Watch The Corn Is Green For Free

Sadly Over-hyped

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

. . . to an alleged Oscar "Best Picture" foisted off upon the World by Fake Movie News Pioneer Darryl F. Zanuck of 20th Century Fox. Zanuck had commissioned future Real Life Witch Hunter director John Ford to romanticize the Deplorable Lot of Welsh coal miners and to glorify Big Coal (which was and is, Then, Now, and Always, the world's most unnecessarily dangerous and poorly Unionized Worker Exploitation Racket among the many scams run by Labor-killing Corrupt "Conservative" Capitalism). After rigging an election to bestow Tinseltown's highly-coveted Gelded Statuette upon the mawkish HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY, Zanuck and Fox insured a minimum of 100,000 MORE Coal Miner Murders World-Wide, according to a recent Socioeconomic Report. Zanuck smugly thought that HIS would be Cinema's Last Word about Coal. However, it did not take long for Warner Bros. to courageously cast its most famous Progressive Party Activist--Bette Davis--as a Hellcat Heroine fighting against the Coal Killer Realities glossed over by Ford's Fakey Fairy Tale. Davis' character in THE CORN IS GREEN, Miss Moffatt, is NOT content to sit on her Welsh Tuffet, frittering her curds a whey. Instead, she charges into the Coal Pit, dragging out miner Morgan Evans kicking and screaming until she's smoothed away the rough edges of his 40-carat diamond mind. "Make the light come into the dingy, black-dust tunnels, and some day save the children!" Moffatt orders Morgan as she sends him off to Crusade against Big Coal Flaks like Zanuck and Ford.

I portrayed Miss Moffatt in acting class. This was scene work from The Corn Is Green. I had the lead part.I had to learn to know the character of Miss Moffatt. She is a strong-willed school teacher who wishes to increase the educational opportunities of children in the historic Welsh coal mining times in which child labor is exploited. There are no child labor laws here.I, as Miss Moffatt, am interested particularly in the education of Morgan Evans. He is my Teacher's Pet. He is illiterate, plus ignorant in the ways of the outside world. He is backward but promising. Perhaps I can instill in him a yearning to read, write and learn unlimited subject matter.My scene study included sitting on top of the hill of Moel Hiraeth in Wales, thinking about Morgan's future and how I can motivate him to want to eventually go to college. I believe that he has the intelligence needed, but that he has to work toward developing that ability.This time period is toward the end of the nineteenth century. Children do not necessarily have compulsory education, and they work all day in dangerous, filthy and unprotected environments earning small pay for their parents. Child labor laws were to come later in history, at least in the early twentieth century for the United States. Children, later, were raised to value education as a preliminary for the work world.I was told that Ethel Barrymore had played Miss Moffatt on Broadway. Later, I saw this film of The Corn Is Green starring Bette Davis.Morgan Evans in this movie is snarly and obnoxious. In my scene study, my play partner portrayed Morgan as more sympathetic. We never got to the part about Bessie Watty, she of the conniving ways and big mouth. Bessie Watty would have been a rival for Miss Moffatt's affections, since my director told me to portray Miss Moffatt as also romantically interested in Morgan Evans.In the Bette Davis movie, Morgan Evans is tall and rather cute -- after all of that coal soot is cleaned from his face. He is way younger than Miss Moffatt, but what the hey. He becomes a hunk, and for a stereotypical old maid school teacher perhaps he would be her only chance.The Corn Is Green: when you are down in a coal mine, you can look up and perhaps see a hole through which the sun shines. You can see yellow corn growing there, growing down into the coal mine. The long stalks are green. The corn husks are green. The green young man grows into the mature man, a citizen of the world. Or at least, so Miss Moffatt thinks.Ten out of ten.Smashing.Powerful.

When Miss Lilly Moffat decided to settle in a small Welsh village, little prepared her for the horrible conditions all around her new surroundings. The coal mines were not far away, so it was inevitable to see the mainly teen aged boys going to work, and worst yet, seeing them return home covered in coal dust. In spite of their hard life, the lads always sang the country airs they loved so well.Miss Moffat decided against her better judgment to start a school for the locals because she sees the need to bring education to the poor rural area. With the help of two other teachers, Mr. Jones and Miss Ronberry, the classes begin. The Squire, an unofficial sort of mayor, was not too keen in the idea, perhaps because his own interests in the mine. He could see that learning to read and write would make the people challenge his authority, his knowledge and his status.With a lot of patience, Miss Moffat concentrates in one boy, Morgan Evans, because she realizes he has potential to make something out of himself. Morgan, in turn, gets the inspiration and support from the tireless Lilly Moffat. When she decides to nominate him for a scholarship to Oxford, Morgan is taken by surprise, but goes along with her plans, which almost get derailed when he has a night of passion with the daughter of the cook, Bessie. Miss Moffat, who learns about how Bessie has her own plans for Morgan, comes to the rescue."The Corn is Green" was an enormous hit on the American theater. The leading queen of the New York stage, Ethel Barrymore, made an unforgettable Miss Moffat and became a legend for her brilliant take on the character. Warner Bros. made an interesting choice when they entrusted Bette Davis, the brightest star of the studio to portray Lilly Moffat. This was one of her best performances, and yet, this picture didn't help much her career.As directed by Irving Rapper, the film kept its theatrical flavor. The adaptation opened the play, but not enough. For John Dall, a theater actor, this was his first film. He held his own playing against Ms. Davis. He went to give an inspired performance, worthy of his character. Mildred Dunnock appears as Ms. Ronberry and Rhys Williams is the loyal Mr. Jones. Nigel Bruce and Joan Lorring have also good moments in the film.The film is recommended to Bette Davis fans because she made Lilly Moffat credible and did wonders with the role.

"How Green Was My Valley" : "Showboat" :: "The Corn is Green" : "Stepnfetchit". I saw this movie some thirty years ago and hated it. Thinking my reaction may have just been some childish freak, when it was shown on the local public station recently, I watched it again. It was worse than I remembered.