1942--Mrs. Miniver, William Wyler

1942--Mrs. Miniver, William Wyler

Nominated: 49th Parallel, King's Row, The Magnificent Ambersons, The Pied Piper, Pride of the Yankees, Random Harvest, The Talk of the Town, Wake Island, Yankee Doodle Dandy

Should Have Won: Cat People
Be Sure to See: Bambi, Ghost of Frankenstein

“She was a good cook as good cooks go. And as good cooks go, she went.”--Clem Miniver

 

     In one of the many war movies to win best picture, Mrs. Miniver is also one of the worst best picture winners. Some of the story is fine, but some of the circumstances were head-scratching. I'm still wondering how Vin became a pilot in the army a few months after enlisting. Or why, after their house was bombed while hiding in the bomb shelter, the family just moved right on in with a hole in the roof. The best thing about the movie is the younger son, Toby; Christopher Severn who plays him is certainly the best actor of the bunch and he was only 6 while filming. And the plane crash was pretty cool. As was the sequence of the pilot shooting at a car.

     Clem and Kay Miniver have three children, two are young and one (Vin) joins the army. Kay is well-liked by everyone and a store owner names a rose after her (a plot point I thought was going to be the main focus). Vin is attracted to Carol, granddaughter of Lady Beldon who usually wins the rose competition (yeah I know, the plot is all over the place). When war is declared, Vin is put into action leaving the family concerned about his well-being. A high point is when Mrs. Miniver comes upon an escaped German soldier who, at gunpoint, forces her to feed him. The scene was going great and I was relieved because, finally, something in this mess caught my attention...until the man fainted for no reason. I guess from hunger, I don't know and I really don't care. 

 

     When the war hits the town, the family huddles in the bomb shelter. The house gets hit but the kids sleep through this. I guess they took NyQuil or something. Then there is a scene where the flower competition takes place and the whole town is there, rather than cleaning up the destruction from the bombings. The shopkeeper's rose, which he named after Mrs. Miniver, is going head to head with Lady Weldon's flower, which is important because she is Vin's new mother in law.. Who will win? After all, the Beldons have never lost in this competition. Forget about the giant hole in the roof, there is a flower competition to be won. Are you interested yet?  I will say this, the young kid who played Toby gave a great performance, the plane crash was decent, and this is the only movie I've seen where someone gets word of a spouse's death during wartime...and it is the civilian at home who died and the soldier is getting the news.

 

     My advice is to watch this only if you are an Oscar winner completest.. I probably left out some plot points but it doesn't matter. Mrs. Miniver is certainly one of the worst best picture winners but for what it is worth, it isn't THE worst.