The Son's Return (1909) User Reviews

2 by Griffith

[Michael_Elliott · 29 February 2008]

Son's Return, The (1909)

*** (out of 4)

A son goes off to the big city to make big bucks. Years later he returns and ends up staying at his parents inn but they've forgotten him but when they see his cash, they plan to rob him. This Griffith short certainly goes "out there" in its story but I always enjoy these downbeat films where the director could do whatever he wanted and didn't always have to add a happy ending onto the film. Mary Pickford has a small part as the man's love.

Lonely Villa (1909)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

A gang lures a father away from his house so that they can rob it and terrorize his wife and three daughters. There's some great editing at the end that builds up the suspense but the direction isn't tight enough for it to work all the way through. Mary Pickford plays one of the children.

Oedipus in Reverse

[wes-connors · 2/10 · 5 November 2007]

Charles West leaves his parents (Herbert Prior and Anita Hendrie), his girl (Mary Pickford), and his country inn, to make his way in the big city. Five years later, Mr. West is a rich man. When hard times hit the old folks at home, Ms. Pickford writes West, suggesting a visit. To surprise his parents, West decides to conceal his identity. He puts on a hat, which compliments his already grown beard and moustache. When he returns, his parents don't recognize their son; ironically, they decide to rob the wealthy young stranger while he sleeps...

West conceals his identity by putting on a hat? Perhaps director D.W. Griffith assumed viewers knew the parents' eyesight was failing? Father Prior seems in good enough health, to effortlessly lift a supposedly dead body, and carry it outside. If not for the implausibility presented concealment of the son's identity, "The Son's Return" would be an interesting drama.

** The Son's Return (6/14/09) D.W. Griffith ~ Charles West, Herbert Prior, Anita Hendrie

" Mary Pickford's Enchanting Entrance "

[PamelaShort · 7/10 · 4 September 2013]

The Son's Return, is a neatly paced film about a son who leaves his parents and sweetheart, to make his financial success in the big city, returning home prosperous five years later, to help out his poverty stricken parents. Although Mary Pickfords part as the sweetheart is small in this film, she leaves a lasting impression. At the time of Mary's arrival to the Biograph, D.W Griffith was just beginning to introduce his ideal female to the screen- an ethereal, delicate woman, on the cusp between adolescence and womanhood. Playing with kittens or kissing a dove, skipping like a child was the way he wanted his ideal ingénue to perform. Lillian Gish came up with the phrase " Gaga- Baby " to describe these exaggerated gestures. The opening scene of "The Son's Return", has a very exquisite shot of Mary Pickford skipping through a grove of full blown blossomed trees. She carries a branch of blossoms as she encounters her sweetheart, and he picks a flower from a bush and places it on her finger to signify an engagement ring, she shyly turns her head as he leans in for a kiss. Very charming and as sweet as the scene is, it is the very act Mary Pickford balked at performing the most, which was the cause of a lot of arguments between her and Griffith. Mary Pickford had just joined the Biograph Company in April 1909 and this enchanting and beautifully shot scene was filmed in May, in rural New Jersey. In those few short weeks, Mary Pickford was adapting quickly to the art of performing in front of a moving camera. Viewing this film is an important study of D.W. Griffith's early directing techniques, the rapid development of silent film cinematography, as well as a glimpse at one of Mary Pickford's earliest film performances.

It is straining the probabilities too far

[deickemeyer · 2 October 2014]

The latest release of the Biograph Company would seem to point to the fact that their scene of operations has been shifted from Fourteenth Street to the country. Presumably, when this picture was made, the staff had not settled down to its work, for the result can hardly be said to be equal to the very high standard to which the Biograph Company have recently accustomed us. Some of the earlier scenes of the film are, we think, idyllic. The meeting of a girl and her lover amongst the fruit blossoms, for example. The remainder of the film, however, is far below this in merit. The main thread of the story is simple, it is true, but to our minds hardly an agreeable one. Of course, the story is exceedingly improbable. It is inconceivable that after a lapse of five years a man and a woman in full possession of their faculties could fail to recognize their own son, especially when he was asleep, and even though he wore a beard. On the other hand, if it is conceivable, it is straining the probabilities too far. The whole story is unpleasant, and we regret that the Biograph Company should have had their very high reputation jeopardized by such work. It is obvious that there has been a lapse somewhere. The photography of the piece is not up to the Biograph level, nor is the acting. We have not the smallest doubt that very speedy efforts will be made to efface the indifferent impression created by Monday's release. - The Moving Picture World, June 19, 1909

Griffith's Early Days at Biograph

[Tornado_Sam · 6 January 2023]

Before D. W. Griffith revolutionized filmmaking as we know it today, his style was like the rest of them. This film is of course among countless examples of his early work at Biograph studios where we witness the same old type of shooting style that had been used in pretty much every film up until this point: long shots, one after the other, basically turning the film into a stage play. The story - in which a rich son is robbed by his own parents because they don't recognize him - also isn't extremely original, but for twelve minutes it does its job well even if there's not the suspense there that Griffith would later champion.

However, one has to give credit where credit is due, and it is important in the case of this particular film to note the use of closeups in a couple spots, which certainly stick out among the more stagy aspects of the film. Griffith was expanding his vocabulary so to speak, and the closeups, while not anything to write home about, do play a significant role in the plot of the film. As it is, "The Son's Return" should primarily be seen as an example of Griffith's evolution from a run of the mill film director to a brilliant innovator of motion pictures, and fans will certainly find this one worth checking out for that alone.

Mary Pickford's Third Film

[Single-Black-Male · 31 December 2003]

Having followed up her screen debut with 'The Lonely Villa', Mary Pickford worked flat out to appear in short films like this one which would be screened on Mondays and Thursdays each week. Her salary was eventually increased to $25 per week.