FILM REVIEWS
My Son John (1952)
Leo McCarey’s “My Son John” is an agit-prop, an overtly political message film made at the height of the McCarthy witch-hunting.
In this story, the parents (played by Helen Hayes and Dean Jagger) of a presumably good American boy (Robert Walker) discover to their horror that he is a member of the Communist Party.
McCarey, known for his suave screwball comedies, must have been under pressure to prove his allegiance. End result is an embarrassing film artistically that’s worth seeing as a testament to the fear and paranoia that McCarthyism generated in and outside Hollywood in the early 1950s.
Oscar Nomination: 1
Motion Picture Story
Oscar Awards: None.
Oscar Context:
The winners of the Motion Picture Story were Frederick Frank, Theodore St. John, and Frank Cavett for DeMille’s circus adventure, “The Greatest Story Ever Told,” which also won Best Picture.
- Nebraska: From Alexander Payne
- Behind he Candelabra: Liberace Biopic
- Hangover Part III
- Blood Ties
- Inside Llewyn Davis: Top Coens, Cannes Highlight
- Jimmy P. (Psychotherapy of Plains Indian)
- Fast & Furious 6: Thrilling Joyride
- Angelina Jolie Double Mastectomy–Talk of Cannes Film Fest
- Bling Ring, The
- Before Midnight: Hawke and Delpie at Mid-Age
- Stories We Tell
- Great Gatsby: Luhrmann’s Jazzy Spectacle