AN INSULT TO WALES!

Actually, it was because the South Wales valleys were being bombed night and day by the luftwaffe. It is a romantic vision of Wales by the Americans, yes, it is ridiculous with the accents etc etc, but we should be proud that a film about Wales, that puts Wales on the map around the World, is so revered and is still regarded as a classic. just look at other classics of the time, Gone With The Wind, Grapes Of Wrath etc, accents are not important, it's the story that's important, and for that reason it is still a very good film about a small Welsh mining village. By the way, i'm very Welsh! Maybe a re-make is in order? 3 hour epic shot in Wales and with Welsh actors? With enough money surely it would be a lot better? 12 oscars here we go!!!!

OH, JImwhitley6, have you got THAT right! first of all, how many different "Southern" accents are there? And I can pick out a Yankee playing a Southerner quicker'n a duck ona June bug.

But if you can't get a real Southerner to do the accent, hire a Brit. Cause guess what? Most Southern US accents are just BRitish/English/Scots/Irish/Welsh accents s l o w e d down cause of the heat!

Don't get me started on Kyra SEdgwick's accent on "the closer"! Love the show, love her, but that accent.....seriously, y'all?

I agree. It's the spirit of a picture that matters, and How Green Was My Valley delivers that spirit in spades.

It was not brilliant but had some good points. Perhaps in comparison to what is being made today it's understandable that people would see many old films as being better. What annoys me about 'Valley' is the boy Huw who goes down into the pits when he has the ability to get away from this place. As an educated man he would have been in a better position to "strike a blow" then by "romantically" suffering. I was in Wales in 1967 and saw the slag heaps which, two years before, had rolled down over a primary school and killed everyone inside.

Yes, I agree this film is good, the story is decent enough and the script is interesting. HOWEVER, the representation of Wales and the Welsh aren't the best. One thing that annoys me more than anything are the shocking accents. I live in the Welsh Valleys, where this film was meant to be set, and I fail to recognise a single convincing portrayal of my accent throughout the entire film. This really spoiled it for me.

I agree. The real problem I have is with a commenter who said the the "head deacon" was played ludicrisly by Barry Fitzgerald. Idiot. It was most certainly not Fitzgerald. It was Arthur Shields, who does bear a resemblence to Fitzgerald. He was also in The Quiet Man, playing the Anglican Vicar.

Oh Jerry,don't lets ask for the moon,we have the stars.

I agree! Thank you, Mhearn.

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In response to everyone bashing the film for not using authentic welsch accents, let me explain. John Ford came onto this film already after the book had been published and an adapted script had been written. Ford agreed to shoot the film for $1 million and in B&W, instead of the 4-hour color film that was originally intended. The film was going to be shot in Wales, but WWII made it impossible. The film was shot in Malibu, California. It was shot in black & white because it would be cheaper and was the only way they could make the location look like Wales. The REASON the film has what many of you think of as 'terrible welsch accents' was because they were not attempts at welsch accents at all.
John Ford was Irish himself and impressed some personal experiences on the story, making it almost semi-autobiographical. Ford made the characters and rituals more Irish because he jokingly said the only thing different between the Welsch and Irish were that one was protestant and one was catholic. He told his actors to use Irish accents and the songs and dances they did were Irish as well.
Keep in mind that at the time the pro-union subject matter and impact of WWII was a much more important and controversial matter to the filmmakers then the authenticity of accents.
One of Ford's personal touches added to the film was the books Huw read when in bed. Ford caught dyptheria as a boy and was bedridden. The books he read during that time were the same he had Roddie McDowell's character read while recovering.
I'm American, not Welsch or Irish, so obviously i don't take offense to any of this, i just think it was an artistic decision made by Ford and i support it.

"...And I'm all out of bubblegum!"