Die Irrwege des Oliver Essex

The plot for "My Son, My Son!" is very similar to one of Spencer Tracy's best and most underrated films, "Edward, My Son". Both are about self-made men who make the mistake of spoiling their sons...and ultimately pay the price when the boy grows into a self-destructive sociopath. I recommend both...though the Tracy one is the better of the two films.

Brian Ahern plays William Essex, a guy who comes from humble origins but who strives to work his way up out of the streets. Instead of following in his family's footsteps, he becomes a successful writer and his future appears grand. Along the way, he gets married and has a son who he adores and spoils. When his wife is unexpectedly killed, the one controlling influence on the boy is gone. What's next?

Unlike "Edward, My Son", this film emphasizes a weird Oedipal relationship that eventually develops...which is interesting though not as realistic. And, unlike the other film, you see the son (Hayward)....and, oddly, you never actually see the son in the Tracy film.

Overall, this film is exceptionally well acted and is well worth your time. Its message about spoiling a child is a tad muddled...but fascinating. Well worth your time....but the Tracy film is more of a must-see for old movie buffs.

We have often seen in films the self-sacrificing mother and the negative effects it has had on children. This 1940 film deals with a father, who attains wealth as a writer, and has a son that he spoils rotten so that the latter can have everything in life that he didn't. Naturally, tragedy results from all this.

Our father is played wonderfully and Louis Hayward, as the son, is excellent as well as the son who ruins the life of so many.

Ironically, it is the mother here, a religious woman, who sees from the beginning that there is a need to discipline the boy. The father can't do this and the two argue only to show that their marriage has been a failure.

When dad meets Madeleine Carroll, his wife is conveniently killed by being run-over. Ironically, this occurs on her way home from church. The son has also met Carroll and when he learns that his father loves her, he plots to destroy their liaison.

The father's friend also marries and has two wonderful children. The daughter grows up to become a famous actress and is indebted to the father for writing her plays. The actress is Lorraine Day,and she is miscast in this film. When he can not have Ms. Carroll, Hayward turns to her and when she finds herself in trouble, the father offers to marry her as the son rejects her. Day takes her life tragically.

World War 1 in England intervenes and the son, seeing his father's devotion, becomes a hero but it is too late.

An absorbing film dealing with the loving relationship between father and son. It should not be missed.

Having read the book I was quite keen to see this. Despite it not being the potboiler it could have been in later years, and having the terminally dull Aherne in the lead, the rest of the cast (specifically Louis Hayward, Laraine Day, Madeleine Carroll) spur the film along and keep the interest. It does suffer from a certain amount of sugary sentimentality from Aherne (and isn't he a bit too tall?!) but apart from that it does justice to its source and manages to be entertaining as well.

A delightfully old-fashioned melodrama in the grand tradition of John M Stahl (whose films were sometimes remade in color by Douglas Sirk ),Irving Rapper or Edmund Goulding.

Even though it was given the full -bore melodrama treatment ,both characters (the father and the son) still exist today and one has certainly met some of them in one's lifetime ; the father who got a raw deal when he was young and who wants his offspring to enjoy all that life offers : the scene of the book is revealing and shows how dad can be blind (or rather pretends to be blind ).

William(Bruce Aherne) is prey to a monstruous love for a son , a not-so-magnificent obsession; Charles Vidor had filmed the opposite in his memorable "double door" :a woman who had made her nephew a waverer and whose hate for her daughter-in-law knew no bound.

William's mindless adoration for an ungrateful mischievous son is as destructive as Mary Morris ' hate for her family . The grown- up son will never take no for an answer and he won't be satisfied till he owns everything;under a handsome but sarcastic smile , Oliver (Louis Hayward is ideally cast here) hides a black soul, a man whose pleasure is to treat the others as puppets he pulls the strings of, deaf to their pain .

Great scenes: the railway station where a symbolic gate separates the father and the son busy wooing a girl on the platform ; the officers' meal when the father has finally understood and Rory's (the virtuous gent) arrival.

In fact,William discovers he's as guilty as his son ; his wife had already tried to rectify her son's behavior :but as a rather holier-than-thou woman , she had no real hold on them ;besides ,when she gets run over by a car, nobody sheds a tear and her husband hints at her only once, fleetingly ,afterward .The character ,with whom William was never really in love with ,is not developed enough,and it's the main flaw of the movie .When a new woman ;Livia,appears (Laraine Day),Oliver cannot consider her a stepmother and a ruthless competition begins, but as for the new flame, it's a one-way love (or so called love).

Like father,like son.

As Brian Aherne so eloquently states, there are tons of poems and stories dedicated to the virtues of motherhood, but hardly anyone talks about the transition from husband to father. This entertaining drama shows how fatherhood changes a man. Brian starts the film as a young man with dreams, plans, and ambition. His good friend, Henry Hull, doesn't make as many plans, figuring that life will take him along for the ride and it's enough of a struggle to keep up. The two pals become family men; Brian gets a son and Henry gets a daughter. As the years pass, we get to see how both fathers (but Brian in particular) treat their children.

Henry tries to raise Laraine Day up into a respectable lady, but Brian is far too indulgent with Louis Hayward. He caters to his every whim, lies to cover up his messes, and fails to teach him discipline. When will enough ever be enough? You'll have to watch this heavy drama to find out. I recommend it, even though parts are upsetting, because the story is timeless and the acting is very good. Just be prepared to hate Louis Hayward; he plays a very convincing villain.