Mrs. Miniver Overview:

Mrs. Miniver (1942) was a Drama - Romance Film directed by William Wyler and produced by Sidney Franklin.

The film was based on the novel of the same name and also Newspaper Column, The Times written by Jan Struther published in 1939 (novel); 1937 (newspaper column).

SYNOPSIS

Garson in her Oscar-winning portrayal personified the British resolve against Nazi aggression. An immensely popular piece of wartime propaganda, Wyler's film follows Mrs. Miniver, her husband (Pidgeon), their children, and their small English town as the war comes closer to their lives. The family endures the departure of the father for the beaches at Dunkirk, the discovery of a wounded Nazi pilot, the death of the daughter-in-law in an air raid, and the entry of the son into the Royal Air Force. The scenes culminate in a morale-boosting final speech that President Franklin Roosevelt ordered printed and air-dropped over war-torn Europe. The romance of her eldest son coincides with the first bombs and the destruction of the village church, yet through all the strife upper lips remain stiff and even the smallest traditions are maintained. Adapted from the novel by Jan Struther.

(Source: available at Amazon AMC Classic Movie Companion).

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Mrs. Miniver was inducted into the National Film Registry in 2009.

Academy Awards 1942 --- Ceremony Number 15 (source: AMPAS)

AwardRecipientResult
Best ActorWalter PidgeonNominated
Best Supporting ActorHenry TraversNominated
Best ActressGreer GarsonWon
Best Supporting ActressDame May WhittyNominated
Best Supporting ActressTeresa WrightWon
Best CinematographyJoseph RuttenbergWon
Best DirectorWilliam WylerWon
Best Film EditingHarold F. KressNominated
Best PictureMetro-Goldwyn-MayerWon
Best WritingArthur Wimperis, George Froeschel, James Hilton, Claudine WestWon
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Quotes from Mrs. Miniver

Clem Miniver: She was a good cook, as good cooks go. And as good cooks go, she went.


Vicar: This is the People's War. It is our war. We are the fighters. Fight it then. Fight it with all that is in us and may God defend the Right.


Mr. Ballard: What goes to make a rose, ma'am, is breeding... and budding... and horse-manure, if you'll pardon the expression.
Mr. Ballard: And that's where you come in, ma'am.


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Facts about Mrs. Miniver

The Vicar's final rousing speech was printed in magazines like "Time" and "Look". President Franklin Delano Roosevelt ordered that it be broadcast on the Voice of America, and copies of it were dropped over Europe as propaganda. This speech has come to be known as The Wilcoxon Speech, in tribute to actor Henry Wilcoxon's stirring delivery of it.
Greer Garson's Best Actress acceptance speech lasted an incredible 5 1/2 minutes, making it a Hollywood record.
William Wyler openly admitted that he made the film for propaganda reasons. Wyler - who was born in Germany - strongly believed that the US should join the war against Nazism, and was concerned that America's policy of isolationism would prove damaging, so he made a film that showed ordinary Americans what their British equivalents were undergoing at the time. The film's subsequent success had a profound effect on American sympathy towards the plight of the British.
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Best Picture Oscar 1942











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National Film Registry

Mrs. Miniver

Released 1942
Inducted 2009
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Also directed by William Wyler




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Also produced by Sidney Franklin




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Also released in 1942




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