Taglines: “Mrs. Miniver” is more than a picture — It’s dramatic. It’s tender. It’s human. It’s real.
Mrs. Miniver movie storyline. This is the story of an English middle class family through the first years of World War II. Clem Miniver is a successful architect and his beautiful wife Kay is the anchor that keeps the family together. With two young children at home, Kay keeps busy in the quaint English village they call home. She is well-liked by everyone and the local station master has even named his new rose after her.
When their son Vincent, Vin to everyone, comes home from Oxford for the summer he is immediately attracted to Carol Beldon, granddaughter of Lady Beldon. Their idyllic life is shattered in September 1939 when England is forced to declare war on Germany. Soon Vin is in the RAF and everyone has to put up with the hardship of war including blackouts and air raids.
Mrs. Miniver has to deal with an escaped German flyer who makes his way to her home while husband Clem helps evacuate the trapped British Expeditionary Force from Dunkirk. Vin and Carol are married but their time together is to be short. Throughout it all, everyone displays strength of character in the face of tragedy and destruction.
Mrs. Miniver is a 1942 American romantic war drama film directed by William Wyler, and starring Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon. Inspired by the 1940 novel Mrs. Miniver by Jan Struther,[3] the film shows how the life of an unassuming British housewife in rural England is touched by World War II. Produced and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the film features a supporting cast that includes Teresa Wright, Dame May Whitty, Reginald Owen, Henry Travers, Richard Ney, and Henry Wilcoxon.
Upon its release, Mrs. Miniver was both a critical and a commercial success, becoming the highest-grossing film of 1942 and winning six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director (William Wyler), Best Actress (Greer Garson), and Best Supporting Actress (Teresa Wright). It was the first film with a plot line centered on World War II to win an Oscar for Best Picture, and also the first film to receive five acting nominations at the Academy Awards. In 1950, a film sequel, The Miniver Story, was made with Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon reprising their roles.
In 2006, the film was ranked number 40 on the American Film Institute’s list celebrating the most inspirational films of all time. In 2009, the film was named to the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically” significant.
The film exceeded all expectations, grossing $5,358,000 in the US and Canada (the highest for any MGM film at the time) and $3,520,000 abroad. In the United Kingdom, it was named the top box office attraction of 1942. The initial theatrical release made MGM a profit of $4,831,000, their most profitable film of the year.
Mrs. Miniver (1942)
Directed by: William Wyler
Starring: Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon, Teresa Wright, Dame May Whitty, Reginald Owen, Henry Travers, Henry Wilcoxon, Christopher Severn, Brenda Forbes, Clare Sandars, Connie Leon
Screenplay by: Arthur Wimperis, George Froeschel, James Hilton, Claudine West
Production Design by:
Cinematography by: Joseph Ruttenberg
Film Editing by: Harold F. Kress
Costume Design by: Robert Kalloch
Set Decoration by: Edwin B. Willis
Art Direction by: Cedric Gibbons
Music by: Herbert Stothart
MPAA Rating: Ndna.
Distributed by: Loew’s Inc.
Release Date: June 4, 1942
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