The Only Son (1914)

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Oscar Apfel (Director) | William C. de Mille (Director) | Cecil B. DeMille (Director) | Thomas N. Heffron (Director)

Rest of cast:

Jim Blackwell | A. MacMillan | Thomas W. Ross | Jane Darwell | Merta Carpenter | Arthur Collins | Milton Brown | J. P. Wild | Fred Starr | Winchell Smith (Play)

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The Only Son

A four-reel Lasky feature, with Thomas W. Ross in the lead role. Best Lasky release so far.

Reviewed by Louis Reeves Harrison.

Thomas Brainard, Sr. — James Blackwell
Thomas Brainard, Jr. — Thos. W. Ross
Mrs. Brainard — Jane Darwell
Gertrude Brainard — Merta Carpenter
Henry Tompkins — M. MacMillan
Chas. Lester — John P. Wild
Collins — Fred Starr
Detective — Milton Brown

Probably the best of the Lasky releases, Their Only Son, has a deeper significance than the others and is closer to the human heart, especially in the big sympathetic chord it strikes in compassion for the erring. The strong note is not thrust into prominence, but the quiet lesson conveyed is more impressive on that account. It is true art to keep ethical considerations in the background, weaving them imperceptibly into a story apparently devised for no other purpose than its first and foremost one, that of entertainment.

Interest is enlisted at the outset in a young inventor and his wife, whose shoulder-to-shoulder struggle to build home and means of future happiness for their two children is sweetly natural, admirably suited to methods of screen portrayal, and not without thrilling exhibitions of true heroism. Side by side they fight their way to established place, in full faith that wealth means happiness, happily unaware of the character changes it brings about in those who sense its power for the first time. Lofty success brings satisfaction to the man alone and sorely strains the tie that has bound his brave companion.

Twenty years later, when he is at the zenith of his power, a railroad magnate, when their children are grown, the man remains true in his affections, but those affections have become side issues, his tremendous undertakings engrossing the large part of his attention. The wife falls and her error is discovered when her lover is murdered by someone he has wronged in the past. On his body is found a compromising letter from the magnate’s wife, and it becomes a dangerous weapon in the hands of an unscrupulous detective. Exposure, due to his machinations, causes the magnate to renounce the mother of his children, and she leaves him with “their only son,” the daughter remaining with her father. Mr. James Blackwell, in the role of the inventor and magnate, easily carries off all honors, and plays a part of consistent dignity to the end.

“The only son,” impersonated by Thomas Ross — one feels like calling him “Tommy” — is the natural result of careless education and indulgence on the part of newly-rich parents. Work of all kinds disagrees with him as long as he is under the thrall of his father’s wealth, and his conduct is that of a weakling until his innate manhood leaps into flame at the indignities put upon his erring mother. She is not faultless, but she has given the best of her life to those she loved and has only fallen through the cravings of an intense nature.

The only son grows to manhood overnight. He converts all his available securities into cash, makes a business deal with a husky Westerner named Tompkins. “Tompkins of Colorado” takes his mother with him and exhibits much of the pluck and business genius of his father in building his future from the ground up. . He is a chip of the old block as a fighter and proves it when circumstances bring him into collision with men who seek to obtain control of his business, none other than his father’s agents.

It is now a clash between father and son with some melodramatic incidents, and an ultimate happy result. Tommy Ross is a wonder, and he would have been more of a wonder if the cameraman had confined his scenes to backlights. As it is, Ross injects a delightful element of comedy of the wholesome kind into the play and does it with nice discrimination. The photodrama, in purpose, structure and quality of interpretation measures higher than any previous Lasky feature, which is saying a great deal.

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Scene from The Only Son (Lasky)

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Collection: Moving Picture World, June 1914