My Son John (1952)

Directed by

Leo McCarey

Genre

drama film

Country

United States

Runtime

2h 02m

Rated

NR

Rating

5.8 of 10 from 11 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A middle class couple grows increasingly worried that their college graduate son is secretly a communist spy. The film follows their attempts to uncover the truth and confront him about his activities.

suspensefulparanoidmelodramaticearnestdatedtensedidacticpatriotic

What happens

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. The strongly anticommunist film, produced during the height of McCarthyism, received an Oscar nomination for Best Writing, Motion Picture Story. The nomination was later viewed as a possible attempt by the motion-picture industry to signal its loyalty to the ongoing anticommunist campaign. Retrospective reviews have characterized it as a propaganda film indicative of attitudes during the Second Red Scare. My Son John was Walker's final role. He died in August 1951 before McCarey could reshoot several scenes. The director had to make minor script adjustments, use a Walker look-alike, and mix in previous clips of the actor in order to complete the film. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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