Abstract

Produced by Harold Clurman, Walter Fried and Elia Kazan, and directed by the latter, “All My Sons” began the first of 328 performances at the Coronet Theatre in New York on the evening of January 29, 1947. The play registered its impact in the American theatre. The audience were impressed with the seriousness and intelligence of the work. The play proceeds from the guilt of Joe Keller, uneducated, a small factory owner who sold cracked cylinders’ heads to the Army, Air Force during the period of Second World War. It caused the death of twenty one American pilots. His elder son Lary, a pilot, was also reported missing during the war. The fact that Lary committed suicide because of the sense of shame and outrage over Joe’s crime is withheld till the very end of the play. Joe managed to escape a long prison term by manoeuvring his business partner Steve Deever taking the blame. Joe returned to his business, rebuilt it and by the time the war is over, operating it successfully. When the play opens we are introduced to the leisurely Sunday atmosphere of Keller’s family life. Chris, the younger son wants to marry Ann, the fiancée of his dead brother Lary. Mrs Keller is against their marriage because she refuses to believe that Larry is dead. As the play proceeds, the playwright lifts the veil on the events of the past, leading to an implacable exposure of the main character and the social philosophy that he represents.