Americana – 1950’s Cold War Propaganda – There’s a communist under your bed.

My Son John (1952, Leo McCarey) ***
Opening in April 1952 and capitalizing on the “Red Scare/McCarthyism”, Robert Walker reprises his character from Strangers On A Train, as Bruno Anthony-like John. This time he’s a sociopathological communist (weren’t they all?). The son of all American parents (Helen Hayes and Dean Jagger), John is an over educated “egg head” (“I love humanity Mother, I love the down trodden, the helpless minorities … ”) who becomes ‘pinko pawn of Stalin and his cronies’ in this often heavy handed reaction to the blacklist in 1950’s Hollywood. More successful at the box office than with the critics, it did manage an AA nomination for best motion picture story (this the seventh of eight nominations and three lifetime wins for McCarey). My Son John is a pitch perfect production for and of the period with a masterful performance from Helen Hayes; the first on film since 1935. And yes, she was both a great actress and a great movie star. All caped with riveting climax at the Lincoln Memorial and a heartfelt cry for redemption; what could be better woven into the fabric of the American self image? What makes the movie all the more interesting is the fact that Robert Walker died during production and some of his coverage is done with a body double using shots from behind. In the final scene we hear John seeking redemption from the grave, delivering an anti-communist speech. The closing shot is a tape-recorder lit with a halo playing. Van Heflin plays the dogged FBI agent trailing both mother and son. This is a wonderful candidate for Ron’s Cinematheque’s series of propaganda films.