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A Son Is Born is a 1946 Australian melodrama directed by Eric Porter and starring Ron Randell, Peter Finch, and Muriel Steinbeck.

This article's lead section may be too short to adequately summarize the key points. (December 2021)

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]
Box office	£27,000 [2]

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.[3] Eric Porter storyboarded the entire film prior to filming.[4] He also put up half the budget himself, with the balance coming from Charles Munro and some private investors.[5]

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.[6] Kitty Bluett was a musical comedy star, the daughter of comedian Fred Bluett.[7]

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.[8] War footage shot by Damien Parer is used in the New Guinea sequences.[9]

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.[10] Critical response was mixed, many comparing the film unfavourably with Smithy.[11][12]

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."[13] Vagg characterised Randell's performance as "charismatic, vicious, cruel... a great performance... [that] established Randell as a force to watch."[14]

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.[2]

References

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 at National Archives of Australia
• A Son is Born at Oz Movies

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