, dancer and film actress. Career Between 1896 and 1909, Connie Leon was popular in provincial theatre as a singer, dancer and comedian, includi ...

as Simpson * Rhys Williams as Horace *

Peter Lawford Peter Sydney Ernest Lawford ( Aylen; 7 September 1923 – 24 December 1984) was an English-American actor.Obituary '' Variety'', 26 December 1984. He was a member of the " Rat Pack" and the brother-in-law of US president John F. Kennedy and se ...

as a pilot (uncredited) * Charles Bennett as milkman (uncredited) * Harry Allen as William (uncredited) *

Billy Bevan Billy Bevan (born William Bevan Harris, 29 September 1887 – 26 November 1957) was an Australian-born vaudevillian, who became an American film actor. He appeared in more than 250 American films between 1916 and 1950. Career Bevan was bo ...

as bus conductor (uncredited)

Production

The film entered pre-production in the autumn of 1940, when the United States was still a neutral country. Over the several months the screenplay was written, the U.S. moved closer to war. As a result, scenes were rewritten to reflect Americans' increasingly pro-British and anti-German outlooks. For example, the scene where Mrs. Miniver confronts a downed German flyer in her garden was made more confrontational with each new version. Following the Japanese

attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii ...

that brought the U.S. into the war, the garden scene was re-filmed to reflect the tough, new spirit of a nation at war. The key difference was that in the new version of the scene, filmed in February 1942, Mrs. Miniver was allowed to slap the flyer across the face. The film was released 4 months later. Wilcoxon and director

"wrote and re-wrote" the key sermon scene the night before it was shot. Daynard, Don ''Henry Wilcoxon'' in Peter Harris (ed.) ''The New Captain George's Whizzbang'' #13 (1971), p. 5 The speech "made such an impact that it was used in essence by President Roosevelt as a morale builder and part of it was the basis for leaflets printed in various languages and dropped over enemy and occupied territory". Roosevelt ordered the film rushed to the theaters for propaganda purposes. The sermon dialogue was reprinted in ''Time'' and ''Look'' magazines.

Reception

Critical response

''Mrs. Miniver'' was a quintessential Hollywood film In terms of its directing, acting, esthetics and technology; yet it had a profound impact on British audiences. Historian

Tony Judt Tony Robert Judt ( ; 2 January 1948 – 6 August 2010) was a British-American historian, essayist and university professor who specialized in European history. Judt moved to New York and served as the Erich Maria Remarque Professor in European ...

wrote that it was "a very English tale of domestic fortitude and endurance, of middle-class reticence and perseverance, set symptomatically around the disaster at Dunkirk where all these qualities were taken to be most on display— twas a pure product of Hollywood. Yet for the English generation that first saw it the film would long remain the truest representation of national memory and self-image. On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

, the film holds an approval rating of 94% based on 63 reviews, with an average rating of 7.8/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "An excessively sentimental piece of propaganda, ''Mrs. Miniver'' nonetheless succeeds, due largely to Greer Garson's powerful performance." In 2006, the film was ranked No. 40 on the

American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees. Lead ...

's list of the most inspiring American films of all time. In 2009, it was named to the

National Film Registry The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation, each selected for its historical, cultural and aesthetic contributions since the NFPB’s inception ...

by the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The libra ...

as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically" significant: Of the 592 critics polled by American magazine ''

Film Daily ''The Film Daily'' was a daily publication that existed from 1918 to 1970 in the United States. It was the first daily newspaper published solely for the film industry. It covered the latest trade news, film reviews, financial updates, informatio ...

'', 555 named it the best film of 1942.

Reactions to propaganda elements

Joseph Goebbels Paul Joseph Goebbels (; 29 October 1897 – 1 May 1945) was a German Nazi politician who was the '' Gauleiter'' (district leader) of Berlin, chief propagandist for the Nazi Party, and then Reich Minister of Propaganda from 1933 to ...

, minister of

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...

, wrote: The propaganda angle was cited—perhaps naively—by ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' in its 1942 review:

Box office

''Mrs. Miniver'' exceeded all expectations, grossing $5,358,000 in the US and Canada and $3,520,000 abroad. In the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

, it was named the top box office attraction of 1942. The initial theatrical release earned a profit of $4,831,000, making it MGM's most successful film to that time."101 Pix Gross in Millions" ''Variety'', 6 Jan 1943, p. 58
/ref>

Awards and nominations

Sequel and adaptations

* In 1943, the film was adapted into an episode of the ''

Lux Radio Theatre ''Lux Radio Theatre'', sometimes spelled ''Lux Radio Theater'', a classic radio anthology series, was broadcast on the NBC Blue Network (1934–35) (owned by the National Broadcasting Company, later predecessor of American Broadcasting Company ...

''. That episode in turn was popular enough to inspire a 5-day a week serial, starring radio veteran Trudy Warner on CBS. * In 1950, a film

sequel A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...

, '' The Miniver Story'', was made with Garson and Pidgeon reprising their roles. * In 1960, a 90-minute television adaptation directed by

Marc Daniels Marc Daniels (January 27, 1912 – April 23, 1989), born Danny Marcus, was an American television director. He directed on programs such as I Love Lucy, Gunsmoke, Star Trek, Mission: Impossible, Hogan's Heroes, and more. Life and career Da ...

was broadcast on CBS, with

Maureen O'Hara Maureen O'Hara (; 17 August 1920 – 24 October 2015) was a native Irish and naturalized American actress and singer, who became successful in Hollywood from the 1940s through to the 1960s. She was a natural redhead who was known for pl ...

as Mrs. Miniver and

Leo Genn Leopold John Genn (9 August 190526 January 1978) was an English actor and barrister. Distinguished by his relaxed charm and smooth, "black velvet" voice, he had a lengthy career in theatre, film, television, and radio; often playing aristocr ...

as Clem Miniver. *In 2015, a musical adaptation was written and presented at a community theater in

Little Rock, Arkansas ( The "Little Rock") , government_type = Council-manager , leader_title = Mayor , leader_name = Frank Scott Jr. , leader_party = D , leader_title2 = Council , leader_name2 ...

In popular culture

In 1944 American rose grower

Jackson & Perkins Jackson & Perkins Company, commonly known as Jackson & Perkins, is an American company that cultivates roses. Since its founding in 1872, Jackson & Perkins has grown to sell other products including live plants, garden accessories, holiday gifts, ...

introduced ''Rosa'' 'Mrs. Miniver', a medium-red hybrid tea rose, named after Mr. Ballard's winning rose in the film. Over time the rose was lost to cultivation. In 2015, one remaining plant was located in a German garden by Orlando Murrin, a gardener in Exeter, UK. In 2016 it was successfully propagated by St Bridget's Nurseries in Exeter and returned to commerce in 2017. The fifth episode of season 1 of ''Downton Abbey'' copies the scene of Lady Beldon giving her award away at a flower show, with Maggie Smith's Violet Crawley in place of Lady Beldon. In the play ''

A Raisin in the Sun ''A Raisin in the Sun'' is a play by Lorraine Hansberry that debuted on Broadway in 1959. The title comes from the poem "Harlem" (also known as "A Dream Deferred") by Langston Hughes. The story tells of a black family's experiences in south Chi ...

'', Brother, Ruth, and Beneatha give Mama (Lena) a gift with the note "To our own Mrs. Miniver – Love from Brother, Ruth, and Beneatha".

Notes

References

External links

* * * * * * * * *
''Mrs. Miniver''
on

Lux Radio Theater ''Lux Radio Theatre'', sometimes spelled ''Lux Radio Theater'', a classic radio anthology series, was broadcast on the NBC Blue Network (1934–35) (owned by the National Broadcasting Company, later predecessor of American Broadcasting Company ...

: December 6, 1943 * BBC Radio 4 - And The Academy Award Goes To ..
Mrs Miniver
Series 5 Episode 1
Tickets on Sale: Mrs. Miniver
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mrs Miniver 1942 films 1940s war drama films American romantic drama films American World War II propaganda films Films directed by William Wyler Films scored by Herbert Stothart Films scored by Daniele Amfitheatrof Best Picture Academy Award winners Battle of Britain films American black-and-white films Dunkirk evacuation films Films featuring a Best Actress Academy Award-winning performance Films featuring a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award-winning performance Films set in country houses Films set in the 1930s Films set in the 1940s Films set on the home front during World War II Films whose cinematographer won the Best Cinematography Academy Award Films whose director won the Best Directing Academy Award Films whose writer won the Best Adapted Screenplay Academy Award American war drama films United States National Film Registry films Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Films set in England 1942 romantic drama films 1940s English-language films