Home | Movies By Year | Movies from 1946


A Son is Born

Buy A Son is Born now from Amazon

First, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the movie. And once you've experienced the movie, tell everyone what you thought about it.

Wikipedia article




'A Son Is Born' is a 1946 Australian melodrama directed by Eric Porter and starring Ron Randell, Peter Finch, and Muriel Steinbeck.

Synopsis



In 1920, Laurette marries an irresponsible drifter, Paul Graham. They have a son, David, but later divorce due to Paul's drinking and infidelities. David chooses to stay with his father and Laurette marries again, this time to John, a rich businessman with a teenaged daughter, Kay.

Years later Paul is killed in a car accident and David comes to live with his mother, John and Kay. To get revenge on his mother for "abandoning" his father, David seduces Kay into marriage and abandons her, but realises the error of his ways serving in New Guinea during World War II. He is injured in battle but survives to be reunited with Kay, Laurette and John.

Cast



*Muriel Steinbeck as Laurette Graham

*Ron Randell as David Graham

*Peter Finch as Paul Graham

*John McCallum as John Seldon

*Jane Holland as Kay Seldon

*Kitty Bluett as Phyllis

*Peter Dunstan as David Graham as a boy

Production



The script was written by Gloria Bourner, who was a cartoonist.[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article48482338 "LOCAL INTEREST IN "A SON IS BORN"."] 'Barrier Miner' (Broken Hill, NSW) 6 November 1946: 7, retrieved 12 December 2011 Eric Porter storyboarded the entire film prior to filming.[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article57691138 "Sydney to Make Unusual Film."] 'The Mail (Adelaide, SA)' 2 Sep 1944: 16, retrieved 12 December 2011 He also put up half the budget himself, with the balance coming from Charles Munro and some private investors.Ken G. Hall, 'Directed by Ken G. Hall: Autobiography of an Australian Filmmaker', Lansdowne Press, 1977 p176

Peter Finch, Ron Randell, Muriel Steinbeck and John McCallum were all well established actors when the film was made. Jane Holland was a 22-year-old radio actor who later moved to England and married Leo McKern.[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article47503439 "Studio's tribute to Sydney girl."] 'The Australian Women's Weekly' 11 May 1946: 28, retrieved 12 December 2011 Kitty Bluett was a musical comedy star, the daughter of comedian Fred Bluett.[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article69031252 "A GRAND LITTLE TROUPER."] 'Advocate' (Burnie, Tas) 14 November 1947: 7 Retrieved 12 December 2011

The film was shot in the Supreme Sound System studio in early 1945. Filming was scheduled to allow the actors to take radio and stage jobs, and sometimes would start at midnight.[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article62992307 "FILM PRODUCER GAZES & THINKS."] 'Townsville Daily Bulletin' (Qld) 2 October 1946: 4, retrieved 12 December 2011 War footage shot by Damien Parer is used in the New Guinea sequences.Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, 'Australian Film 19001977: A Guide to Feature Film Production', Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, 203.

The movie was shot prior to 'Smithy' (1946), also starring Randell and Steinbeck, but its release was held off until after that bigger budget movie to take advantage of its publicity.

Reception



Ron Randell was mobbed by female fans at the film's premiere.[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article17995707 "Fans Mob Actor At Australian Film Premiere."] 'The Sydney Morning Herald' 21 Sep 1946: 4, retrieved 12 December 2011 Critical response was mixed, many comparing the film unfavourably with 'Smithy'.[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article17995858 "NEW FILMS REVIEWED."] 'The Sydney Morning Herald' 23 Sep 1946: 5, retrieved 12 December 2011

Reviewer Stephen Vagg later wrote "This is a perfectly fine soapie, with Steinbeck suffering and smiling through the tears. She has beauty and charisma and holds her own against three men who would all become major names." Vagg characterised Randell's performance as "charismatic, vicious, cruel... a great performance... [that] established Randell as a force to watch."



Box Office

Eric Porter later claimed the film made 27,000 at the Australian box office but that he had trouble selling it to Australian television.

References




Buy A Son is Born now from Amazon

<-- Return to movies from 1946



This work is released under CC-BY-SA. Some or all of this content attributed to http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1094818090.