MovieChat Forums > My Son John (1952) Discussion > Just saw the movie for the first time

Just saw the movie for the first time

posted 14 years ago by mitchflorida
5 replies | jump to latest

I have been trying to watch My Son John for about 4 years, and I am happy to say that TCM finally aired it last night. I haven't watched the movie from start to finish yet, having just taped it, but my first impressions:

Helen Hayes gives an amazing, convincing performance! She really impressed. The movie is off-beat and intriguing. A bit of film noir. Most movies from Hollywood have a good dose of liberal spin or bias. This one is quite different, and that is what makes it so interesting. Robert Walker as the sneering Communist elitist , does a great portrayal of his character. From what I have seen so far, this movie gets a solid 7.5 on a ten point scale, maybe higher because the movie's theme is so unique.

Better late than never, TCM. Thanks for presenting the movie, after all these years. Ted Turner must have been on vacation when the decision to show it was made.

[–] 14 years ago

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[–] mitchflorida 14 years ago

I was finally able to watch the movie from start to finish. The second half of the film is much inferior to the first half, and goes on much too long. I do think that Helen Hayes gives a very good performance despite the stilted dialog in the last 50 minutes of the film.

During the scene at the end, where John is confronted by the FBI Agent, I almost thought that John would be sprouting horns from his forehead, to show how evil he was. That scene was much too melodramatic. Robert Walker gives a very good performance, I think. Dean Jagger was pretty bad, and Van Heflin basically mailed in his performance.

The movie itself looks like it was done on a shoestring budget. Very claustrophobic feeling.

I was born in 1953, so I like the movie because of its atmospherics, fashions, cars, telephones, furniture styles, and other artifacts of the period.

Have to give this movie 6.5 to 7 stars. I found it interesting, but I don't think I could sit through it again. It sort of reminded me of The Fountainhead with Gary Cooper which was made a couple of years earlier.

[–] torontodog 14 years ago

It's a brilliant piece of cinema. From the first act where Helen Hayes asks every character, "What's wrong? You don't look yourself..." about every 2 minutes, to the dad's fierce accusations about John being a communist for no apparent reason. And who could forget the incredible climax where we see an endless shot of an empty podium while some nonsensical speech plays on a tape recorder? Breathtaking!

[–] mitchflorida 14 years ago

Well, since Robert Walker had died before the movie had been finished, it would have been hard to film the ending the way it had been planned.

It is amazing how rare it is for Christian faith to be mentioned in a mainstream movie, by the way. Drug use and profanity yes, but Christianity no.

[–] torontodog 14 years ago

Actually he died before re-shoots. If they had planned a different ending, they would have shot a different ending, unless they did have one and it was actually worse than showing an empty podium!

You're right though, mainstream Hollywood (especially in the 1950s) was starving for a movie like this that shed so much light on Christianity! With all those vulgar druggy movies of that era, like Ben Hur, Ten Commandments, Solomon and Sheba, David and Goliath, King of Kings, Quo Vadis and The Greatest Story Ever Told, it's a good thing that Christians had My Son John to keep them on the right path. Where would they be without the brilliant message of this movie? That message being, patriotic Americans are dumb like the dad or delusional like the mom, but anyone who is intelligent or educated must be an evil commie schemer!