Greer Garson of World War II in "Mrs. Miniver". ("Guinness Book of World Records" credits her with the longest Oscar acceptance speech, at five minutes and 30 seconds, after which the Academy Awards instituted a time limit.) In 1942, Garson also co-starred in the powerful, dramatic film "Random Harvest" with Academy Award winner Ronald Colman. Set at the end of World War I with Ronald Colman as a shell-shocked, amnesiac soldier and Greer Garson as his love interest, "Random Harvest" received seven Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture. It lost to "Mrs. Miniver", and Garson won the Academy Award for that role.
Mrs. Miniver (character) Mrs. Miniver (character) Mrs. Miniver is a fictional character created by Jan Struther in 1937 for a series of newspaper columns for "The Times", later adapted into a film of the same name. "The Times" columns were short reflections on everyday life, based in part on Struther's own family and experiences. While the columns started out as lighthearted domestic scenes where the outside world barely intruded, the approach of World War II slowly brought darker global concerns into Mrs. Miniver's world. One of the more memorable pieces appears near the middle of the series, where the Minivers get gas masks.