Research in progress: Jan 24, 2022
Hollywood Melodramas: Father Son
The patriarch, rigid and stern or benevolent (usually the former), has been one of the most consistent types (and stereotypes) in American cinema.
The character of the aging (or dying) patriarch, who is tormented, and has troubled relationships with his son, has appeared in melodramas about various social classes, aristocracy as well as middle and lower-class.
The central theme (or conflict) revolves around the passing of the roles, with its duties and responsibilities, from one generation to the next.
Often, the patriarch’s anxieties lead to his son’s tormented insecurities, and neither can be attributed to wealth or status.
Burl Ives and Lee J. Cobb had specialized in playing such parts.
Burl Ives played variations of this type in three films in 1958, winning a Supporting Actor Oscar for The Big Country. The other two were: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Desire Under the Elms.
The filial melodrama–was it a coincidence? a cycle? a fad?
Movies (A to Z)
All Fall Down
Arlington Road
Barbarian Invasions, The
Big Country, The
Bigger Than Life
Blood and Sand (1941)
Blue Velvet (1986)
Brothers Karamazov, The
Cat on Hot Tin Roof
Cobweb, The
Detective, The
Desire Under the Elms
East of Eden
Field of Dreams
Graduate, The
Great Santini, The
Harry and Son (1982)
He Got Game
Hud (1963)
Hurricane, The
I Am Sam
In the Bedroom
In the Name of the Father
Last Picture Show, The
Life as a House
Lion King, The
Missing
Nobody’s Fool
Peyton Place
Rebel Without a Cause
Return, The (Soviet)
Road to Perdition
Secondhand Lions
Shine
Spider
Splendor in the Grass
Tea and Sympathy
A Wedding
Father-Son: Defrosting of Relations:
Big Fish
Edward Scissorhands (the paternal creator)
Hulk, The
Seabiscuit
