All my sons (film)

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Movie
German title All of my sons
Original title All my sons
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1948
length 94 minutes
Rod
Director Irving Reis
script Chester Erskine
production Chester Erskine
music Leith Stevens
camera Russell Metty
cut Ralph Dawson
occupation

All My Sons is an American drama from the year 1948 . It is a literary adaptation of the play of the same name by Arthur Miller .

action

Larry Keller has been missing since his plane disappeared off the Chinese coast on February 9, 1944. What remained are his parents, Joe and Kate, who continue to hope that he is still alive. Only his brother Chris no longer believes in it. Larry died for him. Rather, he now wants to marry his former girlfriend Ann Deever. He wants to start a family with her and build his own home. When she visits him, however, both have to be considerate of Kate's feelings, because for them the whole situation is wrong. After all, Ann was Larry's girl. And if Larry returns he would surely be unhappy to learn that his brother was marrying her. But Ann is also unhappy, after all, her father Herbert Deever is in prison. Since the broken valves responsible for the crash of Larry's plane came from Joe's factory and Deever sent them off, he was sent to jail after the trial. Joe was also charged and was acquitted, everyone believing he was actually responsible.

Now Ann's brother George comes from Springfield and wants to prove to her that Joe is the real culprit. Only George, as the prosecutor, could not prove in court that the defective parts had been sold to the United States Army Air Forces and that 21 planes crashed. But after all this time everyone believes that they just come back to cause trouble. Joe himself doesn't want to know much about it, after all, he built his factory from the bottom up within 14 months. He has earned his respect again. And with the upcoming wedding between Ann and Chris, peace with the Deevers may soon be restored. Therefore, contrary to his attitude, he welcomes George in a particularly friendly manner and invites him to dinner, where George is visibly comfortable with the meal. Until Joe suddenly promises himself and brags about himself that he has always been there for his factory without being sick for a day. But, of all things, his alibi on the day the defective parts were sent was a sick note. Angry, George accuses Joe and takes Ann with him.

Chris himself has become suspicious and then visits Herbert Deever alone in prison. Although Herbert says he won't like his version of the story, Chris asks him to tell him. They knew about the defective material early on. Joe had speculated about accepting a government contract. His factory is simply not designed to deliver so much quality all at once on time. Since you are on the verge of bankruptcy if it is not met, you have to send the parts off now for better or worse. After all, it is only a crime to be caught. But Joe didn't show up for work for the next few days. Apparently he was sick. When the transport company stands in front of the factory to collect the parts, Joe gives Herbert over the phone to understand that he should send the parts. Joe later denied this version in court and the jury believed him and Herbert went to jail. With this knowledge, Chris then visits his father at a poker game with his business partners. Confronted with Herbert's version, Joe evades and justifies that he didn't want to lose his 40 years for the factory because of a job. Since Chris believed that Joe helped win the war, he was proud of him. But now he has to listen to the fact that it was really only about his factory.

Upon her return from Chicago , Ann meets with Chris. Both assure each other of their love and that they want to get married. However, Chris cannot leave without getting justice. No punishment is fair to his act as long as he does not see for himself what he was doing. He must judge himself. So he asks Ann for help. She herself received Larry's last letter from George and had previously convinced Kate that her son was dead. From this he later reads to Joe how disappointed Larry was in his father. He was so full of shame that he could no longer look his comrades in the eyes. Feeling that he had been betrayed by his father on the home front, he flew on one final mission that he knew he would not be back. With Larry's suicide, Joe not only realizes that he killed his son, but also all of his comrades for whom he was responsible. He lost all of his sons . Stammering to himself, he goes into his bedroom and shoots himself. Kate can only send Chris and Ann away. We want you to get married, have a good life and never look back.

criticism

Although the play was "toned down" for the movie, said Bosley Crowther of the New York Times , the film would create a "pretty harrowing right hook" on capitalism and its greed. On the one hand, this is due to the multi-faceted representations of the actors and, on the other hand, to the “fluid script”, which conceals some “stilted” scenes.

The lexicon of international films said: “In torturous episodes the guilt of those involved crystallizes, hopes and illusions are broken. Family drama based on a play by Arthur Miller, captivating in the interpretation of the different characters. "

background

The film celebrated its world premiere on March 27, 1948 in New York City . It was first broadcast in German on April 8, 1980 on the East German television station DFF . In West Germany it was broadcast for the first time on November 15, 1984 on WDR . A German-language publication on VHS or DVD is not available.

For the film adaptation, the play was defused and slightly changed. So the "sharp and unmistakable point that there is something hideous in a system that makes huge profits from war" has been removed. It is now less against capitalism and greed than about human drama. Besides, Ann's father was only mentioned in the play and was called Steve, not Herbe. The scene in which Chris visits Herbert was written especially for the film.

Awards (selection)

WGA Award 1949
  • Best Written American Drama: Nomination for Chester Erskine
  • The Robert Meltzer Award: Nomination for Chester Erskine

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Bosley Crowther: All My Sons (1948) on nytimes.com of March 29, 1948 (English), accessed January 24, 2013
  2. ↑ All my sons. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed June 14, 2018 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used