Can the top ten films in a “Best 100 Movies of All-time” list move out of the top ten? If other films within some mega list can jump from #64 to #99, how come the films in the top ten can’t jump far back too? The people who have been labeling the top ten films as the “best 10 films in history” are most likely older. And younger generations of critics are pressured to also promote the tradition of keeping those usual top ten films in the “Best Movies” list so that they don’t turn into outcast critics. Due to the huge number-order jumps with the other movies (such as a classic jumping from #64 to #99), the top 10 films in these lists should not have any advantage over any other film much lower in the list. The top 10 of a “best movies” list of 100 or more represents traditional choices, pressure from other critics, and being most well-known (meaning an obscure classic film would fall behind a more well-known classic). Thus it seems impossible for a movie like Citizen Kane to ever move out of the top because it’s been called the “best film ever made” for so many years yet there are plenty of classics just as good or important as Citizen Kane. But no one has the balls to move it away from #1 because those critics will be perceived as being sacrilegious. But the classification of Citizen Kane consistently being the #1 film on all those “best film” lists makes sense now after watching How Green Was My Valley.
In a picturesque coal-mining Welsh town during the late 1800s, How Green Was My Valley follows the lives of the Morgan family, with an episodic story narrated by the youngest son, ten-year old Huw (played by Planet of the Apes’ Roddy McDowell). Mr. and Mrs. Morgan (played by Donald Crisp and Sara Allgood) have seven children who are all coal miners besides the young Huw and sister Angharad (played by the beautiful Maureen O”Hara) and struggle to keep their family afloat. Mr. Morgan, a miner as well, refuses to join a new union that sprouts up and ends up striking. This creates tension within the family and violence erupts everywhere. As the family goes through hardships and struggles, their hometown and culture begin to decline. The director shows the loss of childhood innocence and how a wholehearted cheerful town can transform into a sad, depressed, dying town, which may be moving to others who hail this film as a masterpiece. The film lets us observe the political changes happening in the world at the time when workers joined together in unions to fight against unfair employers. While How Green Was My Valley must have struck a chord to Americans in the early 1940s, this film is like a dated Hallmark card. Pretty to look at but the film feels seems like a weak adaptation of the popular Richard Llewellyn’s novel. Scenes just pop up with no continuity, I waited for a story to start but realized it wasn’t coming after one hour, and acting was just generic with no actors standing out from the rest, including McDowell, Crisp and Allgood. How Green Was My Valley is just too sappy, dull, and unbelievably melodramatic to get moved or pulled into the story.
“What is the purpose of Blu-ray if I’m okay with the quality of DVD?” The answer to this question is “watch 20th Century Fox’s Blu-ray of How Green Was My Valley.” Holy crap, I’m used to impressive Blu-ray video quality but sometimes I just get blown away. While the movie isn’t a knockout, this 1080p 1.33:1 video transfer is beautiful! Every texture is incredibly clear and sharp. Contrast is handled perfectly. Color existed in 1940s, but this black & white film looks more three-dimensional than any other color film from this time period. A+++
This audio mix does a great job ensuring that the dialogue is clearly heard throughout. It also excels at working the songs into the overall mix, but never compromises the dialogue clarity. Even though the audio track is DTS-HD 5.1 rather than the original mono, audio purists should be pretty satisfied – there are some effects that appear in the other speakers once in a while, but most of the time, this Blu-ray is pretty much a great-sounding mono track.
English Dolby Digital Mono, Spanish Dolby Digital Mono, French DTS 5.1, Spanish DTS-HD Master Audio Mono, German DTS 5.1, and Italian DTS-HD Master Audio Mono audio tracks, as well as English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, German, Italian, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Norwegian, and Swedish subtitles are also included.
The commentary cobbled together with insights from actress Anna Lee Nathan and author Joseph McBride are a nice addition. And there is a 24-minute making of the film which is worth a look. I would have loved to see some documentary about “why did How Green Was the Valley sweep Citizen Kane at the Oscars?”
– Audio Commentary
– Hollywood Backstories: How Green Was My Valley (24:34)
– Movie Trailer
I’m not a gung-ho fan of Citizen Kane nor would I be quick to add it into my top “100-films-of-all-time” list, but the film is a masterpiece and work of art. The dots have been connected and I now understand why Citizen Kane has received the prestigious #1 spot for such a long time – it’s because the 1942 Oscars screwed up big time. All the major awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Director, Best Art Direction, and Best Cinematography, went to a fair film called How Green Was My Valley. As a result of those Oscars, Hollywood critics have erased those mistakes by making sure that Citizen Kane maintains the #1 spot…forever! While John Ford’s How Green Was My Valley is neither a bad film nor a good film, it’s hard to imagine that such a fair film could receive such praise over Citizen Kane in 1942. If people think that 2006’s Best Picture winner Crash was a huge mistake, wait till you see How Green Was My Valley and you will feel like someone is playing a joke on you. How could this film beat Citizen Kane? I have no idea. I love old classics and I was upset that I couldn’t appreciate this film, but How Green Was My Valley is unfortunately a big disappointment. Not disappointing is the Blu-ray restoration. The perfect video quality will allow you to literally step into the old days!
