Four Sons (1940)
Directed by Archie Mayo
Genres - Drama, War |
Sub-Genres - Melodrama, Political Drama, War Drama |
Release Date - Jun 14, 1940 (USA - Unknown) |
Run Time - 89 min. |
Countries - United States |
MPAA Rating - NR
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Synopsis by Hal Erickson
This remake of John Ford's classic WW1 drama Four Sons has been updated to the Europe of the late 1930s. At the time of the Nazi invasion of Czechoslovakia, four sons of German-Czech parentage go off in separate ideological directions. Chris (Don Ameche) remains loyal to the concept of a free Czechoslovakia; Karl (Alan Curtis) embraces the Nazi cause; Joseph (Robert Lowery) heads to America; and the youngest, Fritz (George Ernest), is drafted in the German army and is killed during the Polish campaign. The impact of the original film is somewhat muted here, since the political ramifications of WW2 were far more complex than those of WW1, and also because Archie Mayo isn't as good a director as John Ford. By far the best performance of the film is delivered by the great Russian stage actress Eugene Leontovich, making a rare screen performance as the long-suffering mother of the Four Sons.
Characteristics
Themes
Keywords
war, allegiance, artist, brother, child, Czechoslovakia, death, family, fidelity, Germany, Holocaust, immigrant, iron [metal], mother, Nazism, opposition, politician, power, Reich, son, Third-Reich
