''The Valley of Decision'' is a 1945 film directed by

Tay Garnett William Taylor "Tay" Garnett (June 13, 1894 – October 3, 1977) was an American film director and writer. Biography Early life Born in Los Angeles, Garnett attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and served as a naval aviator in Wo ...

, adapted by

Sonya Levien Sonya Levien (born Sara Opesken; 25 December 1888 – 19 March 1960) was a Russian-born American screenwriter. She became one of the highest earning female screenwriters in Hollywood in the 1930s and would help a number of directors and film ...

and John Meehan from

Marcia Davenport Marcia Davenport (born Marcia Glick; June 9, 1903 – January 16, 1996) was an American writer and music critic. She is best known for her 1932 biography of composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the first American published biography of Mozart. Dave ...

's 1942 novel of the same name. Set in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

, Pennsylvania, in the 1870s, it stars

Greer Garson Eileen Evelyn Greer Garson (29 September 1904 – 6 April 1996) was an English-American actress and singer. She was a major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer who became popular during the Second World War for her portrayal of strong women on the hom ...

and

Gregory Peck Eldred Gregory Peck (April 5, 1916 – June 12, 2003) was an American actor and one of the most popular film stars from the 1940s to the 1970s. In 1999, the American Film Institute named Peck the 12th-greatest male star of Classic Hollywood ...

. The film was nominated for two

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

for

Best Actress in a Leading Role The Academy Award for Best Actress is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role in a film released that year. ...

(Greer Garson) and Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture. This was Garson's sixth nomination and her fifth consecutive, a record for most consecutive Best Actress nominations that still stands (tied with

Bette Davis Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis (; April 5, 1908 – October 6, 1989) was an American actress with a career spanning more than 50 years and 100 acting credits. She was noted for playing unsympathetic, sardonic characters, and was famous for her pe ...

). ''The Valley of Decision'' tells the story of a young Irish house maid, Mary Rafferty, who falls in love with Paul Scott, the son of her employer, a Pittsburgh steel mill owner. Their romance is endangered when Mary's family and friends, all steel mill workers, go on strike against Paul's father as the local steel industry is bought out by bigger concerns. When the Scott family refuses to sell their mill, Paul, the only son who cares about the mill and the workers, tries to intervene amid rumors the union is calling for violence under threat of

strikebreaker A strikebreaker (sometimes called a scab, blackleg, or knobstick) is a person who works despite a strike. Strikebreakers are usually individuals who were not employed by the company before the trade union dispute but hired after or during the st ...

s. The Scott family, Mary and her father, and the union leader try to reach an agreement despite opposition from Paul’s brother. The

Allegheny City Allegheny City was a municipality that existed in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania from 1788 until it was annexed by Pittsburgh in 1907. It was located north across the Allegheny River from downtown Pittsburgh, with its southwest border formed by ...

railroad station is misspelled as Alleghany City.

Cast

Reception

Bosley Crowther wrote, "the early phases of the picture are rather studiously on the 'cute' side" and "the middle phases are also somewhat artificially contrived...but the final phase...does have authority and depth;" ''TV Guide'' said it is "huge (and) sprawling... the realism of the sets is a tribute to the art directors and set decorators...three out of five stars." The film was a massive hit, earning $4,566,000 in the U.S. and Canada and $3,530,000 elsewhere resulting in a profit of $3,480,000.Scott Eyman, ''Lion of Hollywood: The Life and Legend of Louis B. Mayer'', Robson, 2005 p 365

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Valley Of Decision, The 1945 films American black-and-white films 1940s English-language films Films based on American novels Films directed by Tay Garnett Films scored by Herbert Stothart Films set in the 1870s Films set in Pittsburgh Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Films with screenplays by Sonya Levien 1940s historical films American historical films Photoplay Awards film of the year winners 1940s American films