All My Sons - Burt Lancaster

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

directed by Irving Reis
USA 1948

It's based on the Pulitzer Prize winning play by Arthur Miller and the taut screenplay is by Chester Erskine. Irving G. Reis ("Roseanna McCoy") directs this thoughtful and well-meaning family drama. It explores all of the following moral questions: unprincipled greed, taking family loyalty to the extreme, the importance of taking responsibility for one's actions, and suicide. The stage play undergoes a major change in its screen adaptation, making it less controversial. In the play the unethical business practices leading to war profiteering by the entire defense industry is questioned, in the film it's only the business partners that are found guilty of such criminal acts. Still, there are enough social conscience talking points to fill the airwaves of talk radio for a season of broadcasts.

Set in a small-town in the Midwest, Chris Keller (Burt Lancaster) returns from the war to join his self-made father, Joe (Edward G. Robinson), in his successful manufacturing firm and is determined to marry childhood neighbor friend Ann Deever (Louisa Horton). She now lives in Chicago with her lawyer brother George (Howard Duff), where they moved to after her father Herbert (Frank Conroy) was sent to prison for selling the government defective airplane cylinders which caused the deaths of 21 pilots over the Pacific. At the time, Joe and Herbert were business partners. Joe got off because he lied on the stand and let his partner take the full blame. Chris's older brother was engaged to Ann, but the flyer has been missing in action for three years after going on a raid, and Chris's mother Kate (Mady Christians) believes her son is still alive and therefore will not grant permission for the marriage.

Ann's visit opens up those old wounds and opens up the eyes of Chris, who always believed his father was innocent. Chris visits his father's former partner in the Springfield jail and discovers the bloody truth, causing him to confront his father and bring about more tragedy.

Excerpt of review from Dennis Schwartz for Ozus' World Movie Reviews located HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release: 27 March 1948 (New York City)

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DVD Review: Universal (Universal Vault Series) - Region 0 - NTSC

Big thanks to Gregory Meshman for the Review!

DVD Box Cover		CLICK to order from:
Distribution	Universal Region 0 - NTSC
Runtime	1:33:51
Video	1.33:1 Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 6.2 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate
Audio	Dolby Digital Mono (English)
Subtitles	None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Universal Aspect Ratio: Fullscreen - 1.33:1 Edition Details: • None DVD Release Date: November 21st, 2014 Keep case Chapters 11

Comments

Long overdue for a home video release, All My Sons was finally quietly released on made-on-demand media by Universal Studios as Amazon exclusive. Featuring a stand out performance by Edward G. Robinson and a great supporting cast with Burt Lancaster, Mady Christians, Louisa Horton and Howard Duff, the film was based on Arthur Miller's first hit play of the same name. Adapted for the screen by Chester Erskine that got WGA nominations and directed by Irving Reis, the film tells the story of a successful industrialist Joe Keller (Robinson) whose work during WWII is put into question by his son Chris (Lancaster) when he brings his new girlfriend Ann (Horton) to the household. Ann was a fiancee of Chris's older brother who was MIA during the war and her father, Joe's business partner, is now serving time for selling the government defective airplane cylinders which caused the deaths of 21 pilots over the Pacific. Ann's brother (Duff) arrives to Kellers house announcing that their father was framed by Joe to take the full blame.

The made-on-demand single-layered disc utilizes the old transfer from the VHS era. There is some chroma evident and the transfer is not progressive. Slight green tint is evident on some monitors, but the print shows little damage. The mono audio is not pristine - there is slight noise throughout the picture. There are no extras or menu screens and the film gets 11 chapters. A highly recommended drama with some noir overtones that deserves so much better on home video, but for those eager to see this film, this release is recommended with many reservations.

- Gregory Meshman

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