How Green Was My Valley is a 1941 American drama film directed by John Ford, adapted by Philip Dunne from the 1939 novel of the same title by Richard Llewellyn.

It tells the story of the Morgans, a hard-working Welsh mining family, from the point of view of the youngest child Huw, who lives with his affectionate and kind parents as well as his sister and five brothers, in the South Wales Valleys during the late Victorian era.

[3] The author had claimed that he based the book on his own personal experiences but this was found to be untrue after his death; Llewellyn was English-born and spent little time in Wales, though he was of Welsh descent.

[4] It was nominated for ten Academy Awards, winning five,[5] famously beating Citizen Kane, Sergeant York and The Maltese Falcon for Best Picture, while Ford won for Best Director, Donald Crisp for Best Supporting Actor, Arthur Miller for Best Cinematography, and Richard Day, Nathan H. Juran and Thomas Little for Best Black-and-White Art Direction-Interior Decoration.

His older brothers, Ianto, Ivor, Davy, Gwilym Jr., and Owen all work in the coal mines with their father, while sister Angharad keeps house with their mother.

Huw's childhood is idyllic; the town, not yet overrun with mining spoil, is beautiful, the household is warm and loving, and the miners sing as they walk home (in this case "Cwm Rhondda").

Mr. Gruffydd loves her too, to the malicious delight of the gossipy townswomen, but cannot bear to subject her to the hard, spartan life of an impoverished minister of religion.

It is eventually announced there will be a meeting of the Deacons - the governing council of the local Calvinistic Methodist chapel - to discuss, denounce and excommunicate Angharad.

Above, in the cold of light dawn, the women of the family - Angharad, Bronwyn and Beth Morgan - have stood vigil all night; the sound of the pulley announces the lift is returning from the depths of the mine.

Shortly before release, he had the narration re-dubbed by Irving Pichel, afraid that audiences might recognize Williams’ voice from his onscreen role as Dai Bando and be confused.

The site's critics consensus reads: "Nostalgic without becoming maudlin, this working-class drama is enlivened by a terrific cast and John Ford's ineffable directorial eye.

"[15] While the opinion among the Academy Awards committee that it was 1941's Best Picture has been disputed by some later critics,[16][17] How Green Was My Valley continues to be well received in its own right and, in 1990, was added to the American National Film Registry.

[19][20][21][22] How Green Was My Valley was adapted as a half-hour radio play on the March 22, 1942, broadcast of The Screen Guild Theater, with Sara Allgood, Donald Crisp, Roddy McDowall, Maureen O'Hara and Walter Pidgeon.