My Son John (1952)

Curiozități

• Premii: 1 · Nominalizări: 1. Inclusiv: National Board of Review: Top Ten Films

My Son John is a 1952 American political drama film directed by Leo McCarey and starring Helen Hayes, Van Heflin, Robert Walker, and Dean Jagger. Walker plays the title character, a middle-class college graduate, whom his parents suspect may be a communist spy.

Production

The film was based on an idea by Leo McCarey and developed into a script by John Lee Mahin. Paramount built interest in the project by reporting the casting of each role, beginning with the news in December 1950 that Helen Hayes was considering it for her return to motion pictures after 17 years away from the film industry.

Despite McCarey's "close-mouthed silence" for two months and a public warning to Hayes not to discuss the plot, the trade papers said, "word has gotten around Hollywood with the authority such wisps of information always have that the son ... is a traitor to his country—an agent of Communist espionage." Daily Variety reported that Hayes, mirroring certain current events, would shoot her son in the film and be tried for his murder.

John Lee Mahin said he agreed to write the film if they downplayed the anticommunist aspect and made the film more about a mother's concern for her son. He claims his script was rewritten by Myles Connelly. "McCarey was a brilliant man who let the Communists drive him absolutely crazy," said Mahin. "He actually went crazy."

In February 1951, Robert Walker was borrowed from MGM to play the title role. That same month, Dean Jagger signed onto the project. Van Heflin joined the cast in April 1951.

Ten days into shooting, the plot's undisclosed elements continued to garner press coverage. McCarey denied that the script was the Alger Hiss story and insisted it had a "happy ending". He said:

Citește pe Wikipedia · Text din Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Date din Wikidata.