Proud Valley

Dir. Penrose Tennyson, 1940

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Wed 23 April 2008 // 19:30 / Cinema

Screening of "Proud Valley" by Tyne & Wear branch of Industrial Workers of the World.

"This is the one film that I can be proud of" said actor Paul Robeson of this film. Made on location in the Rhonnda Valley, documenting the realities of miner's lives,it gave him a rare opportunity to portray a convincing character, and to express his belief in the working class.

Robeson plays David Goliath, a hobo from West Virginia who drifts into Wales on an empty coal truck looking for work. Class solidarity cuts across divisions of nationality and race as Goliath becomes part of the mining community, in a story which builds up to a dramatic and harrowing climax.