Four Sons

Dir. John Ford

100 Minutes

USA

1928

Starring: Margaret Mann, James Hall, Charles Morton, Francis X. Bushman Jr., George Meeker, June Collyer, Earle Foxe

***1/2/*****

Late John Ford silent film that appears to be more intent towards spectacle and prestige like The Iron Horse and (possibly) The Blue Eagle, but is surprisingly affective and often moving in its family drama. In a small village in Bavarian, a widow dotes on her four very different sons. Also occupying the town is the fearsome Major von Stomm (played with wonderful theatricality by Earle Foxe, reminding me of something von Stroheim might have considered during Grand Illusion), who must be bad news as he kills a cat running in the road while he is trying to march. While three of the sons eventually join the army, Joseph and his wife Annabelle travel to America and open a deli, though that country soon cannot escape the inevitable participation in the war. 

Early scenes in the village are quite wondering, and Ford's camera weaves through this space as if the viewer is just another inhabitant. As usual, Ford is remarkable in his ability to give his environments lived-in qualities, and his supporting players all have wonderful characteristics that take them out of the realm of "occupation as identification" that their credits allow (the postmaster and his constant mustache twirling, incidentally one of which starts the picture, is a real favorite and always lands). While many link the 1927 Upstream as being indebted to Murnau, that comparison only feels apt with certain expressionist sequences. The movements, pans, and explorations of space here certainly have more of a Sunrise quality to them, though Ford does experiment with shadow in his style (for instance, having the postmaster (standing in almost for Death with his mailbag as a sickle) entering the frame in shadows before physically appearing). And some of the long takes during the war sequences are impressive and narratively absorbing rather than being some kind of technical gimmick (though at this point in Ford's career he already earned the right to "show-off" if he wanted). 

Some of the sentimentality in the middle sections of the film somewhat bog down the narrative (especially shots of Margaret Mann's Mother Bernle gazing longingly into the distance while thinking about her sons), and the sons have fewer unique characteristics and balance than would have been welcomed (in many respects, three of them kind of have the same function while Joseph ends up being the hero of sorts). But the climax, which has Mother Bernle navigating an education, Ellis Island, and New York City (standing in such stark comparison to her village) in an effort to reach Joseph feels like a precursor to Ford's wonderful Pilgrimage a few years later, and there is a real nice emotion to the conclusion. Four Sons is an impressive film in this section of Ford's career, with a few detours that hold it back a bit but with some strong sequences, energetic style, and some terrific life by surrounding players.

Viewed on July 14th, 2020

Part of an ongoing John Ford Project with notes from selected films.