3. Mrs. Miniver
Historical context provides many reasons why a film would be made. In the effective Alfred Hitchcock film, Foreign Correspondent, there seems to be one additional scene at the end that is straight World War 2 propaganda. The Academy Award winning film, Mrs. Miniver is the ultimate example of a film made exclusively for propaganda. The whole purpose of this film about a upper middle class housewife struggling with her family participating in the War, is to revel in the Winston Churchill ideal family and collective family cohesion. Because it is a film made to persuade, a lot of the portions of the film felts quite contrived. Its purpose is obvious and quite up front. Despite strong performance from Greer Garson as the title character and Walter Pidgeon as the patriarch of the family, the over sentimentality overshadows any of the performances that stood out. And that is a disappointment because Garson gives it her all in a performance that deserves to be in a more memorable film. But, its hard as a modern viewer to personally connect with a family that felt like a Hallmark, cookie-cutter family in which everyone is nice and valiant. Then again it is a film to persuade rather than as a piece of true art.