I happened to catch this one on TCM. I'd heard about how Peck was one of the few hunks left at home during WWII but was not as familiar with Miss Garson except for perhaps Goodbye Mr. Chips. Also, I am more a fan of Warner Brothers films than the glossy MGM fare. Nevertheless, I was captivated by this one. Garson plays with charming capability the Irish servant Mary to the Scott scion Peck against the backdrop of a Pittsburg steel mill. It's rather soap operatic but Peck manages to bring it down to earth. You could already see the Atticus Finch in him. Only Lionel Barrymore as Mary's bitter father manages to wreck things with his usual ham overacting. The story was also surprisingly politically correct with the servants, especially Mary, being treated more like cousins than workers as one might find in say, class conscious British films. The ending was a tad implausible but a happy one nonetheless. I would definitely add it to my rainy day, sick in bed with the flu, can't sleep insomniac collection.
Review of The Valley of Decision
