Mrs. Miniver (character) President Franklin D. Roosevelt credited it for hastening America's involvement in the war. Winston Churchill is said to have claimed that it had done more for the Allied cause than a flotilla of battleships. Churchill is further quoted by Bernard Wasserstein in his book, "Barbarism and Civilization," as saying that the book (and later the film) was worth "six divisions of war effort." In 1942, when the film came out, Roosevelt ordered it rushed to theaters. The film adaptation of "Mrs. Miniver" was produced by MGM in 1942 with Greer Garson in the leading role and William Wyler directing. Under
Arthur Wimperis during the Battle of the Atlantic, his ship was torpedoed, and he was one of just eight survivors of the 32 people who had been in the same lifeboat. He won an Academy Award for Best Writing for his contribution to the screenplay of "Mrs. Miniver" (1942), in which he also had a small acting part. He was also nominated for another Oscar for his contribution to the screenplay of "Random Harvest" (1942). His later films included "If Winter Comes" (1947), "Julia Misbehaves" (1948), "The Red Danube" (1949), "That Forsyte Woman" (1949), "Calling Bulldog Drummond" (1951), "Young Bess" (1953) and