The Miniver Story (1950)

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Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon reprise their roles from the Oscar-winning Mrs. Miniver in a sequel that really isn’t necessary at all. The Miniver Story picks up after World War II has ended. The Miniver family is scattered around the globe but soon come together in love and gratitude to their renovated home in England. Shortly thereafter, however, Kay Miniver (Garson) learns she is dying and has only six to twelve months to live. She decides to keep the news a secret while her husband (Pidgeon) contemplates moving the family to South America and their daughter (Cathy O’Donnell) frets over a relationship with a married man. 

Greer Garson is a powerful asset to the film (any film), and she is far and away The Miniver Story‘s most redeeming quality. The steady hand of director William Wyler is sorely missed in the sequel. New directors H.C. Potter and Victor Saville do a poor job of transporting us to another time and place, or into the characters’ frame of mind. Garson and Pidgeon may be doing all the wonderful subtle acting they did in Mrs. Miniver, but there are precious few close-ups to show for it. The Miniver Story feels like a hurried, low-budget film in comparison to its predecessor.

Mrs. Miniver is an odd choice to sequelize, especially if you’re not even going to bring back the whole family. (The eldest son from the original film is never mentioned in the sequel.) After the blitzkrieg and casualties these characters have endured, to subject them to further distress and agony isn’t just cloying — it’s mean-spirited.