Review: The Valley of Decision

Set in Pittsburgh in the late 1800s, Greer Garson plays a young Irish woman who gets hired as a maid working for steel mill owner Donald Crisp. Her embittered, wheelchair-bound father (Lionel Barrymore) is enraged, blaming his former employer Crisp for a workplace accident years ago that left him in his current state. Nonetheless, Garson soon finds herself accepted by the family, and is particularly noticed by Peck, though their romance is tentative due to their class difference. Labour disputes form an important subplot, with Preston Foster playing a dull would-be suitor for Garson, who is also the union head looking to compromise before things get out of hand. Gladys Cooper plays Peck’s mother, who is quite fond of Garson, and Jessica Tandy is a friend of Peck’s family, who would like to be much more than friends with Peck. Peck’s siblings (who are far less interested in the family mill than he) are played by the scheming Dan Duryea, and the bratty but far more likeable Marsha Hunt and the somewhat reckless Marshall Thompson. Reginald Owen plays a moustachioed Scotsman co-worker at the mill, while a young Dean Stockwell makes his debut film appearance as Peck’s son, and looks about 7 years old at the time.

Directed by Tay Garnett (“Bataan”, “The Fireball”), this 1945 drama hasn’t been too horribly damaged by the passage of time. The story is basic, but the sense of time and place are well-captured, with Greer Garson and Gregory Peck pretty easy to take to in the lead roles. There’s also fine support from Jessica Tandy (Miss Daisy used to be British- who knew?), a colourful Reginald Owen, and Gladys Cooper. Garson was the only one among the cast to earn an Oscar nomination, but I think Peck (in just his third film, not that you can tell from his sturdy performance) and Cooper deserved nods too. Lionel Barrymore is entertaining in a hammy performance, but is slightly hampered by his one-dimensional role. He’s light-years ahead of Preston Foster, however, who is a total block of wood. It’s a shame that the usually fantastically slimy Dan Duryea’s character never allows him to truly cut loose. The character really ought to be the villain of the piece, but he’s just not on screen enough. It’s left to Tandy and her Bette Davis-esque ice-water veins to supply the odiousness here.

This is no “Little Foxes”, but it’s pretty decent nonetheless. It’s not a great film (though I could see it being someone’s favourite film), but a solid one, even if the dual narration is weirdly inconsistent and an ill-fit. Definitely recommended for Greer Garson fans, and probably Gregory Peck fans too. The screenplay is by John Meehan (“Boys Town”, “The Painted Veil”) and Sonya Levien (“The Hunchback of Notre Dame”, “Oklahoma!”), from a Marcia Davenport (“East Side, West Side”) novel.

Rating: B-