This is not one of King Vidor's finest achievements.A pioneer during the silent area(the big parade,the crowd),a great director in the talkies too (our daily bread,duel in the sun,Ruby Gentry,Fountainhead),he does not seem to be that much inspired with AJ Cronin's rather conventional novels.The direction is academic and static,inspiration is absent.
What still appeals in this movie is the interpretation.Robert Donat is a very competent actor,particularly in the first part.Because it's basically a two-part movie:
-The first part,the most convincing, deals with poor parts of England,focusing on the miners' health.Although some scenes seem unlikely (the baby),the depiction of this little town,with its simple life,its teacher (a good Rosalind Russel) who will marry the doctor,its tragedies in the mine,is really endearing.Maybe John Ford will remember it when he films "how green was my valley".
-The second part,in which the hero loses -temporarily- his soul and gains the world-London-.An excellent Rex Harrison-sadly,his part is much too short-"treats" old rich hypocondriacs.And the hero realizes that rich people mean a lot of money.Sometimes it verges on caricature(the hysterical woman).The best scene :the owner of the small Italian restaurant tells Donat about her daughter's health problems ,and he goes on picking out his hors d'oeuvres ,indifferent to the mother's plight.
This seems often dated,but it's worth watching.
What still appeals in this movie is the interpretation.Robert Donat is a very competent actor,particularly in the first part.Because it's basically a two-part movie:
-The first part,the most convincing, deals with poor parts of England,focusing on the miners' health.Although some scenes seem unlikely (the baby),the depiction of this little town,with its simple life,its teacher (a good Rosalind Russel) who will marry the doctor,its tragedies in the mine,is really endearing.Maybe John Ford will remember it when he films "how green was my valley".
-The second part,in which the hero loses -temporarily- his soul and gains the world-London-.An excellent Rex Harrison-sadly,his part is much too short-"treats" old rich hypocondriacs.And the hero realizes that rich people mean a lot of money.Sometimes it verges on caricature(the hysterical woman).The best scene :the owner of the small Italian restaurant tells Donat about her daughter's health problems ,and he goes on picking out his hors d'oeuvres ,indifferent to the mother's plight.
This seems often dated,but it's worth watching.