Vote For My Son John
Posted by Mr. Naron, Feb 1 2010, 07:20 PM
No, not my son, John. The movie, My Son John.
A couple of weeks ago, Turner Classic Movies ran a whole day's worth of Cold War era films like The Prize and I Was a Communist for the FBI. I've got them on the DVR, but I haven't watched them yet. I was intrigued by the synopsis for My Son John, so I watched it first. As always, Robert Osborne came out and introduced the film. Talk about poisoning the well. The following is a short review from Chicago Reader, not from Osborne himself, bit it's eerily similar in its hyperbolic tone...
QUOTE
An appalling masterpiece. Resist the temptation to laugh at the film's violent anticommunism and try to see it as the audiences of 1952 did, and you'll experience the most wrenching right-wing film ever made. The film's propaganda is all the more powerful because director Leo McCarey refuses to acknowledge any intellectual, ideological intent: his argument is wholly emotional, and it is a powerful one. Robert Walker, fresh from Strangers on a Train, is a government worker who signs with the reds in oedipal revolt against his domineering, patriotic father (Dean Jagger); Helen Hayes is the mother who must choose between son and country
Seriously, that's pretty much what Osborne said. He even scoffed at the fact that the movie was nominated for a Best Story Oscar saying that there was nothing entertaining about the film because of its heavy-handed anti-communism. Contrast the treatment of The Grapes of Wrath, as pro-government a piece of propaganda if there ever was one. I see this movie several times a year, so I'm quite familiar with its subtleties and not so subtleties. Believe me, it's meant to leave you cheering for the New Deal and despising capitalism. What's more is the fact that the author of the book upon which it was based, John Steinbeck, was employed by the Federal Writer's Project. If anything was propagandistic, it was The Grapes of Wrath. And as far as the performances go, most of them are just plain corny.
There's no question that The Grapes of Wrath is more highly regarded than My Son John because of its message.
But what accounts for the fact that the latter is almost impossible to view anymore? It hasn't been released on DVD, and the TCM showing the other day was the first time since the 70s it has been on TV. You would think with the cast, the director and the Oscar nomination, it would at least be as easy to track down as Stop or My Mom Will Shoot.
One has to conclude that given what we know today about actual Soviet spies in our government during the early days of the Cold war that Hollywood is too embarrassed to allow this prescient film anything more than the rare showing on an obscure cable channel.
I recommend that both of my readers go to the TCM website and vote for My Son John to be released on DVD. If it ever gets released, you will be treated to one of the finest portrayals of a mother. Theater legend, Helen Hayes--one of the only actresses to ever win an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy and Tony award--is funny, spontaneous and tragic as the mother of the communist spy. Her performance alone is worth the trouble of demanding that this film be released.
P.S. If you're really fired up about this and have John Nolte of Big Hollywood as one of your Facebook friends, fire off a link to this post.
My Mind is Clean
Comments
Mr. Naron, Feb 1 2010, 08:28 PM
QUOTE (USNJIMRET @ Feb 1 2010, 05:26 PM)
You do under-rate yourself, don't you?
I was being optimistic.
wag-a-muffin, Feb 1 2010, 10:05 PM
Hey, for the past few weeks it has been nearly impossible to open the blogs. Add that to the three hours it took to post a comment, well. I'm just saying--
Mr. Naron, Feb 1 2010, 10:36 PM
QUOTE (wag-a-muffin @ Feb 1 2010, 07:05 PM)
Hey, for the past few weeks it has been nearly impossible to open the blogs. Add that to the three hours it took to post a comment, well. I'm just saying--
Really? I haven't had any trouble. What browser do you use?
stick, Feb 2 2010, 01:29 AM
I read a lot of Steinbeck in my youth - Travels with Charley, The Wayward Bus, The Red Pony, The Pearl, Of Mice and Men, others - but it's been a while. I confess I've never read The Grapes of Wrath because, frankly, it seemed too long and too boring of a story. Was Steinbeck politically leftist and proud? I didn't pay attention to politics at all back then. I'd be interested in your take on him overall as a writer and his politics if you'd care to share that, Chris.
wag-a-muffin, Feb 2 2010, 09:20 AM
QUOTE (Mr. Naron @ Feb 1 2010, 07:36 PM)
QUOTE (wag-a-muffin @ Feb 1 2010, 07:05 PM)
Hey, for the past few weeks it has been nearly impossible to open the blogs. Add that to the three hours it took to post a comment, well. I'm just saying--
Really? I haven't had any trouble. What browser do you use?
safari.
Exhibit A.
I haven't even been able to post cartoons for a while.
Mr. Naron, Feb 2 2010, 10:04 AM
QUOTE (wag-a-muffin @ Feb 2 2010, 06:20 AM)
QUOTE (Mr. Naron @ Feb 1 2010, 07:36 PM)
QUOTE (wag-a-muffin @ Feb 1 2010, 07:05 PM)
Hey, for the past few weeks it has been nearly impossible to open the blogs. Add that to the three hours it took to post a comment, well. I'm just saying--
Really? I haven't had any trouble. What browser do you use?
safari.
Exhibit A.
I haven't even been able to post cartoons for a while.
I've been hearing about problems with safari from my students. They can't get into my class blogs without jumping through a bunch of hoops. Have you tried logging on with a different browser?
Mr. Naron, Feb 2 2010, 10:08 AM
QUOTE (stick @ Feb 1 2010, 10:29 PM)
I read a lot of Steinbeck in my youth - Travels with Charley, The Wayward Bus, The Red Pony, The Pearl, Of Mice and Men, others - but it's been a while. I confess I've never read The Grapes of Wrath because, frankly, it seemed too long and too boring of a story. Was Steinbeck politically leftist and proud? I didn't pay attention to politics at all back then. I'd be interested in your take on him overall as a writer and his politics if you'd care to share that, Chris.
He was friends early on with commies like Francis Whittaker and Lincoln Steffens, but he didn't moved as far left as the radicals of the 60s. That pissed them off, of course. He wouldn't toe the line on Vietnam, for example. But there's no mistake that he was a progressive wholly given over to the New Deal.
scotsman, Feb 2 2010, 10:45 AM
Sorry, but My Son John is just a dreadful film. I am sure there are some great anticommunist works, this isnt one. Ham-fisted, ott acting, crap dialogue.
Mr. Naron, Feb 2 2010, 10:54 AM
QUOTE (scotsman @ Feb 2 2010, 07:45 AM)
Sorry, but My Son John is just a dreadful film. I am sure there are some great anticommunist works, this isnt one. Ham-fisted, ott acting, crap dialogue.
You do a great job of spewing the conventional wisdom. Your handlers must be proud.
stick, Feb 2 2010, 11:22 PM
QUOTE (Mr. Naron @ Feb 2 2010, 07:08 AM)
QUOTE (stick @ Feb 1 2010, 10:29 PM)
I read a lot of Steinbeck in my youth - Travels with Charley, The Wayward Bus, The Red Pony, The Pearl, Of Mice and Men, others - but it's been a while. I confess I've never read The Grapes of Wrath because, frankly, it seemed too long and too boring of a story. Was Steinbeck politically leftist and proud? I didn't pay attention to politics at all back then. I'd be interested in your take on him overall as a writer and his politics if you'd care to share that, Chris.
He was friends early on with commies like Francis Whittaker and Lincoln Steffens, but he didn't moved as far left as the radicals of the 60s. That pissed them off, of course. He wouldn't toe the line on Vietnam, for example. But there's no mistake that he was a progressive wholly given over to the New Deal.
I have to give him credit for sparking my desire to read, just as Stephen King does these days. I have to ignore their politics and really don't think about it as I turn the pages. Good writing is good writing...no one ever said a lefty can't write a good book.
scotsman, Feb 16 2010, 08:22 PM
QUOTE
You do a great job of spewing the conventional wisdom. Your handlers must be proud.
Yawn.
I dont think its a good film, as a film buff, purely from a filmic viewpoint. Guess that makes me Eurotrash or whatever pejorative term you wish to label me with.
Ill stick to Animal Farm as anti-communist films go, and same again for the printed word, with The God That Failed thrown in.
This post has been edited by scotsman: Feb 16 2010, 08:24 PM
Mr. Naron, Feb 16 2010, 08:30 PM
QUOTE (scotsman @ Feb 16 2010, 05:22 PM)
Yawn.
I dont think its a good film, as a film buff, purely from a filmic viewpoint. Guess that makes me Eurotrash or whatever pejorative term you wish to label me with.
Ill stick to Animal Farm as anti-communist films go, and same again for the printed word, with The God That Failed thrown in.
I dont think its a good film, as a film buff, purely from a filmic viewpoint. Guess that makes me Eurotrash or whatever pejorative term you wish to label me with.
Ill stick to Animal Farm as anti-communist films go, and same again for the printed word, with The God That Failed thrown in.
YAAAAWWWWWNNNN!!!!
Eurotrash. I'll bet you hated Red Dawn, too.
BTW, which film version of Animal Farm do you prefer? My son is reading it right now--he just came in the room to tell me something he had read. I've only seen the 50s era animated version. I haven't seen the most current one.
scotsman, Feb 17 2010, 11:41 AM
QUOTE
I'll bet you hated Red Dawn, too.
BTW, which film version of Animal Farm do you prefer? My son is reading it right now--he just came in the room to tell me something he had read. I've only seen the 50s era animated version. I haven't seen the most current one.
BTW, which film version of Animal Farm do you prefer? My son is reading it right now--he just came in the room to tell me something he had read. I've only seen the 50s era animated version. I haven't seen the most current one.
Yes. I cant understand its cult appeal in America. I thought it was rubbish when I was 13 and still do. The concept with adult actors as normal Americans fighting back might just have worked, but schoolkids?. Complete nonsense, and its not even a particularly good action film. Enjoyable in the same way an Ed Wood film is enjoyable, but any attempts to make serious play for RD being a great film suggest to me a need for the medication to be increased.
The earlier version of AF was the 1954 British version. The 1999 version is ok in comparison.
Of course, there is the 1981 version.... (IMG:http://www.rightnation.us/forums/style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)
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You do under-rate yourself, don't you?