Winston Churchill's favorite movie was "Mrs. Miniver" and I can see why. It's an American picture designed to create a deep bond between a formerly isolationist American public (recently thrust into war) with the British people (who had already been involved in World War II for two years). While it has many moving scenes, 'Mrs. Miniver' is also very uneven.
The first half hour of the film is extremely slow-moving. We're introduced to the town of Belham with both its upper-class and lower middle-class characters. Henry Travers (famous for playing 'Clarence' in 'It's a Wonderful Life' five years later) plays Mr. Ballard, the kindly stationmaster who plans to enter his rose in an annual flower festival sponsored by Lady Beldon (he names the flower 'Mrs. Miniver' in honor of the title character who has been friendly with him in the village for years). Ballard is a rustic simpleton and Lady Beldon is the stuffy aristocrat who provide the 'comic' relief in the film. Suffice it to say that the conflict over the flower is probably the weakest (and most dated) aspect of the picture.
And then there's Mrs. Miniver and her husband, Clem, who we're also introduced to during this opening sequence. The Minivers both feel guilty about spending money over budget—Mrs. Miniver worries about an expensive hat and Mr. Miniver is concerned about a new car he's purchased. They are the parents of two small but wonderful kids. Soon afterward, we discover that Mrs. Miniver has a son, Vin, who's a student at Oxford (the casting of the Richard Ney as the son seems a bit odd since Greer Garson doesn't look much older than him; in real life she was 11 years older and ironically they got married right after this picture was made—only to divorce five years later!). Vin is probably the most interesting of the family members as he has Socialist leanings and seems a bit of a hothead. Also in the mix is Lady Beldon's granddaughter, Carol, (played by a solid Theresa Wright), who comes over to see Mrs. Miniver who she hopes will persuade her good friend Ballard to drop out of the flower festival (and allow her grandmother to take the top prize, as she's done for the past thirty years).
The film's inciting incident occurs when the Vicar makes his announcement to the townspeople during a Sunday morning service that England has declared war on Germany. The film then focuses on the townspeoples' response (and particularly how the Minivers react and contribute to the war effort). There are many memorable scenes. Clem Miniver gets a call to meet with the other middle-aged and older men in the town at 2:30 in the morning at a bar and then are called upon to take their boats and be part of the famous rescue of thousands of British soldiers on the beaches at Dunkirk (the scene where an 'armada' of small boats slowly moving out to sea is very impressive). And then there's Mrs. Miniver who ends up confronting a downed German flier inside her house while he brandishes a pistol (in a touch of pure propaganda, Mrs. Miniver slaps the soldier in the face during his ugly pro-Nazi diatribe!).
The two most powerful scenes in the film correspond to the Act 2 Crisis and Act 3 Climax. The Crisis occurs when the Minivers huddle with their young children inside the bomb shelter at their house. There are no exterior visuals of the bombing raid itself. The focus is on the family's reaction as we hear the SOUND of the bombs falling. It's a powerful and unsettling scene since it reveals what it's like for ordinary people to be caught up in the horrors of war. The Climax is even more shocking. Throughout the film we're expecting that Vin (who is now an RAF pilot) will end up as the one who's killed. But as Mrs. Miniver and Carol (who now has married Vin) drive home after the flower festival during an air raid (with their headlights off to avoid detection), Carol is shot as one of the enemy planes flies low and strafes the area with gunfire. Mrs. Miniver cradles the dying Carol in her arms after she manages to get back to her house. The next day, they're about to tell their son Carol is dead but he already has heard. The townspeople gather for a memorial service and all note the sacrifice of various victims including Carol and the kindly Mr. Ballard. The town is transformed with the Vicar speaking on their behalf during his sermon. He echoes the townspeoples' collective determination to see the war effort through, eventually leading to victory.
While the film is called "Mrs. Miniver", she feels incomplete as a character. There are long stretches in the film where the focus is not on Mrs. Miniver at all. Aside from her confrontation with the German pilot, most of her role focuses on nurturing family members.
'Mrs. Miniver' served a vital function during World War II to boost the morale of the American public on the home front. If you're expecting on the other hand to see the kind of multi-dimensional characters found in a film like 'It's a Wonderful Life', you will be sadly disappointed. The powerful scenes of war along with its impact on ordinary people all but make up for the incomplete character studies proffered up by the film's screenwriters.
The first half hour of the film is extremely slow-moving. We're introduced to the town of Belham with both its upper-class and lower middle-class characters. Henry Travers (famous for playing 'Clarence' in 'It's a Wonderful Life' five years later) plays Mr. Ballard, the kindly stationmaster who plans to enter his rose in an annual flower festival sponsored by Lady Beldon (he names the flower 'Mrs. Miniver' in honor of the title character who has been friendly with him in the village for years). Ballard is a rustic simpleton and Lady Beldon is the stuffy aristocrat who provide the 'comic' relief in the film. Suffice it to say that the conflict over the flower is probably the weakest (and most dated) aspect of the picture.
And then there's Mrs. Miniver and her husband, Clem, who we're also introduced to during this opening sequence. The Minivers both feel guilty about spending money over budget—Mrs. Miniver worries about an expensive hat and Mr. Miniver is concerned about a new car he's purchased. They are the parents of two small but wonderful kids. Soon afterward, we discover that Mrs. Miniver has a son, Vin, who's a student at Oxford (the casting of the Richard Ney as the son seems a bit odd since Greer Garson doesn't look much older than him; in real life she was 11 years older and ironically they got married right after this picture was made—only to divorce five years later!). Vin is probably the most interesting of the family members as he has Socialist leanings and seems a bit of a hothead. Also in the mix is Lady Beldon's granddaughter, Carol, (played by a solid Theresa Wright), who comes over to see Mrs. Miniver who she hopes will persuade her good friend Ballard to drop out of the flower festival (and allow her grandmother to take the top prize, as she's done for the past thirty years).
The film's inciting incident occurs when the Vicar makes his announcement to the townspeople during a Sunday morning service that England has declared war on Germany. The film then focuses on the townspeoples' response (and particularly how the Minivers react and contribute to the war effort). There are many memorable scenes. Clem Miniver gets a call to meet with the other middle-aged and older men in the town at 2:30 in the morning at a bar and then are called upon to take their boats and be part of the famous rescue of thousands of British soldiers on the beaches at Dunkirk (the scene where an 'armada' of small boats slowly moving out to sea is very impressive). And then there's Mrs. Miniver who ends up confronting a downed German flier inside her house while he brandishes a pistol (in a touch of pure propaganda, Mrs. Miniver slaps the soldier in the face during his ugly pro-Nazi diatribe!).
The two most powerful scenes in the film correspond to the Act 2 Crisis and Act 3 Climax. The Crisis occurs when the Minivers huddle with their young children inside the bomb shelter at their house. There are no exterior visuals of the bombing raid itself. The focus is on the family's reaction as we hear the SOUND of the bombs falling. It's a powerful and unsettling scene since it reveals what it's like for ordinary people to be caught up in the horrors of war. The Climax is even more shocking. Throughout the film we're expecting that Vin (who is now an RAF pilot) will end up as the one who's killed. But as Mrs. Miniver and Carol (who now has married Vin) drive home after the flower festival during an air raid (with their headlights off to avoid detection), Carol is shot as one of the enemy planes flies low and strafes the area with gunfire. Mrs. Miniver cradles the dying Carol in her arms after she manages to get back to her house. The next day, they're about to tell their son Carol is dead but he already has heard. The townspeople gather for a memorial service and all note the sacrifice of various victims including Carol and the kindly Mr. Ballard. The town is transformed with the Vicar speaking on their behalf during his sermon. He echoes the townspeoples' collective determination to see the war effort through, eventually leading to victory.
While the film is called "Mrs. Miniver", she feels incomplete as a character. There are long stretches in the film where the focus is not on Mrs. Miniver at all. Aside from her confrontation with the German pilot, most of her role focuses on nurturing family members.
'Mrs. Miniver' served a vital function during World War II to boost the morale of the American public on the home front. If you're expecting on the other hand to see the kind of multi-dimensional characters found in a film like 'It's a Wonderful Life', you will be sadly disappointed. The powerful scenes of war along with its impact on ordinary people all but make up for the incomplete character studies proffered up by the film's screenwriters.