MovieChat Forums > How Green Was My Valley (1942) Discussion > AN INSULT TO WALES!

AN INSULT TO WALES!

posted 20 years ago by geo-uk
111 replies | jump to latest

I am Welsh and have grown up in Wales all my life and cannot believe this film!!

If this film is set in the Welsh Valleys, Why does everyone speak with an IRISH accent??!!

The accents in this film are ridiculous and insulting to the Welsh. I found myself howling with laughter at their pathetic attempts at a Welsh accent! They obviously had never heard a Welsh accent so just thought they'd do an Irish one ("I guess Ireland is quite close to Wales...")??!!

And as for America looking anything like the Welsh Valleys...!!

This film is right up there with the Americans assuming we have Racoons in Britain (101 Dalmations)!

(For the record - We don't)

Just a little effort goes a long, long way

"Tell her you'll stop if she can hold back her tears. I owe her that"

[–] poetcomic1 12 years ago

Don't take it personally. I've seen some really bad American and Southern accents from the Barely United Kingdom.

[–] movie-viking 11 years ago

The Welsh characters presented seem to be mostly quality people.

Most seemed like people I wanted to know.

So hopefully you are just annoyed over their poor portrayal of Welsh speech.

[–] g_dekok 11 years ago

Just to let you know, How Green Was My Valley is a VERY fine movie. It was filmed in the US, because of WWII in Europe.

Please get a grip, and take a chill pill. Watch something else, like "Barney" for example.

[–] ste3494 10 years ago

Believe me the only thing that could possibly insult Wales is...... Wales.

[–] rayDCC 10 years ago

Every film can't be made in such detail as to the accents etc. Love the film for what it is ...not because its not perfect in all aspects.Who cares if they don't all speak perfect welsh... the film,story is more than enough for this to be a great one and amongst my fav films of all time.
Its classic sunday afternoon entertainment.

[–] lubin-freddy 9 years ago

The worst part is that they used ACTORS, reading some writer's lines. It wasn't even real.

"What can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence."

[–] david-64965 9 years ago

It was all filmed on the back lot of 20th Century Films, not in the middle of California. And even if you have lived in Wales all your life, were you living there in 1941.

[–] fugazzi49 9 years ago

American movies throughout the 30's to 60's had two or three all-purpose accents for all occasions, and this was a time when there were significant regional accents in America. If they didn't get America right they surely weren't going to get the British Isles right. But who goes to Hollywood movies for authenticity? Besides, hardly anyone outside the U.K. knows what a Welsh accent sounds like. An insult to a nation? Get over it.