Mrs. Miniver

‘Mrs. Miniver’ looks at wartime England
GREER GARSON and Walter Pidgeon in “Mrs. Miniver.”

“Mrs. Miniver” is an astonishly good picture about England early in World War II.
First off, it came out in 1942, when the bombings of London by the Nazis were still going on.
Greer Garson is a middle-aged Mrs. Miniver, looking lovely and married to Walter Pidgeon. They are described as middle class.
Early on, we learn the entire community participates in a competition to determine who grows the best rose. Mrs. Miniver is so respected, she is asked if it is OK to name a rose in the competition after her.
The Minivers have a super polite, handsome son, Vin, played by Richard Wilcoxon.
While described as middle class, they do, of course, have a maid and dress like they are going to the opera at all times.
Young Vin falls for highbrow Carol Beldon, played by Teresa Wright. Her grandmother, Lady Beldon, played by Dame May Whitty, is the upper crust of the community. She’s not sure if her grandmother should set sail as a Miniver. She might come up with something better.
Vin goes off to fight in the war, leaving his love at home, knowing their relationship could be interrupted at any point by death.
In one of the best scenes in the picture, the Minivers are hunkered down in the basement because of threat of an air raid.
Often they are false alarms. But just in case, they go to their sanctuary, complete with beds for the children and canned food and coffee.
The kids sleep while Mr. Miniver puffs on his pipe in the close quarters, wearing his suit and tie. Fortunately, this was before the time when smoking was dangerous.
The scene is gripping and realistic. You hear the whistle of the bombs as they are dropped from the planes and grimace while waiting for the loads to explode.
The plaster falls. The children scream. I jump. And suddenly, the scene switches to a train station, where young Vin is coming home on leave.
Your immediate reaction, why switch the scene when we don’t know the outcome of their home?
But when the family arrives home we get the answer. There are gaping holes in the roof and walls, but the family nonchalantly continues to live in the wrecked abode like everything is normal.
There’s a heartfelt scene between Garson’s Miniver and new wife Wright. Yes, they are in love. But the Wright character tells mom-in-law she’s smart enough at age 18 to know the war makes it possible that one of them may not survive. Let’s just say it is a harbinger of things to come.
William Wyler won an Oscar for best director. Garson was nominated for best actress and Wright for best supporting actress. It was also nominated for best picture.
It is a very human film with very real characters and high drama. At times you will gasp.
It is a great film about war, survival and determination. Oh yes, and a community than in the depths of rubble and destruction, still has time to stop and smell the flowers.

MRS. MINIVER
• Directed by William Wyler
• Written by Arthur Whimpers and George Forestall
• Runtime: 134 minutes
• Not rated but intense war scenes
• 4 stars out of 5

Dinner Game

‘Dinner Game’ filled with zany characters

Jacque Villeret is the idiot in "The Dinner Game."

“The Dinner Game” could almost be a done as a stage play, an exceptionally funny stage play.
This is a zany film stuffed with bizarre characters and unusual situations. In the 1930s, it could be one of those madcap films with Jimmy Stewart, Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn and directed by George Cukor.
But this film is written and directed by Francis Veber, the screenwriter behind the hilarious classic “La Cage Au Folles.”
This is a 1998 French film which spawned a recent American remake, “Dinner for Schmucks.”
The premise is simple. Rich executives who are full of themselves schedule weekly dinners. Each is supposed to bring an idiot, an eccentric weirdo whom they can pretend to be interested in but they are really making fun of.
For instance, there’s the man in full business suit who spends his afternoons in the park throwing boomerangs.
Then there’s Thierry Lhermitte, who plays a handsome, rich publisher, Pierre. He needs someone to take to this dinner. A friend meets Francois, played by Jacque Villeret, a short, chunky accountant who copes with being abandoned by his wife years ago by recreating famous structures with matchsticks.
So bizarre and boring is Francois, he appears to be the perfect idiot for the dinner.
He is working for the equivalent of the French Internal Revenue Service. When he gets invited to the dinner, he is told a book may come out of this. Cruel indeed.
So Francois is asked to stop at the Lhermitte character’s spacious apartment and they will be off to the dinner.
Unfortunately, Pierre has thrown out his back and his doctor prescribes bed rest, not dinner with idiots.
Pudgy Francois shows up and he is all of the idiot that Pierre could hope for. Unfortunately, Pierre is no shape to go anywhere. So he promises Francois they will go another time. Francois, who has already stumbled over Pierre and made his back worse, bids adieu but before he leaves, the phone rings. The answering machine gets the call. It is Pierre’s wife, stating he is going to leave him.
Francois, hoping to console poor Pierre, stays. In fact, a running joke in this film is that Francois frequently gets ready to exit, but something happens in the plot requiring him to stay.
Make no mistake, Francois is an idiot and hatches schemes but then messes up, making things worse. Pierre has a girlfriend as well as the estranged wife. His wife’s old lover shows up at the apartment, as does a tax agent.
Chaos and absolute hilarity ensues.
This film is an absolute hoot and I found myself laughing loudly in many situations.
You can’t take these characters seriously, but then, you can’t take the plot seriously at all.
I can’t vouch for the American remake, “Dinner for Schmucks,” which has Steve Carell as the idiot.
But the original “The Dinner Game” is a match you should play. You are guaranteed a good time.

THE DINNER GAME
• Directed and written by Francis Veber
• French with English subtitles
• Runtime: 80 minutes
• Rated PG-13
• 3 1/2 stars out of 4