9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting companion to the original film..., February 16, 2003
This review is from: Corn Is Green [VHS] (VHS Tape)
This 1978 telefilm makes an interesting companion piece to the original Bette Davis film from 1945. Ultimately, the 1945 film is far superior, but this TV movie tries its best, and in some ways, even exceeds in areas where the film did not.
The original film is a somewhat stagebound affair, the bulk of it obviously being shot on soundstages. In the 1978 film, much of it is shot on location. I think this works a bit against the material, making the characters seem "smaller" and less intense in some ways, while in the 1945 version the characters were more "larger than life". Nevertheless, it is interesting to see the use of outdoors and location settings, and it gives this version a unique spin that its predecessor lacks. This version also uses far more spoken Welsh, which is an improvement over the 1945 film. The use of the actual language helps convey a sense of place which is more "real" than the "Hollywood" effect in the Bette Davis movie. Also interesting is the only major difference in the material itself, which involves the fate of Evans' newborn child, and Evans' role in its upbringing. The 1978 film's treatment of the issue is more like a 1945 film, while the 1945 version handles things more like a 1978 film. This odd disparity may have something to do with Cukor's desire to "fix" an element he was unhappy with in 1945, the dictates and rules of 1970s television, or perhaps it just reflects a change in the attitudes of the day between 1945 and 1978.
Also telling is the difference between the taglines for the two films. In 1945, the story was about, "In her heart of hearts she knew she'd never hold him." In the 1978 telefim, it became, "The heartwarming classic of a teacher's dedication - and triumph!" The Bette Davis version of Moffat has the underlying and unspoken romantic (?) affection of the teacher towards her star pupil, which is completely lacking in the Hepburn version of the same character.
Both versions convey the story's roots from the stage play, and some scenes in both appear very much like a "staged" theatre production.
Unfortunately, for all of the pluses (of which I have only touched on a few), the original film is your best bet for a more "true" representation of the story.
Bette Davis had far more intensity and energy on display in the role of Lilly Moffat than Katherine Hepburn does in the telefilm. Davis was younger when she played Moffatt, while Hepburn was quite a bit older. Here, we see Hepburn well into the initial stages of her nervous illness, which gives her the "bobble-head" head-shaking tic and wavery voice that became her trademark in later years. She seems a bit frail throughout the telefilm, and lacks the intensity and power needed for some scenes (notably her in her confrontation with the Squire, and later when confronting Bessie). Kate tries so very hard, too, which leaves the viewer feeling kind of sad.
Ian Saynor looks and acts a bit like a young Kyle MacLaughlin at times, and has nothing on John Dall, who is far superior as Morgan Evans in the 1945 film. This is probably the same difference as there is between Basil Rathbone and Jeremy Brett in the role of Sherlock Holmes. While Brett has rightfully been hailed as the most "real" and "accurate" Holmes, Rathbone just seemed to have something going for him in the role that Brett did not. Anyway, this is what I kept thinking when looking over the young Saynor's performance; he's the Jeremy Brett, which is very good, while Dall was the Rathbone of the role, which is just very memorable and somehow definitive despite being less "real" or "accurate". This difference is also conveyed by the sets; like Rathbone on soundstages, and Brett in more realistic settings, here we have soundstages (1945) versus the location settings (1978).
The rest of the cast is excellent, though again, Bill Fraser is no Nigel Bruce, and Artro Morris is no Rhys Williams.
While the original film is the best out of the two, fans may get a treat from comparing the two versions, both helmed by George Cukor, to see not only the different styles of performance and different actors in the roles, but also to see how Cukor handled both, with some thirty-three years in between. I also liked the "time capsule" quality that the 1978 version offers us, allowing us to see an example of a high-quality television movie from the late 1970s.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Katharine Hepburn as Emlyn Williams's strong-willed school teacher, June 10, 2006
This review is from: Corn Is Green [VHS] (VHS Tape)
"The Corn is Green" is a semi-autobiographical play by the Welsh author Emlyn Williams, originally produced in 1938 with Ethel Barrymore as L.C. Moffat, a strong-willed schoolteacher who shows up in a Welsh mining town to teach the illiterate children. In 1945 the play was filmed at Warner Bros. with Bette Davis in the lead, even though the actress was a couple of decades younger than the character as written. Then in 1979 this made for television version was produced, with Katharine Hepburn making her third appearance on the small screen after doing "The Glass Menagerie" (1973) and "Love Among the Ruins" (1975). Adding to the significance of the effort was that the director was George Cukor, who directed Hepburn in her first movie, 1932's "A Bill of Divorcement," and that instead of a soundstage the movie was filmed on location in Wales.
The story begins with Miss Moffat inheriting a house in a Welsh mining town. A retired English officer is expected, since her initials "L.C." are taken to mean "Leftenant Colonel," but instead a spinster schoolteachers arrives (unlike Davis, Hepburn is actually older than her character). She finds the miners living in squalor and ignorance, and is determined to open a school to teach not only the children but also anybody from the village that is interested in learning. Aiding her in the effort are a strong supporting cast consisting of Mrs. Watty (Patricia Hays), a reformed "light fingers," the young spinster Miss Ronberry (Anna Massey), and John Goronwy Jones (Artro Morris), who looks after the house. Resistant to the idea of a school is the local Squire (Bill Fraser), while young Bessie Watty (Toyah Wilcox) resents having been dragged from the big city to this particular piece of geography.
In overcoming her obstacles, Miss Moffat discovers Morgan Evans (Ian Saynor, in his first role), a young man with a brilliant mind who works in the coalmines. In an essay he writes about being in the mines underneath the fields where "the corn is green." Morgan becomes her prize pupil, and Miss Moffat pushes him to try for a scholarship at Oxford. Unfortunately the pressures of everyone's expectations makes the boy snap and he has an unfortunate affair with Bessie that will require an additional sacrifice on the part of his teacher in order for them to realize their dream. But when he returns from Oxford and has seen what is out there, he refuses to be sent back to the life he knew in the mines.
Hepburn received her third Emmy nomination (she won for "Love Among the Ruins"), and the rest of the performances provide her with an array of characters to play off of. The stage play is adapted by Ivan Davis, however, the credit goes to Williams for not only capturing the character of the Welsh, who are usually ignored when it comes to films about the United Kingdom, but also for providing a classic example of a teacher-student relationship. Throughout his ordeal Morgan often wonders why this strange woman is pushing him to learn Greek and read Thomas Aquinas, and then there comes the point where he tells her that now they can talk. She answers, "Yes," and in that simply exchange the ideal of education is encapsulated. This is the sort of film I like to watch before the school year starts each year to remind myself why I do what I do for a living. I saw this television version before the theatrical film, but both show how the story can work regardless of whether the actress is ostensibly too young or too old to essay the part, which also speaks to the universality of the lesson.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great motivational film, June 6, 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: Corn Is Green [VHS] (VHS Tape)
We viewed this movie on television in our seventh month of pregnancy, and named our son after the protagonist, Morgan. The plot centers around reaching beyond the perceived limitsl of circumstance and class to an aspirant future. This is one of the old fashioned feel good movies that deserves a renaissance. And our son feel that he consequently has a star-crossed career in the theatre. We need to work on the logic of this...but for a thirteen year old, it is magic.
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