How Green Was My Valley (1941 Film)
Director John Ford'sHow Green Was My Valley(based on Richard Llewellyn's novel) won the Oscar as the Best Film of 1941. Ford's take on the struggles of a Welsh coal mining family belied the sensitive core of a notoriously gruff public persona--a personal conflict that likely led to the film's emotional richness. It's that kindheartedness that composer Alfred Newman took his cue from, interweaving folk themes with an unabashed orchestral sentimentality. Though not state-of-the-art in terms of sonic quality (being lifted from the film's original scoring tracks), the musical recording here is nonetheless remarkably rich, especially for being nearly 60 years old; film scores don't get any more authentic. Newman's efforts were nominated for an Academy Award, but lost out to Bernard Herrmann'sAll That Money Can Buy(a.k.a.The Devil and Daniel Webster).--Jerry McCulley