Greer Garson Mondays

Last night, my grampa turned on TCM like he usually does and it happened to be Greer Garson Monday's during the month of March. So basically that means every Monday evening during March, they have a Greer Garson marathon.

We watched her in Mrs. Miniver and Random Harvest. Mrs. Miniver was about a British family struggling during the first few weeks of WWII. Mrs. Miniver, played by Garson, is a wife and a mother of three, a little girl, a little boy and an older son who joins the air force. Her son also just got married to a well to do girl, and they're both about 18 years old.

The youngest son is overly excited about the war and thinks it's going to be the coolest thing ever, but of course it really isn't. There is a scene that I believe sums up what families in Great Britain were experiencing during the war. Mr. and Mrs. Miniver and the two youngest children have to hide out in their bomb shelter. It's small but cozy with bunk beds for the children, a little room to move around to have tea and knit. Mr. Miniver is showing off to his wife a new air vent he had put in that turns green when poisonous gas comes through so you kno when to close it off. Of course the two kids are sleeping through most of the bombings but eventually a few bombs hit a little bit to close and everything shakes and falls, scaring the children who are crying. After another bomb that hits them closely, their bunker door opens for you to see what the blitz really looked like.

I really enjoyed this film- it was a different view of WWII that most people haven't experienced. Mrs. Miniver. This film won 7 academy awards including Best Actress and Best Movie and was nominated for 3 others. And all of that doesn't surprise me one bit- it was fabulous and well done and the sets were to die for. There were some comedic parts, serious parts and some parts of the film that took you by surprise.

This is why I love TCM- you see movies that you never thought of seeing before with actresses or actors you've never heard. Next time I have the opportunity... well, next monday... I'm going to watch more Greer Garson films.