Not for a moment did I believe in the Disneyland Welsh mining village as presented in this sweet old family saga. But the pictures are beautifully manipulated by one of Hollywood's most expert storytellers. John Ford always seems to place the camera and his characters in ways, which say far more than any dialogue could. In fact, this is the kind of film which may well work better with the sound muted, because the dialogue is old-fashioned and the characters' accents peculiar. (The most prevalent accents were Irish, and a kind of mid- Atlantic rural) I was particularly impressed by Maureen O'Hara's performance in the first half of the film. I don't think I've ever seen her better, or better photographed. If you're looking for a stirring, authentic story of miners' struggles in the days before the unions, this isn't it; but if you want to see some masterly direction photography, montage, and mise en scene, this is well worth the trouble.