Father and Son (1934 film)

The Daily Film Renter wrote: "Development along customary lines, story taking familiar route to reconciliation. Played against suburban backgrounds, film moves at rather slow pace, but is leavened by voluble cockney servant. Adequate direction, sensitive portrayal by Edmund Gwenn, with fair support. Quota fare for the unexacting, with pronounced sentimental appeal."^[4]

Kine Weekly wrote: "Elementary emotional drama, with a trite story and banal dialogue. The development is so obvious that interest ceases to exist shortly after the film opens; the presentation is meagre. A film which has little to recommend it apart from its accommodating length, quota angle, and possible star values. ... Edmund Gwenn does his best to make something of the of John Bolton, but not even his stage and screen experience can bring life to the part. Esmond Knight is weak as the snobbish Michael, and Daphne Courtney is Borie as the heroine. This drama is so obviously manufactured that it makes no appeal to the emotions. Every stage in the development is easily anticipated, and the cast is not strong enough to conceal its thematic weaknesses. The direction, too, is amateurish."^[5]

Picturegoer wrote: "Edmond Gwenn struggles to make something of the role of an ex-convict whose past blackens him in the eyes of his son, who eventually learns to respect and love him, but does not succeed in making it life-like. Esmond Knight is weak as the snobbish son who is saved from a charge of theft by his father taking the blame, while Daphne Courtney is colourless as the heroine." It is a very mechanical affair, too blatantly obvious to hold any real interest."^[6]

• Father and Son at IMDb