I Never Sang for My Father

PG

Released Oct 18, 1970

1 hr. 30 min.

Drama

List

100%

10 Reviews

Tomatometer

83%

250+ Ratings

Audience Score

Gene Garrison (Gene Hackman) is a successful college professor, who has a rocky relationship with his dad, Tom (Melvyn Douglas). He believes that his father has never truly accepted him and worries about how his plans to move to California and marry his girlfriend may affect his relationship with his father. His mother (Dorothy Stickney) encourages Gene to move on despite how Tom may feel. But when his mother dies, Gene worries that his marriage and move might depress his father even more.

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CodyZamboni

The two leads, Gene Hackman and Melvyn Douglas, are so compelling. Their relationship feels so real and true to life. The plot resolutions are difficult, but honest.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

08/06/23

Full Review

Rich M

A nuanced script with exceptional underlying psychodynamics. A line that resonated with me completely: "I always wanted to love him; I always needed to love him." If you have a father who was always right, and always told you what to do and never told you that you lived up to his expectations, you will recognize Tom Garrison: Narcissistic, Emotionally Distant and Brutally Damaging. Gene Garrison (Hackman) must finally accept that the love he hoped to receive from his father will never come. For some of us, this rings in our hearts so true. For others, I think you will the underlying truth interesting.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

06/22/23

Full Review

Andrea L

It deserves 100% I saw the movie when I was in my 20's from the perspective of the son, and now in my 70's from the perspective of the father. Cried both and every time I have seen it which is the mark of a fine drama and storyline. Has this playwright written any others? Very moving and strikes all of us with some familiarity. Gene Hackman was also excellent and made have made his mark before " "French Connection".

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

09/24/22

Full Review

matthew c

An incredible achievement, this is a deeply moving film. With an absolutely standout performance from Melvyn Douglas, this really does no wrong.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I Never Sang for My Father is a remarkable film about unresolved issues and a Father in deep pain about his own father. The father in this film is played, flawlessly, by Mervlyn Douglas. A man who is deeply controlling, yet tormented by a terrible childhood. His son, who is equally as brilliant, is played by Gene Hackman. Unlike his father, the son tries to be accommodating but wants to move away. The dialogue is first rate. The film has a few other actors (excellent scene with Estelle Parson and Gene Hackman) primarily, it's Douglas and Hackman who run the emotional gambit is this brilliant 1970 film.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

01/21/23

Full Review

jon c

No relationship between father and son is the easiest but even when there's constant clashing the bond is just too great to ruin. Gilbert Cates directs a movie about such a relationship. A very young Gene Hackman stars as Gene Harrison next to Melvyn Douglas as his father, Tom. Gene picks up his dad and mom from the airport and they're spending some quality time together. Gene just had a successful book published and is planning to move to California to get married to his girlfriend. But Tom is against his son making a life for himself not wanting him to leave Sadly Gene's mother passes away and it creates more of a strain between them Would leaving his father make him more depressed? Tom always has a life story to share to everyone he meets. Considering Tom is a famous senator people only know of his notoriety and never ask about his wife, Gene always gets ticked off when his father is always brought up. His childhood wasn't the best and his sister reminds him how Tom resented her for years Death ends a life but it does not end a relationship, a son shouldn't have to make his mother's life, mothers are soft and yielding fathers are tough and critical, do most sons look for a mothers love in their fathers?, despite all the resentment we carry inside when we hear the word father it matters The movie is very dialogue heavy but Cates handles these family dynamics and dysfunctions with sure conviction. This is very universal dealing with rough patches we are all inclined to go through on several occasions. Both Hackman and Douglas give such award-winning performances; this is a family drama that soars thanks to its attention to the elderly as well as the young. Near-perfect early 70s cinema with great actors, empathic characters, and truthful family relationships.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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Gilbert Cates

Director

Melvyn Douglas

Tom Garrison

Gene Hackman

Gene Garrison

Dorothy Stickney

Margaret Garrison

Estelle Parsons

Alice

Elizabeth Hubbard

Dr. Margaret "Peggy" Thayer

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Margaret Hinxman

Daily Telegraph (UK)

At a time when the cinema is devoted to understanding the young, one can't but welcome a film that cares to bother about the old.

Jun 8, 2020

Full Review

Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

These bare bones of plot hardly give any hint of the power of this film.

Rated: 4/4

Oct 23, 2004

Full Review

Christopher Lloyd

The Film Yap

Gene Hackman and Melvyn Douglas both give powerful, Oscar-nominated performances in this quietly brutal portrait of a fractured father-son relationship.

Rated: 4/5

Apr 17, 2023

Full Review

David Nusair

Reel Film Reviews

...a predominantly successful stage-play adaptation...

Rated: 3.5/4

Apr 19, 2021

Full Review

Tony Mastroianni

Cleveland Press

I Never Sang For My Father is an emotion filled drama, a realistic and often painful look at the relationship of a middle aged son and his elderly father. But the power of the movie comes less from the drama itself than from the players.

Nov 19, 2018

Full Review

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Penned by Robert (Tea and Sympathy) Anderson, this father-son medlodrama is superbly acted by Melvyn Douglas and Gene Hackman, both Oscar-nominated for their turns.

Rated: B+

Apr 23, 2012

Full Review

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Synopsis

Gene Garrison (Gene Hackman) is a successful college professor, who has a rocky relationship with his dad, Tom (Melvyn Douglas). He believes that his father has never truly accepted him and worries about how his plans to move to California and marry his girlfriend may affect his relationship with his father. His mother (Dorothy Stickney) encourages Gene to move on despite how Tom may feel. But when his mother dies, Gene worries that his marriage and move might depress his father even more.

Director: Gilbert Cates
Screenwriter: Robert Anderson
Distributor: Columbia Pictures
Production Co: Columbia Pictures
Rating: PG
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 18, 1970, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 2, 2014

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