As an avid fan of classic films for many years, I have become an admirer of unflappable women who triumph over hardships with courage and grace. In the month when we celebrate our own heroic mothers, I can think of no better time either to introduce you to or, perhaps, reacquaint you with two of my favorite movie moms.

In Places in the Heart, Sally Field plays Edna Spalding, a Texas housewife in the 1930s determined to save her farm after her husband’s sudden death. She refuses to send her two children to live with relatives or to put them in an orphanage, and she refuses to sell her farm. Instead, she decides to plant cotton and sell it to pay her property taxes and keep her family together. Fortunately, she has the help of Moze, an itinerant handyman, who teaches her how to farm.

In addition to learning how to farm and handle money, Edna is also coerced into taking in her banker’s brother-in-law, a blind man who resents being forced to board with strangers. Not long after he, Mr. Will, comes to live with Edna, a tornado damages the farm, creating yet another challenge for Edna to handle.

Through all of this, Edna remains determined to save her farm and keep her family together. When it is time to pick cotton, they all work tirelessly. In one scene, Edna is crawling on her knees, her hands bleeding, as she picks the last bolls of cotton.

Edna makes enough money from her crop to save her farm, but she learns she will have to carry on without Moze, who decides to leave. Since Edna is a stronger, more confident woman now, she knows she will survive whatever hardships come her way.

Greer Garson plays another brave and determined woman in Mrs. Miniver, a 1942 film about a housewife in a small English village during World War II. Like Edna, she displays strength and resolve as she faces threats to her family and their way of life.

Perhaps Mrs. Miniver’s greatest strength is her ability to remain calm when faced with life-threatening situations. As their village is being bombed and she and her family are in an underground shelter in their backyard, she begins reading Alice in Wonderland to her young children as though they were in bed inside their home. How many of us could manage to read to our children as a way to comfort them while listening to bombs being dropped nearby?

Mrs. Miniver also remains calm not only during an air attack but also when she finds an injured German pilot asleep in her yard. She is alone with her young children because her husband has gone to Dunkirk to help evacuate British soldiers, so she must handle this threat all by herself. She awakens the pilot when she tries to get his gun but soon realizes she must placate him to keep her children — who are asleep in the house — from possible harm.

Mrs. Miniver takes the pilot into her house, feeds him and gives him one of her husband’s coats. When he collapses from fatigue and blood loss, she grabs his gun, calls the police and turns him over to the authorities. Through her fright, she remains calm and focuses on the need to protect her family and her community from danger.

Unfortunately, Mrs. Miniver cannot protect a family member from the ravages of war when this loved one dies in her arms after being shot during an air attack. Although she feels great anger and grief at this tragedy, she never abandons her sense of duty to her family and her country. She refuses to give in to the possibility of defeat.

In the final scene, Mrs. Miniver and her family go to church and listen to the minister deliver an inspiring sermon encouraging his parishioners to be brave and to continue the fight. I have a feeling Mrs. Miniver did just that.

If you have not seen these movies, I encourage you to watch them. If you have seen them, I encourage you to watch them again. You will probably be reminded of some strong and fearless mothers you know.

Mary Zahran, who hails from a long line of strong and determined mothers, may be reached at maryzahran@gmail.com.

Read CityView Magazine’s “Home & Garden” May 2025 e-edition here.