Fantastic child actors, especially Toby

While his scenes were brief, I thought Christopher Severn as Toby Miniver actually lent a great deal of emotional leverage to the film. Granted, he was sometimes almost too cute, but he provided humor, and I believe his counterpoints added to the impact of the war going on around them all. Without his believable laughter, and sometimes fear, I don't believe the other lead actors would have had as much of an impact as they did. I think that stories having "children in jeapordy" are cheap. But for all the melodrama in the film, his character was not only well-planned in script and direction, but also well-performed. For the audience, he also served as a good mirror of sorts, between what happened to Mrs. Miniver and Lady Beldon in the end.