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Mrs. Miniver

Mrs. Miniver

List Price: $19.98
Your Price: $14.99
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Mrs. Miniver married her son!
Review: Great movie; interesting tidbit: Richard Ney (Mrs. Miniver's older son "Vin") was 27 at the time this movie was released; Greer Garson was 38. They married in 1943 and the studio was afraid of negative publicity about it! They divorced in 1946.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Mrs. Miniver married her son!
Review: Great movie; interesting tidbit: Richard Ney (Mrs. Miniver's older son "Vin") was 27 at the time this movie was released; Greer Garson was 38. They married in 1943 and the studio was afraid of negative publicity about it! They divorced in 1946.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A classic!
Review: Greer Garson is wonderful in her star-making role. This movie is just a little bit overrated, but it's stil a wonderful classic.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Mrs Miniver.
Review: I fell in love with this movie the first time I saw it. I have tried for years to buy it. I am now hoping that the studio will release on DVD so that I can add it to my William Wyler collection. Truly an out standing movie.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Mrs. Miniver
Review: I fell in love with this movie the first time I saw it. I have tried for years to buy it. I am now hoping that the studio will release on DVD so that I can add it to my William Wyler collection. Truly an out standing movie.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: An Enduring Experience
Review: I was seven in 1942, but TIME, LIFE, radio reports, and weekly movie news reels made the war real for me. So did MRS. MINIVER. By this time my dad, a PAA captain, was with the Allied Transport Command, ferrying military equipment to India. MRS. MINIVER affected me for several reasons. Mrs. Garson's performance was such that her character became a living person to me. Also, at this time my family had befriended three young Englishmen and one Scot who were learning to fly in the USAAC program at the U of Miami. They were frequent guests in our home and accompanied us on a vacation to Daytona Beach. Their and Ms. Garson's accents expressed for me the British resolve to keep on fighting and to win. I saw MRS. MINIVER with my extended family of adults and was moved by their tears. In 1944 my father flew a B-29 mission to Tokyo from which he did not return. The thought of the Minivers and the enormous sacrifices of the English gave me some consolation. I still think of the movie and have alluded to it in a story of mine to develop a character.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: I Know Many People Simply Rave About It , But...
Review: I was very disappointed when I finally saw the much lauded "Mrs. Miniver". Greer Garson has no growth to her character at all--compare her with Claudette Colbert's mother in "Since You Went Away", where, after criticizing herself, a housewife realizes she has to pitch in personally to help the war effort along. Mrs. Miniver has it all together, all the time--never any insight into things.

In addition to the smug attitude of Mrs. Miniver herself, I thought too many plot elements were all thrown into one movie. The most amazing thing that occurs to Mrs. Miniver is when she has to keep a downed Nazi pilot at bay in her own kitchen. Now, that's just ONE thing that happens in this movie. However, in my opinion, THAT's enough to make a movie about. Look at "High Noon", which concerns itself with one problem, not being able to raise a posse. That's enough of a problem without the dam bursting or something else. So "Mrs. Miniver" would have been a remarkable film if it were about a British woman, clad only in her flowing robe, very vulnerable, having to match wits with a menacing Nazi pilot. Two character showdown symbolizing the Hun threat against hearth and home. But no, while she was having this brief encounter, Mr. Miniver was engaged in rescuing the army from Dunkirk in his little pleasure boat, and made it home in time for supper. Frankly, I thought these were trivializations of wartime, not glamorizations.

Of course, I was not alive at the time of the war, and I have often heard it said that this film was a great morale boost for the beleagured Brits. And so it may have been, in its day. But for a peacetime viewer such as myself, the movie just didn't inspire me. Again, I don't think it the equal of "Since You Went Away". View both and decide for yourself.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Simply beautiful
Review: I've seen this film several times now, and despite knowing what occurs, the beauty never wears off.

The film is aesthetically lovely, thanks to William Wyler's low key yet attentive and detailed style. The characters act naturally, something oft times missing in older films that lean to be more stylized. The acting is incredible in this film, and something many a modern film would do well to copy. Greer Garson is the portrait of strength, beauty, and dignity as Mrs. Miniver in a brilliantly played role. Yet it's the substance that stays with you. The film is telling a story about people and a time in history, and it's simple because it allows itself to be. It flows like real life, the trivial, the simple, the small moments, the enormous and life shattering. It taps into the real emotions people feel, and not big "war movie" emotions, but the joy of greeting a child upon return, of having a flower named after you and winning an award, of happiness and humor, of exhaustion, fear, pain, and grief. The film gently brings us into another life and lets us reside there. While there, we begin to love the Minivers and those that they love.

At one point in the movie, the family is in a bomb shelter and Mr. and Mrs. Miniver are talking. Mr. Miniver picks up "Alice in Wonderland" and begins to recite a passage about the joys of childhood, a summer past, and the simple pleasures in life. Mrs. Miniver finishes the passage, and Mr. Miniver (Walter Pidgeon) mentions that he wonders if Lewis Carrol ever thought that his story would be so beloved decades later. I found that interesting, because after all these years and viewings, it's the characters and their palpable experiences and emotions, the strength and courage they show, and the simplicity of the film in allowing us to see it plainly and feel it too, because it's a story of the human experience we can all relate with that isn't limited to the battleground, that do and will keep this movie everlasting, and an homage to the human spirit.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Not enough stars for this movie
Review: It is hard to tell of the importance of this movie and skip the details. Yes the technical stuff may not be that interesting in a review like, after first choice Norma Shearer rejected the title role (as she refused to play a mother), Greer Garson was cast. The meat of the story is the action and interaction of family members. Add this to plausible plot twists and you come up with a movie that had a unique view of the sacrifices they endured during WWII. This is not some cardboard war propaganda film. So you do not think this review came off of some box cover, I would say to me the most moving sections were, the outcome of the Miniver Rose, unexpected war casualty, and of course as results the final church scene

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Mrs. Miniver
Review: It is such a disappointment to not be able to obtain the DVD edition of Mrs. Miniver yet. This is a film I shared with my granddaughter several years ago and is a warm memory for her.

It was my pleasure and honor to meet Greer Garson at the end of her life at Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas. It was her birthday and our department was responsible for the setting up of the room and the refreshments. I was to uncork the champagne. At 5:30pm, Mrs. Fogelson (her married name) was wheeled into the room, absolutely radiant at the age of 92, wearing a brocade gown that matched the beauty of her green eyes. The celebration was short, in keeping with her frail condition, but she was such a grand lady, just like her presentation of Mrs. Miniver. Frail, yet regal. Queenlike, yet personable.

After her party, I took flowers to her room. She had already been tucked back into bed, but still so pretty, though tired. I went to her bed and she held out her hand to me. She held my hand with both of hers, and I felt as though I was the most important person she had ever met.

Evertime I watch the movie, Mrs. Miniver, I am transported back to that day by her bed after her birthday. She lived only two more years, but everyone remembered her with such love and respect. I treasure having been given the very last glossy of her portfolio.

Rest in peace, beloved Mrs. Miniver.


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