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Some have commented that they felt that Spencer Tracy was miscast in this film, playing a character very different to the altruists that he typically plays, and being the only American among the principle cast. However, I believe that this perhaps is Tracy's strongest performance, partly because it is so different to his usual roles. Tracy plays a determined and unrelenting man with real strength, although as his wife, Deborah Kerr also has a number of strong scenes, particularly in the final half hour. The two lead performances are however the bulk of what makes this a good film. It is reasonably engaging, with gimmicks of the title character never on screen, and Tracy speaking to the viewer, to keep it interesting, but the plot is not too great in itself, and the story tires before the end. It is also a bit too stagy, which limits how involving it is to an extent. Nevertheless, despite any possible shortcomings, the powerhouse of acting, not only from Tracy and Kerr, but some of the supporting cast too, make this a film worth checking out.

Good grief, Robert Morley and Noel Langley must have been in a bad mood indeed when they wrote the nihilistic play upon which this film was based.

"Edward, My Son" is a bitter pill of a movie about an absolutely detestable jackass played by Spencer Tracy and the mess he makes of his life and the lives of those he loves in his campaign to spoil his son rotten. Tracy deserves kudos for playing this character at all, one who finds not a hint of redemption by the movie's end. The real reason to watch the film, though, is for Deborah Kerr's tragic performance as Tracy's wife, who begins the film as a vivacious if overly-dependent young mother and ends it as a shattered alcoholic. Her part is fairly small in relation to Tracy's, but she makes the most of every moment on screen and earned her first Best Actress Academy Award nomination for her efforts.

In a conceit that clearly comes from the stage, we never see Edward, the son who serves as the catalyst for this married couple's disastrous end. Director George Cukor never succeeds in opening this film up and making it feel like anything more than a filmed version of the play. There's a monotony to its rhythms and it feels longer than it is.

Grade: B-

Made in the UK by MGM to use up their frozen money in this country. It moves at a glacial pace with Tracey portraying a character who starts out badly and gets worse and worse. The problem is that there is nothing to alleviate the gloom. So it starts out quite interesting but by the hour mark it has become a bore and you just wish for it to end.

First of all, the Edward of the title is never actually seen, even though the story covers several decades of his life. Rather, the story concentrates on the destructive influences of his over-benevolent father (Spencer Tracy) whose selfishness and ambition destroy all the relationships about him and ruin his son's character. Spencer Tracy is somewhat miscast, a little too likable and amiable in a role that calls for acidity and tartness. One wonders just how much better Robert Morley would have been in the role he created on the stage. Alas, movie box office appeal ruled. Ian Hunter is good as the Harley Street doctor, Tracy's friend throughout, who carries more than a burning torch for Tracy's long-suffering wife. The one knockout performance, which really carries a punch, shattering in its portrayal, is delivered by Deborah Kerr - unquestionably one of the best she ever gave. Going from a loving young wife to a middle-aged, spurned, embittered alcoholic, her performance is heart-wrenching. One watches her range with surprise for the sheer professionalism at what must have been a relatively young age. Quite different from any of the other roles she played in a long career. An absorbing drama, unusual in that the lead character is not particularly likable or sympathetic. Worth watching for the snappy dialog and Kerr's performance.

Arnold Boult ( Spencer Tracy ) is a higher rank than just captain of industry as he dupes, browbeats and bribes his way to power in Twentieth century London. With limitless ambition and drive he is not concerned about being liked but having his way. Son Edward is another story however and he slavishly dotes over the boy spoiling him at every turn and using his considerable power, he holds the mortgage to the prep school Edward is about to be expelled from, to allow him to do as he pleases. With this kind of powerful enabling it is little surprise sonny grows into irresponsible adulthood.

Directed sluggishly by George Cukor, Edward, My Son has a stage feel to it as it trundles slowly from scene to scene. We never see the title character but the little he has is fleshed out excellently in conversation and argument between the parents. Tracy as a bullheaded industrialist from across the pond ( Canadian instead of Ugly American ) does a fine job of going against type, playing one of his many fatherly roles with reckless arrogance. Playing opposite Tracy as his wife Deborah Kerr simply walks away with the picture as she goes from housewife to millionaires wife with title before descending into the depths of alcoholism after the loss of her son and a lifetime with Arnold. It may well be the celebrated Kerr's most challenging and finest performance in a career that has had many.

Mid picture the film really begins to bog down as Boult begins an affair with his secretary (Lueen McGrath) that Cukor attempts to sum up in one long laborious scene at her apartment slowing the pace even more, though salvaged somewhat by Kerr who saves her best for last. The denouement is more than satisfying. It's the getting there that's the problem.

In Cukor's "Women" (1939) the heroines talked about men we never saw cause it was an all-female cast.In "Edward My Son" ,the character of the title ,"Edward" never appears either.It may be interesting but it's also a bit infuriating cause we know him only through the others' conversations .It takes all the talent of the cast to make the movie worthwhile :Spencer Tracy ,whose love for his spoiled child knows no bounds and leads him to become selfish,tyrannical and even crooked;Deborah Kerr,who for the first and last time in her career is compelled to overplay in her last scenes :the aristocratic Kerr as an alcoholic shrew,it has to be seen to be believed! The movie is a long flashback:Tracy appears in the first sequence and tells the audience he just lost his only child ;he owns almost everything a man can ,and perhaps the theater where you are watching this film;he will come back for the epilogue.

Although not entirely satisfying,it's an interesting way of telling a story,which ventures off the beaten track.

Edward, My Son has become an overlooked, unheard of classic over the years, but it really should reclaim its place on must-see lists. Based off of Robert Morley and Noel Langley's play, it's a very emotional script about a father's relationship to his son, and the sacrifices and ruinations he made all in his son's name.

Spencer Tracy plays Edward's father, and while I don't usually think he's a very good actor, he's very menacing in this film. I give credit to Deborah Kerr, who plays Edward's mother and Spence's wife. They start the film young, happy, and in love, and as the years pass, they age. They argue and scream at each other, and with fantastic lines to say, and a great actress to say them to, it's no wonder Spencer Tracy had such fire and ammunition behind his words.

But it's really Deborah Kerr who steals the show. She was very young in 1949, but when she ages, it's remarkably lifelike. While Spence turns to another woman to ease his pain, Deborah turns to alcohol, and in old movies, playing an alcoholic was tricky. Most actors played an over-the-top drunk, but young Deborah was very realistic. Rent this emotional drama to see just how fantastic her performance was.

When it was originally presented on the London stage, Robert Morley starred and wrote Edward My Son and I believe he had Lord Beaverbrook in mind. If that is the case Edward My Son was as daring in its way as Sweet Smell of Success was in America taking dead aim at Walter Winchell.

Lord Beaverbrook for those on this side of the Atlantic was a Canadian industrialist Max Aitken who settled in the UK and purchased a string of tabloid like newspapers. He was a very powerful force in the post World War I United Kingdom and served in the War Cabinet of Winston Churchill. He was every bit as cunning and as ruthless as we Sir Arnold Boult made out to be.

And to accommodate Spencer Tracy's North American speech, Sir Arnold is made Canadian. That was making it more daring. Beaverbrook was not a man to cross.

We never see Edward at any time in the film, the picture we form of him is through the eyes of the other characters. A kid spoiled rotten by his ever indulgent father. Boult, ruthless in business and finance, is just as ruthless at getting whatever for his son, giving him everything but a decent set of values to live by.

Tracy's portrayal rings true for me because I actually knew someone like Arnold Boult in my life. He was a political person who spoiled his son absolutely rotten, used up favor after favor for him. When the son developed a drug problem he never tried to deal with it, but actually schemed to give him jobs he couldn't handle. I look at Tracy as Sir Arnold Boult and see this man staring right back at me.

Deborah Kerr is Tracy's wife and Edward's mother and Leueen McGrath is his secretary and mistress. They are the major female roles in Edward My Son and both are captured well. Others to look for in the cast are Felix Aylmer as the prep schoolmaster, Mervyn Johns as Tracy's tragic former business partner, and Ian Hunter as Tracy's friend and eventual second husband to Kerr.

Look at Tracy's methods in dealing with his personal and professional life and it's small wonder Edward turned out to be the spoiled brat he was.

Spencer Tracy, in a similar film to Keeper of the Flame from 1942. Which starred Spencer Tracy and Lady Hepburn. Both had sons which turned out to be no good. And denied it. And tried to cover it up. In "Edward", it's Dad Boult (Tracy) who spoils son Edward rotten; Dad sets the example for his son over a lifetime, himself doing evil deeds, and not taking responsibility for his own actions. And mostly getting away with it. Businesses go under, people die, but Arnold never seems to be harmed by the trouble he has caused around him. Co-stars Deborah Kerr, who was oscar nominated for her role as Mom... she FINALLY received an honorary oscar in 1994. Directed by George Cukor, who had just won for Double Life. And would work with Tracy on five films! This one is quite good. It tells a story, but it DOES end pretty dark, which is probably the reason it didn't do so well at the box office. A couple years after the war, people were looking for something happy and upbeat.

I am not sure why actors and/or actresses performances are seemingly always glorified for being drunkards on the big screen, but Deborah Kerr's performance as Mrs. Evelyn Boult, who drinks excessively to dull her pain of a long failing marriage to an adulterer and a spoiled adult son who believes he is invincible, garnered Ms. Kerr a best actress in a leading role academy nomination. I didn't see her performance as being that outstanding, nor did I see anything in this film as being anything but average.

Spencer Tracy basically plays himself Spencer Tracy, so he did not have to dig deep to play an adulterer, nor a financial schemer who eventually gets caught for insurance fraud and is sent to prison. We continually see Spencer Tracy who plays the self made millionaire Arnold Boult talking with great pride about his only son Edward, or talking on the phone with Edward but Edward himself never appears within this film. Apparently the film was based on a successful play but in my humble opinion it does not work on film.

I really enjoy Spencer Tracy as an actor, but I find his films are sometimes hit or miss. In the case of Edward, My Son, it missed the mark so I can only rate the film a 5 out of 10.

Very sophisticated writing and restrained acting performances make for a compelling drama of a ruined father's dreams. Spencer Tracy plays the not very lovable father who's desire to protect and give "the best" to his son distorts his behavior with all those around him, including Deborah Kerr as his wife, his business partner, and ultimately his son himself, whose character is never allowed to develop. A nice conceit is that we never see the son, Edward, just his birthday cakes.

Arnold Boult (Spencer Tracy) and his wife Evelyn (Deborah Kerr) have their son Edward soon after WWI. Edward is never shown on screen. Dr. Larry Woodhope (Ian Hunter) is their close family friend. Arnold builds a business empire, but grows estranged from his wife.

This is based on a play and the missing son does lead to the feeling of a play. I am of two minds about that. It shows Arnold's absence from his life and contributes to the real distancing of father and son. On the other hand, Edward could have shown the growing distance better. At the end of the day, he's the unseen elephant in the room. Spencer Tracy plays this well. Deborah Kerr got an Oscar nomination. These are two great actors doing good work.

Deborah Kerr stars with Spencer Tracy in this soap about a ruthless man, who will do anything to get ahead in the world. He also will do anything for his son to get ahead in the world as well; and this is the basic gist of the story.

Oddly enough, we never get to see Edward, the son of ereTracy and Kerr.

Ian Holm is very good in a supporting role as a friend of both Tracy and Kerr (although a bit friendlier to Kerr). One of the weaknesses of the film is that we really never see how or why Tracy gets superrich. There are millions of ruthless people in the world just like him, but they seldom ever mount to much. Kerr gives a very tragic performance as a wife trapped in a marriage that is long over; a situation I am sure thousands of viewers could identify with. For soaplovers only.

"Edward, My Son" is a 1949 film based on the play that starred Robert Morley. Here the stars are Spencer Tracy, Deborah Kerr, and Ian Hunter.

The title role, Edward, is never seen. The movie is really about his father, Arnold Boult, who spoils the boy and ruins everything and everybody he touches.

There was a mention that Spencer Tracy was miscast, that the character shouldn't be so amiable but more acid. I think in a way, Tracy's amiability was more sinister - he threatened people and seemed so cheerful about it. It's quite effective.

The revelation, the stunning, knockout performance comes from Deborah Kerr as Arnold's unhappy wife Evelyn. Young, pretty, and cheerful in the beginning, her character development, in looks and personality, is remarkable - right down to her osteoporotic walk with the slightly stooped shoulders.

How often do we see really wonderful actors play older people with just a little gray in their hair, with nothing else changed? The only other "aging" performance I have seen to equal this was Emma Thompson at the end of "Remains of the Day."

I always knew Deborah Kerr was a fine actress, but obviously, she mostly did roles that were beneath her capability.

Ian Hunter is very good as the doctor s a man who see through Arnold's behavior, and who has always been in love with Evelyn.

Don't miss Kerr's performance in this film.

My parents were movie buffs and I grew up watching films. I am a devoted Deborah Kerr fan since childhood, and I thought I had seen all her important films; but I had missed "Edward, My Son", which I watched recently on TV. An admirer of Miss Kerr's poise, beauty, and professionalism, of her subtly conveyed emotional intensity and compassionate lucidity (undoubtedly buttressed by her choice of roles, especially in the fifties and sixties), I was blown away by the sheer brilliance of her performance in this film. I give part of the credit for her success to George Cukor's directorial efforts; Mr. Cukor was indeed a "women's director", largely responsible for Katharine Hepburn's early success, and for guiding (among others) Vivien Leigh, Judy Holliday, and Miss Kerr through Oscar-winning or nominated screen performances.

The film's plot, in my opinion, is clever. Edward is a strong a presence as Sebastian in "Suddenly Last Summer", although his face is never shown. The moral disintegration of a marriage and of a loving wife is effectively narrated, particularly thanks to Deborah Kerr's stunning performance. It is sad to think this is only the first of many Oscars stolen from her throughout her movie career.

It has always appeared as a mystery to me why Hollywood moguls believed Spencer Tracy was a versatile actor. Although he is always believable as a nice, warm "everyman" in most of his films, I think his range was (to say the least) limited. One can't help but wonder what a more expressive actor of his generation, such as Fredric March, would have done with the character of Sir Arnold Boult. Among English actors, my personal choices would have been Michael Redgrave or Ralph Richardson; but it was, after all, an MGM movie. At least Tracy is not as miscast as, for example, Gregory Peck (another actor of limited range)playing an English barrister in "The Paradine Case".

The supporting cast was excellent,in my opinion; especially the actress who played Sir Arnold's secretary and mistress, and the dependable Felix Aylmer.

"Edward, My Son" does not betray its theatrical origins and is an unusually somber film, considering MGM's usual emphasis on visual charm and gloss.

Outstanding 1949 film with Spencer Tracy giving one of the best of his many performances ever. This time, Tracy is conniving as a father who supposedly will break all the rules for his son, but it must be remembered that at the same time Tracy benefits as he spoils his son to ultimate tragedy, and literally loses his wife, admirably played by Deborah Kerr.

Amazing that despite 10 Oscar nominations, Tracy wasn't nominated here. Kerr received her first of 6 losing bids as she is perfect as the wife, who was so much better off as a struggling partner. Wealth, a title and success, certainly did not help her.

It is very effective that you never see this spoiled, pampered son Edward throughout the picture. Yet, you are able to convey a full imagine of him just like you did with 1940's "Rebecca."

The film poses many ethical, moral problems such as starting a fire to gut his business but at the same time pay for his son's much needed operation.

The person who made up Kerr up deserved an Oscar for that job. Kerr goes from a young housewife to an elderly souse, looking like a tragic Norma Desmond, depicted by Carol Burnett.

Tracy's preaching to the audience is well effective. You know that he shall come up as the devil. Ian Hunter is just fine in the supporting role as the doctor who loved Evelyn, (Kerr) but could not bring himself to lead her away from an emotionally abusive Tracy.

Spencer Tracy stars as a ruthless man who spoils his son, Edward, and sacrifices everything else only to have the boy die during WW II.

Bitter story is so sad it's hard to watch BUT for the brilliant performances of Tracy and Deborhah Kerr (Oscar nominee) as the wife. Also great writing and direction from George Cukor.

Neat plot device is that we never see Edward, just a parade of birthday cakes and bits and pieces of his life as he grows up and how his parents react to his disturbing behavior. Story is clever and heartbreaking.

Good supporting cast includes Felix Aylmer as the headmaster, Mervyn Johns as Simpkins, Ian Hunter as the physician, Leueen McGrath (excellent) as Miss Perrin, Tilsa Page as Foxley, James Donald as Bronton, and Colin Gordon as Ellerby the teacher.

The film has overtones from Citizen Kane but is nothing like that great film except in its theme of corrupting power..... Worth a look

Adapted from the stage, "Edward, My Son" is a striking film about the monomaniacal obsession of one man for his son. The son, meanwhile, never appears on screen. But like a planet unseen but known to exist by the effects of its gravitational force, Edward is an influence on his father and others.

Spencer Tracy plays the father, Lord Boult, whose flashbacks constitute the core of the story. The viewer sees Boult's ruthless pursuit of business success as a means to providing for his son. Over more than twenty years, Boult never changes much, but his wife (Deborah Kerr) is like a tragic reflection of his dealings (and lack of feelings). Her transformation over the years is one of the great acting performances.

"Edward, My Son" is well worth seeing, especially for Ms. Kerr's tour de force, which is accomplished mostly in "snapshots" over the years, as opposed to lengthy expositions.

For years I resisted this movie because of the sobbing title. I expected a maudlin, embarrassing tale.

I should have known better. And while I've never been a particular fan of Spencer Tracy (his emotional range never interested me), this time he worked okay, in that he wasn't a god-damned hero, and there wasn't a bevy of minor actors sucking up to him. I liked him being a bad guy; I liked his covert, vaguely whimsical smile. For the first time, I found him believable, more than stock characterization.

Also, the movie was so well crafted that Tracy's ambitions were always credible. And when you understand the motivation, usually, you are sympathetic.

It was Deborah Kerr who stole my interest. Her character, toward the end of the film, is so broken, that she approached Greek classicism. She was ugly, tear-stained, stooped - and her lamentation carried throughout that great barn of a mansion of a home. She couldn't have been more than 35 (ca.), but she had become 80, in spirit. One knew, when she went upstairs that final time, that she would not be seen again, and would only be spoken of in past tense.

Although Kerr is a favorite, there's only one other film of hers that knocked me out: for her beauty, her rawness and her intact feminity - and that of course is "The Sundowners". These two films place her at the pinnacle of Britain's actors.