| A Son Is Born | |
|---|---|
 Lobby card | |
| Directed by | Eric Porter |
| Written by | Gloria Bourner |
| Produced by | Eric Porter |
| Starring | Ron Randell Peter Finch Muriel Steinbeck |
| Cinematography | Arthur Higgins Damien Parer (war photography) |
| Edited by | James Pearson |
| Music by | Sydney John Kay |
Production company | Eric Porter Studios |
| Distributed by | British Empire Films (UK) Hoyts (AS) 20th Century Fox (US/International) |
Release date | 20 September 1946 |
Running time | 85 mins |
| Country | Australia |
| Language | English |
| Budget | £10,000[1][2] |
| Box office | £27,000 [3] |
A Son Is Born is a 1946 Australian melodrama directed by Eric Porter and starring Ron Randell, Peter Finch, and Muriel Steinbeck.
YouTube Encyclopedic
-
1/2Views:1 555 86341 403
-
WHEN A CHILD IS BORN (Lyrics) - JOSE MARI CHAN
-
For to Us a Child Is Born: The meaning of Isaiah 9:6
Transcription
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.[4] Eric Porter storyboarded the entire film prior to filming.[5] He also put up half the budget himself, with the balance coming from Charles Munro and some private investors.[6]
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.[7] Kitty Bluett was a musical comedy star, the daughter of comedian Fred Bluett.[8]
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.[9] War footage shot by Damien Parer is used in the New Guinea sequences.[10] The pool and garden scenes were filmed at Meadow Lea house in Sydney.
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.[11] Critical response was mixed, many comparing the film unfavourably with Smithy.[12][13]
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."[14] Vagg characterised Randell's performance as "charismatic, vicious, cruel... a great performance... [that] established Randell as a force to watch."[15]
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.[3]
References
- ^ "£1,700,000 FILM." The Mail (Adelaide) 7 October 1944: 8, retrieved 12 December 2011
- ^ "Three Australian Films This Year". Smith's Weekly. Vol. XXVIII, no. 4. New South Wales, Australia. 23 March 1946. p. 23. Retrieved 28 March 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ a b Australia. Parliament. Senate. Select Committee on the Encouragement of Australian Productions for Television.; Vincent, Victor Seddon. (1963), "2 v. ; 33 cm.", Report from the Select Committee on the Encouragement of Australian Productions for Television., Parliamentary paper (Australia. Parliament), Canberra: Published for the Govt. of the Commonwealth of Australia by A.J. Arthur, p. 245, nla.obj-2796526992, retrieved 16 October 2021 – via Trove
- ^ "LOCAL INTEREST IN "A SON IS BORN"." Barrier Miner (Broken Hill, NSW) 6 November 1946: 7, retrieved 12 December 2011
- ^ "Sydney to Make Unusual Film." The Mail (Adelaide, SA) 2 Sep 1944: 16, retrieved 12 December 2011
- ^ Ken G. Hall, Directed by Ken G. Hall: Autobiography of an Australian Filmmaker, Lansdowne Press, 1977 p176
- ^ "Studio's tribute to Sydney girl." The Australian Women's Weekly 11 May 1946: 28, retrieved 12 December 2011
- ^ "A GRAND LITTLE TROUPER." Advocate (Burnie, Tas) 14 November 1947: 7 Retrieved 12 December 2011
- ^ "FILM PRODUCER GAZES & THINKS." Townsville Daily Bulletin (Qld) 2 October 1946: 4, retrieved 12 December 2011
- ^ Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production, Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, 203.
- ^ "Fans Mob Actor At Australian Film Premiere." The Sydney Morning Herald 21 Sep 1946: 4, retrieved 12 December 2011
- ^ "New Australian Film Disappoints". The Argus. Melbourne. 20 January 1947. p. 4. Retrieved 19 August 2012 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "NEW FILMS REVIEWED." The Sydney Morning Herald 23 Sep 1946: 5, retrieved 12 December 2011
- ^ Vagg, Stephen (25 August 2019). "Unsung Aussie Actors – Muriel Steinbeck". Filmink.
- ^ Vagg, Stephen (10 August 2019). "Unsung Aussie Actors – Ron Randell: A Top Twenty". Filmink.
External links
- A Son is Born at IMDb
- A Son is Born at the TCM Movie Database
- A Son is Born at AllMovie
- A Son is Born at National Film and Sound Archive
- Complete copy of script Archived 4 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine at National Archives of Australia
- A Son is Born at Oz Movies
This page was last edited on 30 March 2024, at 08:37