Valley of Song, though a classic example of British cinematic whimsy, is at times hard to watch due in main to the sheer simplicity of its storyline. Directed by Gilbert Gunn, and starring Clifford Evans, Mervyn Johns and Maureen Swanson, this film perfectly encapsulates a period when the pace of life, and everything else, seemed to be just that little bit slower, and often none-the-worse for that.
Returning to his Welsh hometown after living for five years in London Geraint Llewellyn (Evans) is, to many people's surprise and not least his, made choirmaster at the local church. His initial excitement is soon forgotten however after he picks Mrs Davies (Betty Cooper) over her rival Mrs Lloyd (Rachel Thomas) for the lead in the new production of Handel's Messiah. Petty differences and age old emotions amongst the close-knit community boil over with comic results, before everything comes to a harmonious and not totally unexpected conclusion.
The premise behind Valley of Song is almost as simple as the everyday lives of the characters around which it centres. Whether concerning the well-meaning if hapless Geraint (lent a marvellous air of undisclosed panic by Evans) as he becomes stuck within the feuding factions of the extended Davies and Lloyd clans, or the unrequited love between Mrs Davies' daughter Olwen (Swanson) and Mrs Lloyd's son Cliff (John Fraser), the eventual culmination of which acts a catalyst for reconciliation amongst the townsfolk, the storyline is hardly complex.
Though this said simple approach may make the film appear slow when viewed now (it plays out in the main like an extended episode of some sunday evening television drama), it is also what gives the film it's appeal as a perfect example of the era in which it was produced. Everything about the small town to which Geraint returns after his sojourns in London (which is as alien to the inhabitants of the town as the moon would be to the rest of us) is quaint - from Bessie Lewis (Rachel Roberts), the local gossip who drives her milk cart around the town as though the devil himself were after her, to the one train a day which serves the town (miss it and you're stuck there for the duration) - making this film as interesting as a snapshot of a lost way of life as for anything which actually takes place in the story.
Featuring star supporting turns from a host of British stalwarts including Mervyn Johns and Kenneth Williams in his pre-Carry On days, Valley of Song is guaranteed to brighten the greyest of days even if only for its relatively short duration.
Cleaver Patterson
Rating:U
DVD Release Date: 18th February 2013 (UK)
Directed By: Gilbert Gunn
Cast: Mervyn Johns, Clifford Evans, Maureen Swanson
Buy:Valley Of Song [DVD] [1953]
