I Never Sang for My Father

US (1970): Drama

Based on the play by Robert Anderson, this film is devoted to the prickly relationship between aged Tom Garrison (Melvyn Douglas) and his grown son Gene (Gene Hackman). A college professor who feels that he has never been fully accepted by his self-made dad, Gene announces that he is going to move from New York to marry a California divorcée. His mother (Dorothy Stickney) approves of the union but worries that her son's move will have a negative effect on the increasingly truculent Tom. When his mother dies just before the wedding, Gene is forced to help his father through his dark days. His sister (Estelle Parsons) urges her brother to break the ties for good and all -- or else he'll wind up as bitter and withdrawn as their father. Gene realizes the wisdom of these words when he tries to reach out to his father during a vulnerable moment, only to have the crabby Tom tell him to get lost and leave him alone. I Never Sang for My Father suffers from staginess and a shifting point of view, but the scenes between Douglas and Hackman are awe-inspiringly good -- all the more so when one realizes that Douglas had originally balked at working with Hackman, whom he'd never met prior to filming. Gilbert Cates directs for Columbia. (Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide) The play was turned into a made-for-TV movie in 1988 with William Cain, Harould Gould and Dorothy McGuire in the leading roles.

· Actor 1970: Melvyn Douglas
· Supporting Actor 1970: Gene Hackman
· Writing (Screenplay based on material from another medium) 1970: Robert Anderson

3 nominations