The United States had officially been involved in World War II for just under a year when Mrs. Miniver was released in 1942, and the film, while more than a mere propaganda film, certainly used the growing sense of nationalism and patriotism to its advantage. The film takes place in England and starts out in 1939 in the days leading up to Britain’s entrance into the war. We are introduced to Mrs. Miniver (Greer Garson) as she walks through the streets of London after a day of shopping. Then, against her better judgment, goes back to a boutique to buy an expensive hat and would rather her husband not find out how much it costs. Upon returning to her village outside London, she happens upon Mr. Ballard, the train station master and he proudly shows her a beautiful rose that grew in his garden and wants to enter into the next garden festival. He also wants to name it the Mrs. Miniver after her because it turned out so beautifully. She doesn’t know how to respond at first, but then tells him she’d be honored.

She goes home and discovers that Mr. Miniver (Walter Pidgeon, who became the second man after Clark Gable to play the leading man in consecutive Best Picture Winners) has spent too much money on a new car, and so she isn’t as worried about showing him the new hat. In this time we meet their young son and daughter, and we later meet their older son, who has come back from Oxford as quite the idealist and sympathizer for the working man. Through all of this, we are introduced to the rather idealic lifestyle that they live in the English countryside. The Miniver’s are a typical working-class family and a happy family living in a happy village during a happy time. That happiness is eternally shattered once Britain is thrust into WWII.

Rather than going through an entire plot synopsis, I want to focus on two scenes in particular that I thought were outstanding examples of filmmaking and of screenwriting in particular. The first example scene happens a little more than half way through the film, after the war has started. The Minivers live on a river and so they own a boat. Mr. Miniver and all of the other boat owners are called into duty to motor across the English Channel to support English troops who are stranded between enemy troops and the see at Dunkirk. Meanwhile, word has gotten round that a German pilot was shot down nearby, but escaped capture and may be milling around the village. After Mr. Miniver has been gone for four days, Mrs. Miniver bumps into Mr. Ballard and chats with him for a moment just outside her house. After he makes his way down the road and out of site, Mrs. Miniver sees the German, apparently unconscious in a nearby bush with his gun lying near his hand. Mrs. Miniver reaches for the gun, but the German regains consciousness and picks his gun up and points it at her. He chases her back to the house and threatens to shoot her if she makes a sound. He then demands food, and she gives him a loaf of bread. Then he wants meat, so she pulls a ham out of the ice box. He then wants milk, and she gives him a jar. As the pilot stuffs his face with meat and bread, they hear the milkman whistling up the drive way. After a few tense seconds, he drops off the jars outside and bounds away. The pilot then demands a coat, and she gives him one as well. As he tries to stuff the food into the pockets, Mrs. Miniver notices that he can only use his left hand and his right arm is badly wounded.  He tries to leave the house, but is overcome by his wounds and he passes out. She takes his gun and she calls the police, telling them to also bring a doctor. He wakes up and she tells him that she’s called the police and that it will be better. She helps him to a chair, gives him a cold towel and tells him he’ll be looked after in a hospital and that the war won’t last forever. He then tells her that more Germans are coming. Thousands. They’ll bomb British cities and will destroy them all. He taunts and torments her until she slaps him just as the doctor and the police arrive and take him away. Just a moment later, her young son comes in the kitchen asking who was here. Then she hears Mr. Miniver’s boat coming up the river, and she rushes out to greet him. His boat is shot up and he’s exhausted, but he’s home and safe.

The whole sequence takes up just under 15 minutes, and it is told in 3 acts. That’s why I want to focus on this scene. It’s almost like a mini-feature, and the film makers gave the sequence its own 3-act structure within the confines of the scene. The first act is when Mrs. Miniver comes outside and sees Mr. Ballard. They chat in the peaceful bliss of the riverfront garden and all seems well. They talk about Mr. Ballard’s rose and he assures her that Mr. Miniver will be back soon. Mr. Ballard then walks down the road and Mrs. Miniver sees the German pilot. The second act begins when he chases her back into the house. In fact, the scene’s first plot point is Mrs. Miniver finding the pilot and waking him up. If the end of the first act in a feature is defined by where the adventure begins, then the adventure of this scene begins with the pilot chasing her to the house. The second act takes place in the kitchen, and the drama increases as he demands food and milk. It continues to increase when the milkman comes to the door and it is finally abated when the pilot is overcome and passes out. Mrs. Miniver then takes the gun and calls the police, thus ushering the third act of the scene. In the second act the pilot had all of the power, and the power shifted to Mrs. Miniver, signaling a change in acts. The third act shows Mrs. Miniver as a peacemaker trying to help the wounded German, then in true propaganda fashion, the German, unappreciative of the help she has offered him, tells her that their whole way of life is about to be over and that the Germans will bomb them and kill thousands of them, even women and children. The police show up and take him away, and the scene ends in a Hero’s Journey fashion as Mr. Miniver returns with the elixir, that in this case is safety and relief.

In fact, not only does this scene have three distinct acts, it also has a nearly complete Hero’s Journey, with a clear Ordinary World; a clear Crossing of the First Threshold; Tests, Allies and Enemies; a Supreme Ordeal; a Road Back; a Resurrection; and the aforementioned Return with the Elixir. That is excellent film making and even better screenwriting. Any aspiring screenwriter should study that scene to see how they can structure their own scenes in such a way. It heightens drama and moves the story along.

The other scene I’d like to focus on happens near the end of the second act. Mr. and Mrs. Miniver are in the bomb shelter with the young children, reading them stories and waiting for the bombardment to end. The children fall asleep before the bombs start falling. But they do start falling and the Minivers have a very mundane conversation as though they were having it any night of the week over a cup of coffee. Mrs. Miniver does her knitting and Mr. Miniver drinks his coffee and they chat about what she’s knitting and the upcoming flower show, as well as when the eldest son will be arriving by train. All the while the sounds of the barrage get closer and closer. Mrs. Miniver is reading Alice in Wonderland, and they discuss what a wonderful book it is, and Mr. Miniver reads some passages from it. Mrs. Miniver even recites some verse from memory. All the while bullets and bombs explode until the cacophony of noise wakes the children and the din can no longer be ignored as their shelter rattles and the children start to scream. Then, after agonizing minutes the barrage is over and they’re safe.

What makes this scene so effective is the duality of it. The film makers did a great job of building tension in the scene by having the Minivers ignore it for as long as they could. With the sounds of bombs and bullets, the Minvers kept trying to hold on to some bit of normalcy. The dialogue has terrific subtext, and this is yet another scene that aspiring writers would serve themselves well by studying.

The rest of the film is very good as well. The film makers did a fine job of creating characters that had good depth and there were some very engaging character arcs. In fact, Lady Beldon, the local aristocrat has perhaps the most complete character arc of all as she starts out the film as arrogant and selfish and finishes the film as vulnerable and self-less. There are also some fine moments of storytelling sans dialogue. The oldest son, Vin joins the RAF, and he signals to Mrs. Miniver every time he flies by the house by stalling his engine and then restarting it. It’s a way of telling her (and the audience) without dialogue that he’s still alive and well. The love story between Vin and Carol Beldon is equally engaging. Indeed, it is the many and deep relationships that allow this film to be more than merely a propaganda film. So too does the thematic depth. This is a story about taking advantage of the time you have in this world and not taking anything for granted.

Did the Academy get it right?

As I’ve said about other films, I don’t necessarily think they got it wrong. Unlike the previous three years, this was not a particularly strong group of nominees. Certainly a case could be made, and a strong case at that, for either The Magnificent Ambersons or The Pride of the Yankees. It’s easy to look back with the benefit of hind sight and say that one of those other films should have won. However, this was a film about persevering through WWII, and the war’s outcome was still very much in doubt. In fact, it was not out of the realm of possibility, even at that time, that Germany could have won that war. This film raised people’s spirits in a way that transcended cinema and kept morale high. With that in mind, it’s hard to argue with the decision. In fact, the scene that may have won the Oscar for Mrs. Miniver is the last scene in the film. The members of the community sit in a bombed out church after a particularly tragic barrage. The vicar stands on a makeshift altar in front of the congregation and speaks for all of them when he asks why so much pain and suffering has been cast upon them. Why should the innocent be made to suffer? He goes on to tell them that this is not only a war of soldiers in uniform, but a war of all the people. It must not only be fought on the battlefield, but on the farms and in the factories and in the hearts and minds of everyone who loves freedom. He decrees that this is the People’s War and beseeches everyone to go out and fight it and may God defend the right. We then look through a hole in the roof of the church as a battle wing of fighters flies off to battle. Then finally, under the “The End” title card, there is a PSA to buy defense bonds and stamps with every paycheck. Clearly, this is a film that took place in a unique time with a unique sensibility and it played to those sensibilities in a very effective way. That’s what won it the Oscar, and that’s what makes it hard to argue with the Academy’s decision.