GurlyIamBeach Instant Favorite.

ClassyWas Excellent, smart action film.

Manthast Absolutely amazing

Scotty Burke It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

JohnHowardReid 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"!

bkoganbing Some sincere performances by the cast characterize My Son My Son about the doings of a young cad and how he affects the lives of all around him. The title role here is played in adulthood by Louis Hayward who while pretty much forgotten today was a fine player and equally capable of playing heroes as in The Return Of Monte Cristo, villainous cads as in this film or both sides of the coin as in The Man In The Iron Mask.Brian Aherne plays his long suffering father who realizes he's spawned a completely selfish cad in his desire to provide the best of everything for his son. Aherne and best friend Henry Hull are a pair of poor Irishmen who are determined to better themselves. Hull becomes a rich designer of furniture and Aherne a celebrated author. Both marry and have children, Aherne his one and only son and a boy and a girl for Hull.Early on Hayward while still a child and played by Scotty Beckett is discovered to be charming but bad. His mother Josephine Hutchinson wants to discipline him severely, but she dies early and Aherne spoils him rotten.Hayward ruins the lives of all around him, but in the end redeems himself somewhat so that Aherne can be proud of him. For how Hayward ruins and redeems you see the film for.Madeline Carroll is also in the film as Aherne's second wife who Hayward makes a play for. Hull's grownup children are played by Bruce Lester and Laraine Day and both are touched negatively by Hayward.Aherne maybe next to David Niven was the actor who was cast in roles that required charm and little else to carry a film. He never became as big a star as Niven among other of his contemporaries, but was on occasion called on to do more than be charming as in the case of My Son My Son. In this as in Smiling Through Aherne has to age many years and with the help of good makeup does so gracefully.My Son My Son got an Oscar nomination for Art Direction for and black and white motion picture. Dated severely it still is a credit to the cast and crew who made it.

blanche-2 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.

Neil Doyle 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.