Good start, but then it gets ruined

Good concept, poorly executed.

Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Marcia Davenport's novel The Valley Of Decision got the full MGM star gloss treatment when it came to the big screen. It was bought for the woman who was probably their biggest female star at the time Greer Garson. And Garson was given up and coming new leading man Gregory Peck in only his third film.The Valley Of Decision bears the unmistakable influence of Edna Ferber as well, no doubt this was who Davenport was trying to imitate. It's a story of an Irish working class lass who came to work as a maid for a wealthy steel family and gets quite involved with them and their problems. Quite the family as well with parents Donald Crisp and Gladys Cooper and their offspring Gregory Peck, Dan Duryea, Marshall Thompson, and daughter Marsha Hunt. Look at the cast and the children are pretty much as you classic movie fans can type them. Only Peck seems to have a real love for the business itself that brought them their wealth and of course he's who Crisp has pinned his hopes on to carry on after Crisp leaves this earth.Garson is the Irish lass of course and she does not exactly go with the blessings of the house. Lionel Barrymore is her father with adapted brogue and all and this is one of the few times Barrymore's wheelchair and paralysis is actually given explanation. He had an industrial accident and even though Crisp's family has given a small pension to live on, Barrymore is full of bitterness and hate. It all boils over and leads to a climatic tragedy. The character of the three sons also plays a part in that same tragedy.Other roles of significance are Preston Foster as a union organizer, John Warburton as the English impoverished Earl who courts and weds Marsha Hunt, and Jessica Tandy the society girl who Peck weds. The novel no doubt needed considerable editing to be brought to the screen, but I get the feeling it was done at the expense of Tandy's character. It's strangely underdeveloped for a major role.In Michael Freedland's book about Gregory Peck, Peck was quoted as saying he learned early on that this was a Garson picture because when he saw the shots of them together, she was always radiant and fully lit while he was in the shadows. Seeing the film, damn if Peck wasn't right. Garson knew her business and she got an Oscar nomination for Best Actress, but lost to Joan Crawford for Mildred Pierce. Peck also was in the Oscar running for Best Actor, but for his second film The Keys Of The Kingdom. Herbert Stothart's musical scoring got the only other Academy recognition with a nomination in that category.The Valley Of Decision shows MGM movie-making at its height and at its best. This was one expensive production and the sets show it as well as the impressive cast list. Definitely one for fans of Greer Garson.

This is the first time I watched this movie and I was totally absorbed in it. I loved Greer Garson in Mrs. Miniver, and again, in The Valley of Decision she gives another outstanding performance. Gregory Peck turns in his usual excellent performance as Paul Scott, the son of a wealthy steel mill owner (Donald Crisp), who falls in love with Mary (Greer Garson), the hired housekeeper. This romantic story may seem predictable at times, and yet, this held my undivided attention throughout. I found both of them believable as they struggled with their feelings for each other amidst family feuds and class bigotry. Mary unselfishly puts aside her own desires for Paul's sake and turns down his proposal of marriage. As the years go by, Paul marries Louise (Jessica Tandy)an embittered woman who cared nothing for the family or for Paul's devotion to the mill. On the other hand, Mary was a sympathetic and caring woman who was loved by almost everyone. Without revealing too much, I was delighted to see that love and good sense triumphed in the end. It is no surprise that Garson was nominated for her performance and all of the players were well cast for their respective roles. This is a memorable, heartfelt movie and I highly recommend it.

"The Valley of Decision" (I have no idea what the title means), is a competently told melodrama that is about too many things. Romance, class struggles, capitalism, etc. In fact it is about too many things. Chief among them is that it's about 20 minutes longer than it needs to be, and tries to address and resolve all of the minor plot lines.It's not a bad film, it's just not a good film. It doesn't help that there is little chemistry between Greer Garson and Gregory Peck. I believe that part of this has to do with Garson being much too old to play this part(she was 40 at the time the movie was filmed). Peck was 11 years her junior, and by this time had only had a couple of other pictures to his credit.Still, she is lovely, and it is obvious that he will be a star. Good supporting work from Thomas Mitchell, Gladys Cooper and Marsha Hunt.6 out of 10

In Pittsburgh in 1873, plucky Irish immigrant Greer Garson accepts a position as a servant in the mansion of steel magnate Donald Crisp, though her father was crippled in his mill. Inevitably, Greer and Gregory Peck (as the principled second son of the family) find themselves drawn to each other despite class differences, and surprisingly, his parents spprove. But a series of dramatic events -- a steelworkers' strike, three violent killings, a spite marriage, a natural death and a surprising bequest -- all conspire to keep Greer and Greg apart while the audience is left to wonder when and how they can get together.In a way we don't care since these mismatched stars have no chemistry together. In only his third screen role, Gregory Peck is always competent and is sometimes better than that, but his cool, placid demeanor works against this tale of romance thwarted for over a decade. For her part, Greer Garson was never one to suggest sexual attraction or romantic passion, and she has the further handicap of looking much older than Peck and seeming too old to play her character in the early parts of the film. But by the end, when her character's age has caught up to her, Garson's usual poise and authority seem just right.If the lack of fireworks between the stars seems like a drawback, it somehow isn't because the narrative is really about the love affair an unhappy woman has with a warm, charismatic family. And here, the producer and the director Tay Garnett make sure the film is enlivened with a talented and varied supporting cast including Donald Crisp, Gladys Cooper, Lionel Barrymore (a hambone as usual), Dan Duryea, Preston Foster, Reginald Owen, Marshall Thompson and young Dean Stockwell. Of particular interest are two excellent supporting performances. MGM stalwart Marsha Hunt brings some bite and complexity to the role of Peck's sister, a selfish, superficial woman who is nevertheless decent and loving. And though Jessica Tandy spends most of the film in a thankless role as a brittle society girl hoping to snag Peck, by the end of the film she is allowed to give a vivid performance of bravura shrewishness, the kind of thing Agnes Moorehead usually did so well.