Mrs. Miniver (1942)

 William Wyler's "Mrs. Miniver"

William Wyler's 1942 melodrama "Mrs. Miniver" is largely forgotten about in film history. However, it was this film that sparked such an emotional and political response during World War II that many global leaders made comment of it. Although it was made in Hollywood by Americans, the film's subject is that of an English family as they struggle with the realities of ongoing global conflict. 

Centering on the character of Mrs. Miniver, the film tells the story of her and her family living in fictional village outside of London. The character of Mrs. Miniver is based on a popular British magazine series of the same name. This specific storyline is derived from the "Mrs. Miniver" novel that Jan Struther released on a couple of years earlier. Mrs. Miniver and her family are happy and well-to-do. At the outbreak of war, Mrs. Miniver's collegiate decides to enlist in the air force to protect the family from frequent flyover attacks. As the world is falling apart around them, the family do their best to maintain a sense of togetherness and hopeful spirit. 

The film was an effort, like many films produced in Hollywood at the time, to get the US populace ready for global conflict. As the US grew increasingly aware of its impending confrontation, more elements were added to the story to fit that narrative. As you watch the wholesome, lovable family deal with destruction and even a climatic death at the end, you feel a sense of fortitude in the allied spirit. This resolution was palpable amongst the film community, as the film even won an Academy Award for Best Picture at the 1943 Academy Awards. It was the very first film ever to feature the ongoing conflict that won this prize. The film won 5 other awards, including Best Actress for Greer Garson and Best Director for William Wyler. 

It was not solely the film industry that noticed the impact of this film. Sitting US President Franklin D. Roosevelt used the speech at the end of the film and integrated it into one of his own speeches. He even used this speech as the basis for leaflets that were printed in various languages to be dropped over enemy and occupied territory. Roosevelt was so satisfied with the propagandic messaging of the film that he rushed MGM to release it sooner. The film was even a great success with British audiences. According to historian Tony Judt, the film was "a very English tale of domestic fortitude and endurance, of middle-class reticence and perseverance, set symptomatically around the disaster at Dunkirk where all these qualities were taken to be most on display - [it] was a pure product of Hollywood. Yet for the English generation that first saw it the film would long remain the truest representation of national memory and self-image." British Prime Minister Winston Churchill even once said that the film had done more for the war effort than a flotilla of destroyers. 

The thematic quality of the film remained in the hearts and minds of Allied forces still fighting in World War II. Despite "Mrs. Miniver" not being a very significant film of note retrospectively, its impact in 1942 could not have been more palpable and impactful. It was a successful triumph for MGM and an even bigger triumph for the disposition of Allied forces across the globe.