The Tunnel

1940

Drama / Music

3
IMDb Rating 6.6/10 10 664 664

wales mining town coal mining

Plot summary

In a Welsh coal mining valley, a young man with a beautiful singing voice is called upon to make the ultimate sacrifice when a pit disaster threatens.

Director

Pen Tennyson Photo
Pen Tennyson

Top cast

Rachel Thomas Photo
Rachel Thomas as Mrs. Parry
Edward Lexy Photo
Edward Lexy as Commissionaire
Ben Williams Photo
Ben Williams as Will Morgan
Leslie Phillips Photo
Leslie Phillips as Minor Role
720p.BluRay 1080p.BluRay
705.71 MB
1280*934
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
24 fps
1 hr 16 min
Seeds 1
1.28 GB
1480*1080
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
24 fps
1 hr 16 min
Seeds 1

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by CinemaSerf 6 / 10

The Proud Valley

Paul Robeson has been drafted in to add his rich bass-baritone dulcets to the gorgeous sounds of a Welsh male voice choir in this otherwise rather formulaic story. He is "David" who works down a Welsh pit that is struggling to pay it's way. When a disaster strikes, the community all but grinds to an halt. No money, no jobs, no prospects - so he and a few of his cohorts decide to walk the 200-miles to London where they hope to implore the mine's owner "Sir John" (Ronald Ward) to let them try another, much riskier, route to a possible ten thousand tons of coal. It's the singing that sets this apart - and the ensemble songs at that. From Mendelssohn to traditional and rousing themes, the audio sometimes makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. There are some underplayed political under-tones, and one or two racial ones too at the beginning, but for the most part this is a testament to community strength, loyalty and determination that is worth a watch.
Reviewed by JoeKulik 8 / 10

It's Not Very Cherry, It's An Oldie But A Goodie.

Pen Tennyson's The Proud Valley (1940) is, overall, a pretty good film. The storyline is engaging, and rather realistic. The acting by the whole cast is very good but, of course, Paul Robeson delivered the most compelling performance. The cinematography is, perhaps, the strongest aspect of the film, especially the underground scenes in the coal mine.The second half of the film is not as good as the first half. The second half becomes melodramatic, to a certain degree, including the parade that cheers on the workers' delegation heading for London, and the self sacrifice scene at the end, where David (Robeson) knocks out the young miner and essentially commits suicide by setting off an explosion that clears an opening for the other miners to escape, while he predictably dies in the blast. The second half definitely takes on aspects of a WWII British propaganda film, geared to inspire the UK home crowd by showing how much others are sacrificing for the war effort.A rather negative aspect of the film for me is that the thick regional accent made understanding the dialogue almost impossible to understand at times.I think that naming the main character David Goliath was way over the top, and even ridiculous, especially since no one in the film even mentioned that it is clearly a biblical reference.Overall, it's was an enjoyable film viewing experience, a good example of an effective "storytelling" film, but I definitely wouldn't view it again.
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