It’s hard to know what to say about How Green Was My Valley. It is, for all intents and purposes, a good movie: beautifully shot, wonderfully acted, and well-written. It tugs at the heartstrings, and almost wallows in its sentimentality sometimes. But as good as it is, I kept being put off. My brain repeatedly went “This is the kind of movie made for my grandma.” It’s very much of its time, and so I find it kind of a contradiction: a timeless movie that feels old-fashioned. I don’t know if I’m making myself clear, as I did enjoy it, and there were many great performances. There was just something to it that made me feel distant from it through the entire film. I don’t think it’s the best movie John Ford ever made – although he himself would disagree with me – but it’s worth a watch.

Apparently the book which inspired this was a figment of its author’s imagination, add to that the Hollywood touch and you can hardly expect social realism,look at those miners’ cottages and the meals they ate!
OK the pro union comments and mention of workers conditions were probably provocative at the time,as would have been the attack on strident religious beliefs,but all seems quite tame today.
It is worth watching to see this Hollywood version of the past which I am sure never existed and to see Maureen O’Hara,don’t forget to enjoy the wooden delivery of their dialogue by her brothers in the film,classic.
As a footnote it’s good that people don’t have to go down the mines anymore in Wales,although of course that was nothing to do with workers health or conditions just hard economics and was a disaster for those who lost their jobs.