Filmed on location in the heart of Wales, Pen Tennyson’s The Proud Valley is now available as part of BFI’s Black Star.
Its central role was written for American singer, actor and civil rights activist Paul Robeson, who after years of refusing film roles from major studios, agreed to appear in this independent production. He plays African-American David Goliath, a drifter from the American South who arrives in pre-WWII Wales looking for work and wins the locals’ respect through his singing. Forming a spiritual bond with the miners, he becomes a local hero, improving their dangerous working conditions and ultimately, sacrificing himself for their benefit.
It remains today an almost unique depiction of on-screen Blackness for the time, with a multi-faceted hero of unique complexity: a politically active working man who transcends race and nationality. It remained the deeply principled Robeson’s favourite film role, enabling him to explore and express his often controversial socialist beliefs, as well as to demonstrate the supremely moving power of his glorious voice.
