Mrs. Miniver

Mrs. Miniver began life as a column in The Times, the result of Peter Fleming, the travel writer, asking Jan Struther, an English author, to write a series of columns for the paper. These columns were to be about “an ordinary sort of woman who leads an ordinary sort of life…”. The character Jan came up with, Mrs. Kay Miniver, proved to be highly successful from the moment she was first published in 1937. These columns were subsequently gathered together and published in book form in 1939. Later, during the outbreak of World War II, this character became the subject for a sentimental and patriotic American film, titled after her, that was released in 1942. While The Times columns were focused on the everyday life of an ordinary woman, the film expanded that somewhat while also not losing sight of her origins. 

Mrs. Miniver, the film, is a look at an ordinary family, from the point of view of the matriarch. While the times she is living through are extraordinary, she is not, nor is her family. This gives us a perspective of the war that isn’t often seen, that of the average household. It will not show us battles or soldiers and we will barely get any hint of the enemy and their motivations. What we do see of the war comes from air raids that force families into bunkers where the walls shake around them and homes are heavily damaged from all the bombing. This is the war as we, the average civilian, might have experienced it. It’s a frightening thing to go through when war makes it right up to your doorstep.

Kay Miniver (Greer Garson) lives a comfortable life outside London. Her husband, Clem (Walter Pidgeon), is an architect, and they have three children: the youngsters, Toby and Judy, and an older son, Vin (Richard Ney), who is currently studying at Oxford University. But World War II is on the horizon, and Vin has returned home from Oxford with a plan to enlist in the Royal Air Force. While home, he meets Carol Beldon (Teresa Wright), the granddaughter of Lady Beldon (May Whitty) from nearby Beldon Hall. The two initially get off on the wrong foot but soon form a relationship that blooms into romance and they intend to marry. Vin is stationed near home and takes advantage of that by “blipping” his plane engine whenever flying over his parents’ home to signal them that he is safe. 

The film follows the Miniver family as they experience the war, fear for the life of Vin, participate in the Dunkirk evacuations, and live through some personal tragedies, too. Along the way, there are some softer moments, too, such as a neighbor, Mr. Ballard (Henry Travers), who has grown a prized rose that he has named after Mrs. Miniver. He intends to enter it into a flower contest against Lady Beldon, who has won that contest every year and prides herself on that. The final results are not what you would expect but are soon followed by another personal tragedy, one that is offscreen but highly effective nevertheless.

We take for granted these war films because we can look back on them through the eyes of history. It hits differently when the very war being depicted was going on at the time audiences were seeing this film for the first time, especially for those who were in Europe and experienced the very things being shown. This was an awful time for those living there, especially London, and having everything you ever knew being under assault while your loved ones were risking their lives for your safety and security. 

This very reality is expertly depicted in Mrs. Miniver through the absence of Vin, who spends a great deal of the film away at war. We get enough of him to have an emotional attachment to him as a character, too. On top of that, his romance with Carol is believable and well developed so that we are rooting for him to make it back home to his wife. This film flips the narrative, knowing that we will assume he dies in battle, and that change amplifies the emotional impact well beyond what we would have felt had he been killed. 

Because our focal character is Mrs. Miniver, we do get a little short-changed when it comes to the character of Clem. Walter Pidgeon is doing an exemplary job of making a character out of him, but he isn’t as well developed as his wife. We see him mostly through her eyes, though he does get his moment to shine in the war effort. This movie isn’t about him, though, and Walter knew enough to stay back a bit and allow Greer Garson to shine.

Famously, Greer didn’t want to be in this movie initially. She felt self-conscious about playing the mother of a grown son, especially since she was only eleven years older than Richard Ney. No matter the real age of the actors, they play off each other perfectly and Richard is perfectly believable as her son. The pairing of Greer and Walter was so popular, too, that the two were invited back for a sequel, minus Richard, entitled The Miniver Story. This sequel was not as well received, however, and failed to turn a profit. The ending of that picture also insured that a third film was virtually impossible.

While Mrs. Miniver is a little slow-paced, it makes up for it with the grace and charisma of Greer Garson, who is proving that, even as an middle-aged mother, she is magnetic on screen. From the moment she is on screen, she commands your attention. She is beautiful and graceful, and there is a quiet dignity to her that shows us why she was such a big star in her day. On top of all that, the timely subject matter of the war and its impact on families and communities is still impactful over eighty years later. 

Academy Award Nominations:

Best Picture: Sidney Franklin (won)

Best Director: William Wyler (won)

Best Actor: Walter Pidgeon

Best Actress: Greer Garson (won)

Best Supporting Actor: Henry Travers

Best Supporting Actress: May Whitty

Best Supporting Actress: Teresa Wright (won)

Best Adapted Screenplay: George Froeschel, James Hilton, Claudine West, and Arthur Wimperis (won)

Best Cinematography - Black-and-White: Joseph Ruttenberg (won)

Best Film Editing: Harold F. Kress

Best Sound Recording: Douglas Shearer

Best Special Effects: A. Arnold Gillespie, Warren Newcombe, and Douglas Shearer

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Release Date: June 4, 1942

Running Time: 133 minutes

Not Rated

Starring: Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon, Teresa Wright, May Whitty, Reginald Owen, Henry Travers, Richard Ney, and Henry Wilcoxon

Directed by: William Wyler