Based on a story by Booth Tarkington, Father's Son stars juvenile actor
Leon Janney in the title role. Thanks to his predilection for stretching the truth, Billy Emory (Janney) manages to drive a wedge between his disciplinarian father William (
Lewis Stone) and his sympathetic mother Ruth (
Irene Rich). Hoping to make up for past misdeeds, Billy runs away from home, leaving clues suggesting he's been kidnapped, for the purpose of bringing his dad and mom back together. It takes the intervention of kindly Dr. Franklin (
John Halliday) -- and a good, old-fashioned spanking -- to set things aright at film's end. A hoked-up remake of Father's Son appeared in 1941, with
Billy Dawson,
John Litel and Frieda Inescourt in the leading role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide