Excellent, a Must See

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

After the brilliance of "Those High Grey Walls" it was inevitable that director Charles Vidor would most likely be stuck with a lesser screenplay for his next assignment. In fact, Edward Small now asked for Vidor's services on My Son, My Son (1940), an adaptation of Howard Spring's best-selling English novel about a best-selling English novelist, who does everything he can to spoil his son. Brian Aherne is the excessively fond father. Louis Hayward plays the wayward son who, after failing to seduce his future step-mother (Madeleine Carroll), succeeds instead in seducing the daughter (Laraine Day) of his father's best friend (Henry Hull). In the book by Howard Spring, the son dies by hanging; in the film, however, he dies a hero! Admittedly, director Vidor and his players give this potboiler from Howard Spring's remarkably successful novel the full treatment, but I would normally doubt if "My Son, My Son" would earn many brownie points among moviegoers and television fanatics today. But I stand corrected , however. The movie has earned some enthusiastic reviews at IMDb even though it betrays the book and provides an entirely different outcome for its degenerate "hero"!

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.

For almost two hours, BRIAN AHERNE suffers nobly as a man whose only son is a rotten, spoiled liar and scoundrel (LOUIS HAYWARD). He plays the man in a rather naive, prissy and Victorian way who always means to punish his son for his indiscretions but is quickly convinced by his charming no good son that he's completely innocent and his motives have been misunderstood.Hayward plays the wayward son with a winning smile and open-eyed look that is supposed to deceive everyone but the two women who seem to know him for what he is--MADELEINE CARROLL (looking elegantly beautiful, a vision of blonde loveliness) and pert looking LARAINE DAY as a young actress compromised by him and secretly in love with his father. By the time she commits suicide, the story has reached the apex of its tear-jerker status. The story, instead, concludes with the son being awarded the Victorian Cross for his bravery in battle (World War I), and Aherne is happy that his son died a hero.It's a story of unrequited love and tries for a bittersweet effect, but misses the mark along the way. Aherne is just too maddeningly naive and Hayward too obviously deceitful for the story to make sense. It's further hurt by the happy ending that seems to have been tacked on, it's so untrue to the characters. I understand that in the novel, the young man's character was not redeemed and he died on the gallows.On the technical side, the Art Direction won an Oscar nomination and the B&W photography by Harry Stradling, Jr. is very effective.Trivia note: Why did Hollywood casting directors make such obvious mistakes when selecting children who turn into adults? I mean how does cherubic SCOTTY BECKETT (much too sweet looking here) turn into LOUIS HAYWARD as an adult? No way this could have happened!! You might as well have Mickey Rooney turn into Tyrone Power.

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.