Four Sons (1928)

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(150 ratings)

Long though lost, Four Sons reemerged in the 1960s, proving anew that the silent films of director John Ford were every bit as accomplished as his talkies. More "Germanic" in tone and texture than later Ford films, Four Sons is the story of the Bernle family of Bavaria. Mother Bernle (Margaret Mann)… More Long though lost, Four Sons reemerged in the 1960s, proving anew that the silent films of director John Ford were every bit as accomplished as his talkies. More "Germanic" in tone and texture than later Ford films, Four Sons is the story of the Bernle family of Bavaria. Mother Bernle (Margaret Mann) dotes upon her four sons Joseph (James Hall), Johann (Charles Morton), Franz (Francis X. Bushman Jr.) and Andres (George Meeker), but is powerless in guiding their destinies. When WW I breaks out, her sons march off to the front: one of the boys fights for the AEF, the others for the Kaiser. The film's most poignant sequence takes place on the battlefield, when one of the sons stumbles upon his mortally wounded brother. Though the dying man's plaintive cries are heard on the Fox Movietone soundtrack, the scene itself is effectively played in pantomime. An updated version of Four Sons, wherein the locale was switched from Bavaria to Czechoslovakia, was filmed in 1940, starring Don Ameche, Alan Curtis, Robert Lowery and George Ernest. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 10 min.
Directed By: John Ford
Genres: Drama, Classics

In Theaters: Feb 13, 1928 Wide
On DVD: Feb 14, 2006

Critic Reviews

Michael E. Grost, Classic Film and Television
Well made family chronicle offers a blistering pacifist attack on war.
Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)
This is Ford at his most visually baroque.
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
The moving sentimental tale about the horrors of war registered with the public, who made it a smashing box office hit.