The Proud Valley

This is a very good film that gives a rare glimpse of Welsh life that has long since passed. The film begins in Wales just before WWII and a wandering American (Paul Robeson) wanders into town. Despite being a black man, almost everyone accepts him and he is soon a valued member of the community. He also is an important part of the local choral group--something VERY important in this culture. In fact, throughout the film is lots of lovely Welsh singing--and it's perhaps the best part of the movie. But, it's also a great portrait of a way of life that has passed--the grim life of a coal miner. Their struggle is chronicled in this film--with strikes, mining disasters and the like.

This sort of plot is not at all surprising for Robeson, as he was a committed life-long socialist--with some communist sympathies. This is NOT meant as a criticism--just explaining his affinity towards the downtrodden and labor unions (which were important in providing a safe working environment for the miners). But I love that the film is not preachy about--it just shows their difficulties as well as their work ethic, values, belief in God and strong wills. A wonderful film and a nice film to see in a double-feature with "How Green Was My Valley"--which as a Hollywood and highly romanticized view of these people.

All in all, one of Robeson's best films because he plays not a black man but a man--and a heck of a man at that.

This film was shown to a group of Turkish students recently with a surprising result.. they loved it! Robeson suffered all through his career from dud scripts. He was usually cast as an African chief in low budget British made films, in this film he plays the part of a coal miner in Wales. Songs include "Deep River" and "Land Of My Fathers". Robeson was accepted more in England than he was in the USA probably because of his political beliefs. Communist or not he had a great voice and this film shows that given a half decent script he was a good actor. Buy it while you can, these Gems tend to go out of print very quickly never to be seen again for years.

Don't get me wrong, I liked the film. The story, of an African-American who finds himself working in the pits in Wales, is perfectly passable, and was as leftwards as it was going to get to thread its way through the British film censors. But we know what we are going to watch this film for - to hear Paul Robeson sing.

During the 1980s, the British Bass, Robert Lloyd, listed his big four bass singers of all time. Robeson was among them. (The others were Fyodor Shalyapin, Cesare Siepi and Ezzio Pinza.) The BBC2 programme he did this for, also featured a few seconds of footage from proud valley.

The big scene comes just after his friend has been killed in a mining accident. The local Eisteddfod - a Welsh festival of music and poetry - takes place. Robeson gets up and sings "Deep River". I have heard Robeson's 78 rpm recording of this song. This version is nothing like it. It is magnificent. As Robeson performs, the shivers go up the spine and the tears come rolling down the cheeks. This is so good that only Paderewski's performance in "Moonlight Sonata" can be compared to it.

Because of this performance, no one who watches this film will be disappointed.

In reviewing the achievements of African-Americans on film in chronological order for Black History Month, we're now at 1940 with the entry of The Proud Valley, considered by star Paul Robeson as his favorite. In this one, he's an American named David Goliah coming to Wales to find a job. After hearing his voice from outside the window while conducting his chorus in rehearsal, Mr. Parry (Edward Chapman) manages to convince David to sing in his choir and gets him a job at the mines where he also works. His son, Emlyn (Simon Lack) also works there and is engaged to Gwen Owen (Janet Johnson). I'll stop there and mention that Robeson is in fine form musically especially when he sings "Deep River" that sends chills down the spine. Perhaps because of his color, his character is sometimes in the background but by the end he does become essential. So for him, I'd definitely recommend The Proud Valley.

"Why damn and blast it man, aren't we all black down in the pit?"

All of the essential elements of Paul Robeson are here - his deep baritone singing, a strong black character, and an homage to the working man. It takes place in the coal pits of a Welsh mining town, where Robeson shows up looking to work, and despite some initial resistance, fits right in. A disaster leads to many men dying, and worse yet, the mine to be closed, threatening the entire community.

Later, as some men toil outside the mine, sifting through an enormous slag heap for coal like ants, we get an exchange that reflects their frustration:

"Better dole money than no money at all." "This 'half a loaf's better than none' talk makes me sick." "Nearly a year since the explosion and we've been no more than numbers of the books of the labor exchange."

They decide to march to London to the mine company's headquarters, their letters of appeal to re-open the mine having fallen on deaf ears, but when they get there, they hear a newsboy yelling the latest story, that Hitler is menacing Europe. A series of headlines is then shown leading to "Hitler Marches Into Poland," and the story becomes less workers vs. Management, and more Britain vs. Germany. The workers volunteer to find an alternate route to the pit's coal reserves via a dangerous path, and management agrees for the good of the impending war effort.

This shift away from the concept of exploitation of workers in towns like this is somewhat unfortunate, but showing their bravery and the difficulty of the job is highly sympathetic, and the topicality of the Nazi threat adds an extra dimension to the film. It's fascinating that as blackouts went into effect in London towards the end of shooting, Robeson had to go the set before dawn, and return via an underground tunnel. There are also some dramatic scenes down in the pit that lead to a stirring conclusion.

It's a story that doesn't feel fully fleshed out and there is a hodgepodge of elements (including an extraneous love story), but because of Robeson, the working class theme, and its reflection of the country being on the cusp of war, it held my interest, and I think it's worth the 76 minutes.