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Our Columnists Reflect on Oscar's Best Films |
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An inteview with the man
who wrote the screenplay
of TheColumnists.com
In his new book "Have
You Seen?", Film critic David Thomson is rather down on
1941’s Academy Award Winner for Best Picture, "How
Green Was My Valley," saying that next to the famous 1941
loser "Citizen Kane," that “it looks like Victorian
homily.”
One who disagreed with such an assessment was the late Philip
Dunne who carefully crafted the script from Richard Llewellyn’s
best seller. Dunne only had to point to the long, lumbering British
TV version which first aired in six hour-long parts in 1976.
Shot on location, scrupulously faithful to the book , it was
rather unwatchable because of its excessive length.
I well remember a sunny day in July of 1989 when I took a very
expensive cab ride from the Hilton Universal hotel to Dunne’s
Malibu spread. The meter read $101.00 as my taxi headed into
the hilltop compound and Dunne very slowly walked out from his
writers’ cottage to greet me.
For the rest of the afternoon we talked old movies and Dunne
had written some of the very best: "The Count Of Monte Crisco"
(1934) with Robert Donat, "Stanley and Livingstone"
(1938) with Spencer Tracy, "The Rains Came" (1939)
with Tyrone Power, "The Late George Apley" (1947) with
Ronald Colman, "Pinky" (1949) with Jeanne Crain, "The
Egyptian" (1954) with Jean Simmons, "The Agony And
The Ecstasy" (1966) with Charlton Heston.
In later years he turned to direction: "Prince of Players"
(1955) with Richard Burton, "10 North Frederick" (1958)
with Gary Cooper, "Blindfold" (1965) with Rock Hudson.
He died in 1993, three years after our encounter.
On this particular day Dunne talked and talked about "How
Green Was My Valley," which he considered his proudest moviemaking
accomplishment.
“I’d been going up the ladder
at Fox, partnered with an old silent film scenarist, Joseph Josephson.
He taught me about scope and sweep. But "How Green"
was a sole assignment and one I particularly coveted.
“Studio head Darryl Zanuck was an old film writer himself.
He always prized great writing and as I recall my draft of the
novel took many months and was particularly sprawling. I had
written six scripts in three years but this was my big chance
and I carefully broke the book down into scenes I could use and
scenes I had to discard.
“One script had been attempted and it was terrible. I won’t
tell you the writer because he can’t defend himself but
Zanuck wanted me to go back to the original source material.
I did something different–I read and reread the book. It
was the saga of a family and that’s how I approached the
story. I saw it as a Victorian moral fable–the family unit
triumphed over everything else from poverty to industrial strife.”
“My draft envisaged a four hour production
that would be longer than 'Gone With the Wind.' Zanuck hesitated.
Our original director was William Wyler, borrowed from Sam Goldwyn.
I remember Willie had already gotten Ty Power to portray old
Huw and Ty was very excited to be on such a project. But the
New York office kept saying it had no resolution, too many scenes
were depressing. After 'Grapes of Wrath' they wanted all references
to industrial strife cut from the script. I left the project
in disgust and Wyler plowed on for a bit.
“It was Willie who supervised the set construction at the
Fox Malibu lot because it was hilly. Filming in Britain was impossible
because of the war. Willie got the cast he wanted: Maureen O’Hara,
Walter Pidgeon from MGM, Roddy McDowall as the young Huw, Sara
Algood, Anna Lee, Donald Crisp. Rhys Williams, the only genuine
Welshman.”
Dunne was back on the lot after a month off when Zanuck ordered
him to his office.
“There sitting in the big chair looking like the Cheshire
cat was Jack (John) Ford. Willie had to go back to Sam Goldwyn
and direct 'The Little Foxes,' I was told. Jack was in because
he’d promised the budget would not exceed $1 million. And
that’s exactly when 'HGWMV' became a classic. Ford’s
sentimentality was enmeshed with Wyler’s meticulous control
over actors, script, settings. It was a perfect blend of two
great talents.”
Dunne visited the set a total of three times so content was he
watching the dailies.
“Jack wanted me to rewrite a bit about a cowardly fighter
and said he’d cast Barry Fitzgerald, who wasn’t getting
much work. The part made Barry a character star.”
Dunne granted that the picture was too pretty and downplayed
the labor strife. “The focus was always on the family and
it worked in most countries. In Wales we got complaints there
was little turnover because people stayed to watch it all day
long.”
Dunne was in the U.S. Army on Oscar night but gritted his teeth
when told the Oscar for best screenplay (adaptation) had gone
to Sidney Buchman and Seton I. Miller for "Here Comes Mr.
Jordan."
Later on, Dunne was in Washington and dropped in on Ford, who
has toiling for the Field Photography Unit. Dunne spied the scroll
from the New York Film Critics Award (for best director).
Ford shouted “You greedy bastard! You got your Oscar didn’t
you.” But Dunne corrected him: Sidney Buchman had won. Ford
stood muttering and walked out in anger.
Days later Dunne was opening his mail when the Film Critics scroll
popped out with the inscription: “Thanks Phil, Affection,
Jack.” And Dunne got up to show me the scroll still on his
cottage wall.
"How Green Was My Valley" deservedly won Oscars for
Best Picture, Best Direction, Best Cinematography (Arthur C.
Miller), Best Art Direction (Richard Day). Veteran actor Donald
Crisp won Best Supporting Actor.
It cost $1.25 million and earned a total
of $2.8 million in its initial showing. Subsequent reissues plus
VHS and DVD sales have kept the film in the public’s memory.
In no way is it artistically inferior to the magnificent "Citizen
Kane," which was another type of picture. The two can’t
be compared. Both exist as wonderful examples of Hollywood film
making.
“Zanuck only used half my script," Dunne told me that
day. "He planned a sequel but the war came along, Power
was no longer available. Everybody just moved on.”
OTHER 1941 BEST PICTURE NOMINEES: "Blossoms in the Dust," "Citizen Kane," "Here Comes Mr. Jordan," "Hold Back the Dawn," "The Little Foxes," "The Maltese Falcon," "One Foot in Heaven," "Sergeant York," "Suspicion."
OSCAR TRIVIA: Director John Ford earned his second Oscar in a row for this film and his third altogether. He had won in 1940 for "The Grapes of Wrath" and previously for "The Informer" (1935). He gained a fourth Oscar for "The Quiet Man" in 1952.
©2009 by Jim Bawden. The illustration is courtesy of 20th Century Fox. This column first posted Feb. 16, 2009.
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