Edward G. Robinson fills the role of Joe Keller nicely in an adaptation of All My Sons, which was a hit on Broadway. This time he is on the wrong side of the law in a melodramatic story about a businessman that cuts costs and is responsible for the death of his son and others.
What works here is the repetitive dialogue, which seems rather poetic, and the fact that Joe Keller is in continual denial about his misdeeds. People obviously do act this way, when they have to repress a painful truth.
In many ways, the film plays like a high-grade soap opera, and it is interesting to watch the two separate story strands (the defective war equipment and a missing son) integrate into one cohesive whole. The final scene where Robinson goes up the stairs and says the boys that died in the war were all his sons is probably one of the finest moments the actor has on screen. It is not overwrought as one might expect but a masterful delivery of eloquence and despair.
What works here is the repetitive dialogue, which seems rather poetic, and the fact that Joe Keller is in continual denial about his misdeeds. People obviously do act this way, when they have to repress a painful truth.
In many ways, the film plays like a high-grade soap opera, and it is interesting to watch the two separate story strands (the defective war equipment and a missing son) integrate into one cohesive whole. The final scene where Robinson goes up the stairs and says the boys that died in the war were all his sons is probably one of the finest moments the actor has on screen. It is not overwrought as one might expect but a masterful delivery of eloquence and despair.