My Son, My Son!

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.

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.

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.

MY SON, MY SON is an over-sized independent film released by United Artists, based on a popular novel of the 1930's. While the film may not have been completely true to the novel, I can't imagine the book being any better than this film given the absurd situations and characters.

Brian Aherne and Henry Hull are two young buddies who dream of the day they will have sons. Hull wants his son to be courageous and with honor but Aherne, tired of poverty and struggle, wants his son to enjoy the luxuries in his life he never had. Eventually each man marries although they remain lifelong friends. Hull has a son and daughter while Aherne has a son as a result of a loveless marriage to a baker's daughter whose shop he helped run.

Aherne becomes a best-selling novelist. He indulges his boy with the best of everything. The kid grows up feeling the world owes him a living without an honorable bone in his body, tracing drawings for school contests and stealing friends' books. He's also a pathological liar, able to lie himself out of any situation with his father. His conservative, religious mother Josephine Hutchinson fully sees her son for what he is but Aherne rejects her attempts at disciplining the brat. Years past and sonny boy is now 21 (and now played by Louis Hayward) but as selfish and spoiled as ever. Aherne goes uncover as a coal miner to obtain material for his next novel and meets young artist Madeleine Carroll who bewitches him completely but he cuts off their friendship since he is still married. Shortly thereafter he is widowed but has no way of tracking down the girl since he never knew her name and she never knew his real name. Meanwhile who should sonny Hayward happen to be pestering in the city but the lovely Miss Carroll who is apparently a few years older than he. She is amused with his company and lets him escort her to events although there is no real romance for either of them. Hayward happens to bring her to a play written by his father (and starring Hull's daughter, Laraine Day) and the star-crossed couple meet again. Aherne and Carroll are thrilled to be reunited and she's upfront with both men about their past relations. Hayward feigns to be OK that his dad has now won the affections of his date but behind the scenes is scheming and making Carroll as miserable as possible.

While generally well acted, this story is so hackneyed the viewer can tell every plot twist in advance. There is major irony when Carroll, discussing a novelist (and unaware she is actually talking to that novelist, Aherne) comments about the author's inability to write credible female characters, given the stereotypical women that populate this potboiler: the frosty saint (the wife, Josephine Hutchinson), the walking perfection (Carroll), the silly, emotional girl (Laraine Day). One particularly tasteless scenario has Day secretly in love with Aerne, a man she as known all of her life as a "uncle" (as she and her brother have always called him). I also have to wonder why on earth the wonderful Madeleine Carroll even accepted this film. Although she enjoys top billing, her part is far smaller than that of Aherne and Hayward and not much larger than Hutchinson's or Day's.

This was a rare starring film for Aherne, usually cast as a second lead, and frankly he is not up to the challenge. His speciality on screen was always something of a cad himself, in personality if not in actual roles, so this persona fails to mesh with this obsessively loving father role. Hayward is better though obviously older than his role; he was only seven years Aherne's junior, and while at 6'3" Aherne dwarfs the 5'10" Hayward, their scenes are shot at angles to play up the height difference to apparently make Hayward seem younger but at times only manage to make him look like a shrimp. This was also one movie that badly needed to be shot in sequence; Aherne's graying hair in the later scenes vary with each segment and in the final confrontation with Hayward it appears Aherne has his natural hair color from his youth!

It's a bit silly that a mediocre film like MY SON, MY SON gets what airplay on TV it does via TCM's "Oscar month" since it received a lone nomination in production design. It certainly didn't get any votes for the acting, directing, or the film itself! And certainly not the writing, despite the reliable Lenore Coffee doing what she can with this uninspired reversed-sex "mother love" soap opera plot.