The Only Son
Cast & Crew
Cecil B. Demille
James Blackwell
A. Macmillan
Thomas W. Ross
Jane Darwell
Merta Carpenter
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Thomas Brainerd, Sr., an engineer for the Transcontinental Railroad in Top Notch, Colorado, invents a device to prevent train collisions and becomes so successful that he is able to move his family to New York's Fifth Avenue. There, Brainerd's daughter becomes a social butterfly, while Tom, Jr. becomes a ne'er-do-well and Mrs. Brainerd flirts with a portrait artist. When the artist is killed by a jealous husband, letters from Mrs. Brainerd are found among his things by Tompkins, a blackmailer, who approaches Brainerd. Believing that his wife is an adulteress, Brainerd orders her out, accompanied by their son. A now sobered Tom becomes partners with inventor Henry Thompson and together they invent a railroad tie which is superior to his father's. Brainerd first tries to buy out the factory which his son and Thompson establish in Colorado, and then tries to have it sabotaged by Tompkins. Tom, however, invites his father to negotiate with him and eventually precipitates a reconciliation among his father, mother and himself.
Directors
Cecil B. Demille
Oscar Apfel
William C. De Mille
Thomas N. Heffron
Cast
James Blackwell
A. Macmillan
Thomas W. Ross
Jane Darwell
Merta Carpenter
Arthur Collins
John P. Wild
Fred Starr
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
Cast credits are taken from Moving Picture World. Some trade reviews credit different actors for some roles, including Bernardine Zuber as Mrs. Brainerd, Elizabeth Beehr as Gertrude Brainerd, Milton Brown as Jim Tompkins and Oscar Stephens as Charles Lester. Although Zuber May have been in the cast, Darwell's participation is confirmed by photographs from the film. Although copyright records indicate that the film was "picturized by Cecil B. de Mille," contemporary sources variously credit him, Oscar Apfel, William C. deMille and Thomas N. Heffron as the director or co-directors. DeMille does not mention this film in his autobiography and modern sources do not credit him with its direction. As DeMille was the "Director-General" of the Jesse L. Lasky Feature Play Co., some reviewers May erroneously have credited him with active participation in The Only Son. Modern sources are divided in crediting the director and available studio records do not resolve the problem. Modern sources credit Clara Beranger with the scenario.
