Watch The Valley of Decision For Free

Touches You

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

Based on Marcia Davenport's bestseller, the film obviously omits most of the novel, concentrated on star-crossed lovers Greer Garson and Gregory Peck – Garson is impossibly sweet for most of the film, and Peck too passive, but the last half-hour or so was terrific – Garson showed some 'steel' of her own, Peck found his backbone and told off wife Jessica Tandy. There are some good performances here among the supporting cast – the aforementioned Tandy, who goes from a sweet young woman to a tense, neurotic, demanding wife, and particularly Gladys Cooper and Donald Crisp as Peck's parents, who own the steel mill against which the tale plays out (Crisp's role is sort of a dressed-up version of Mr. Morgan in HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY, which won him a Best Supporting Actor Oscar). Cooper plays the complete opposite of her famous Mrs. Vale-style mother here: she is kind, loving and understanding, and I think the scenes between Cooper and Garson are by far the film's best-acted. There's an outrageously hammy performance by Lionel Barrymore (even for him) as Garson's crippled father that could serve as a textbook example of over-acting – he should definitely have been reigned-in. The exteriors all have that MGM 'soundstage' look to them,and the matte shots of the mill and surrounding city have a particularly artificial appearance.

I viewed this movie and fell in love with the story of a family who owned a Pittsburg Steel Mill. What a great movie where determination and love of the steel mills helped preserve and shape the USA into a world power. The portrayal of steel workers along side the upper class was particularly interesting, because the owners are showed as observers and not really part of the sweat and steel, until Gregory Peck gives an awe inspiring speech about what its like working on the ground floor of a steel mill. I particularly enjoyed Gregory and Greer's on screen relationship and the difficulty of romantic relationships between two different classes. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie.

This MGM 1945 drama brought Greer Garson and Gregory Peck together for the first and only time. They make a terrific acting pair, at the peak of their careers, and ignite the screen with passionate intensity. Filmed in black and white it tells the story of the dispute between a steel manufacturer and the men that work in the mill. Miss Garson plays a pretty maid who takes a job in the lavish home of Pittsburgh steel magnate, wonderfully played by veteran actor Donald Crisp. Peck plays one of his sons, devoted to his father's mill who works diligently alongside some of the mill workers, notably Preston Foster, to bring a newer more modern way of producing better steel. Crisp has two other sons; Dan Duryea, a bit more greedy for the money rather than the work and Marshall Thompson as the youngest son, who tends to drink away his carefree lifestyle. There is also a daughter played by the talented Marsha Hunt in one of her best performances and certainly worthy of a supporting Oscar nomination. By the way Greer did get a Best Actress nomination for this.The distinguished Gladys Cooper plays the matriarch of the family and befriends Greer, leaving her share of the mill. Trouble brews among Greer's family when her father, played by another veteran, Lionel Barrymore, an embittered man having lost the use of his legs in an accident in the mill, stirs up violence that has tragic consequences.Jessica Tandy also gives a dynamic performance as Peck's wife and look for a very young Dean Stockwell as their son. If you like big stars and excellent featured actors along with a compelling story, this is a film for you. Directed by Tay Garnett.

"The Valley of Decision" (I have no idea what the title means), is a competently told melodrama that is about too many things. Romance, class struggles, capitalism, etc. In fact it is about too many things. Chief among them is that it's about 20 minutes longer than it needs to be, and tries to address and resolve all of the minor plot lines.It's not a bad film, it's just not a good film. It doesn't help that there is little chemistry between Greer Garson and Gregory Peck. I believe that part of this has to do with Garson being much too old to play this part(she was 40 at the time the movie was filmed). Peck was 11 years her junior, and by this time had only had a couple of other pictures to his credit.Still, she is lovely, and it is obvious that he will be a star. Good supporting work from Thomas Mitchell, Gladys Cooper and Marsha Hunt.6 out of 10