| My Son John | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Leo McCarey |
| Written by | Myles Connolly Leo McCarey John Lee Mahin |
| Produced by | Leo McCarey |
| Starring | Helen Hayes Van Heflin Robert Walker Dean Jagger |
| Cinematography | Harry Stradling |
| Edited by | Marvin Coil |
| Music by | Robert Emmett Dolan |
Production company | Rainbow Productions |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 122 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
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,[1] 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.[2] Retrospective reviews have characterized it as a propaganda film indicative of attitudes during the Second Red Scare.[3][4]
My Son John was Walker's final role; he died in August 1951, midway through principal photography.
- ^ Haas, Elizabeth; Christiansen, Terry; Haas, Peter (2015). Projecting Politics: Political Messages in American Films (2nd ed.). Routledge. pp. 141–2. ISBN 9781317520030. Retrieved August 17, 2015.
- ^ Whitfield, Stephen J. (1996). The Culture of the Cold War (2nd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 136–7. ISBN 9780801851957. Retrieved August 17, 2015.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
:1was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Vagg, Stephen (November 27, 2018). "Essential Political Films: Stephen Vagg on MY SON JOHN". The Blacklist.