My Son, My Son!

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.

I gave this a "7" mainly on the strength of Louis Hayward's performance. I did not catch the beginning credits and so spent the whole picture wondering who young Essex was. I thought it was a young Dirk Bogarde! As noted before, Laraine Day (again a surprise) was miscast, although very pretty indeed. here she was an English girl, daughter of Irish parents, yet with an American accent. Day had a busy year in '40, having a leading lady role in "foreign correspondent". henry hull, as her father, was quite recognizable. Surprisingly, I thought the normally beauteous Madeline Carroll was a bit heavy, and older looking. well, her role did call for her to be a more mature woman, both as a counter-point to young Essex and mature for the older Essex. I don't know anyone who could be more fitting as the young rotter Essex, with Hayward's patented smirk and sarcastic voice. Brent was a study in naivete and at times seemed a bit bewildered how he should act in certain scenes. the movie must have been hard for the Brits to be really interested, what with WW11 already started and this movie's time period being up to and during WW1. Perhaps its production started before sept. '39.

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.

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.

Brian Aherne stars in "My Son, My Son," the son being Louis Hayward in this 1940 film. Madeline Carroll, Laraine Day, Henry Hull, and Josephine Hutchinson also star in this saga that spans 20+ years. William Essex is an ambitious young man, determined to get out of the slums. He winds up helping a sick man and his daughter (Hutchinson) by delivering bread to their customers. After the man's death, he marries the daughter, a stern religious woman. Together they have a son, Oliver. William has a blind spot when it comes to the boy and is overly indulgent, even when it becomes evident that the kid is a manipulative cheat and liar. William is eventually widowed and reconnects with an artist, Livia (Carroll), whom he met while doing research for a novel in the mines. Unfortunately Oliver is in love with her as well and considers this a big competition, although Livia is not in love with him. His behavior nearly drives Livia away.

Oliver then has his way with a childhood friend, now an actress currently starring in William's play - and the daughter of William's best friend. By the time Oliver goes to serve in World War I, he has cut a wide path of destruction.

"My Son, My Son" makes for an okay movie but has a very disappointing performance by Brian Aherne. Aherne, who by this time had been overshadowed by Errol Flynn, was capable of much better as he showed in "Merrily We Live" and other films. He was an accomplished stage actor as well. However, he did not seem very committed to this material. In a way, I don't blame him. The character comes across like an idiot letting this brat get away with what he did.

The rest of the performances are very good, particularly from Hayward, who did this smooth con man type of character very well. Carroll is luminous as a woman desperately in love with William but frightened of what Oliver might do next. Laraine Day is lovely as Maeve, who harbors a secret love for William and whose life takes on tragic proportions.

"My Son, My Son" is nowhere near as horrible as one of the reviews indicates (in my opinion) but it isn't great. It seems to have a tacked-on Hollywood ending as well.