The Green Years

Robert, who has lost his family in Ireland, is sent to relatives in Scotland. The grandfather who heads the house is hard, tight-fisted and pious, and looks on the boy as a burden. The only person on Robert’s side is his great-grandfather Alexander, whom everyone in the house mocks: an old man fond of drink and tall stories who genuinely believes in the child. When Robert tries for a university scholarship to become a doctor, his grandfather stands in the way, and the boy is caught between taking a job for wages and staying at school. Victor Saville’s hundred and twenty seven minute American film was adapted from A. J. Cronin’s novel; Charles Coburn and Dean Stockwell appear.