Film Adaptations
The film adaptation of Mrs. Miniver was produced by MGM in 1942 with Greer Garson in the leading role and William Wyler directing. Under the influence of the American Office of War Information, the film attempted to undermine Hollywood's prewar depiction of England as a glamorous bastion of social privilege, anachronistic habits and snobbery in favour of more democratic, modern images. To this end, the social status enjoyed by the Miniver family in the print version was downgraded and increased attention was given to the erosion of class barriers under the pressures of wartime. In 1942, the film won an Oscar in the Best Picture category and both Greer Garson and Teresa Wright won an Oscar in the Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress categories respectively. The film grossed $5,358,000 in North America (the highest for any MGM film at the time) and $3,520,000 abroad. In Britain, it was named the top box office attraction of 1942. 555 of the 592 film critics polled by American magazine Film Daily named it the best film of 1942.
A sequel to Mrs Miniver, The Miniver Story was made by the same studio in 1950 with Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon reprising their original roles. The characters were based on those in the original film, but their creator, Jan Struther, did not participate in the sequel.
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“Film as dream, film as music. No art passes our conscience in the way film does, and goes directly to our feelings, deep down into the dark rooms of our souls.”
—Ingmar Bergman (b. 1918)