My Son John

7/21/2025

When we get to the very end of this film we get some sort of explanation, but for the most part I was uncomfortably in the dark as to the goings-on at the “Jefferson” home. “Dan” (Dean Jagger) and wife “Lucille” (Helen Hayes) have three sons. Two are in the army, the third “John” (Robert Walker) has recently returned home from Washington, but seems out of sorts. He no longer wants to go to church, is uninterested in his old friends and haunts and he also takes phone calls from people who don’t want to leave messages. Curious, but not really suspicious, his parents have a shunt in their car with the visiting “Stedman” (Van Heflin) who initially laughs it off, then he comes calling for his $18-odd for the repair, then - well his presence and the tone of the film both take a more sinister tur