The favorite film: How Green Was My Valley, a 1941 drama directed by John Ford, from the novel by Richard Llewellyn The synopsis: A Welsh coal mining family, the Morgans, face the ups and downs of life through the strength of their close-knit bond. The cast: Donald Crisp as Mr. Morgan Sara Allgood as Mrs. Morgan Roddy McDowall as Huw Morgan Maureen O’Hara as Angharad … Continue reading Favorite things about… How Green Was My Valley (1941)
Nora Clitheroe (Barbara Stanwyck) knows that rebellion against Britain is brewing in her home country of Ireland. Rather than feeling hopeful for the country’s future, she’s worried. Her husband, Jack (Preston Foster), has been called to service in the Citizen’s Army of Ireland, and she fears he will die fighting, just as her father did. Jack shares none of his wife’s worries, and when he learns … Continue reading The Plough and the Stars (1937)
Travis Blue (Ben Johnson) and Sandy Owens (Harry Carey, Jr.) are horse traders who have been hired on as wagon masters by a group of Mormon settlers headed to a valley on the banks of the San Juan river in Utah. Traveling through rough, unfamiliar and unsettled territory comes with more than its share of challenges, and the group struggles along their journey. As they … Continue reading Wagon Master (1950)
The favorite film: The Grapes of Wrath, a 1940 drama based on the novel by John Steinbeck (adapted for the screen by Nunnally Johnson) and directed by John Ford The synopsis: Tom Joad is fresh off of a prison sentence for homicide when he returns to his family’s home to find that they’ve been kicked off of their land. Like many Oklahoma sharecroppers, they’ve been … Continue reading Favorite things about… The Grapes of Wrath
