The Difference Time Makes
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The 1947 play “”All My Sons” ” by Arthur Miller, which was based on the true story of a young woman who made the decision to turn in her father who was knowingly selling faulty parts to the military during WWII, was transformed to film version in 1948. Although the film version remained close to the original play as far as content, the film was toned down. There are many aspects of this play which can be compared to the 1987 film, “”Wall Street””. “All My Sons” won the Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play in 1947. In 1949 the film version was nominated for two WGA awards, Best Written American Drama, and the Robert Meltzer Award. “Wall Street” won the six awards, including an Oscar and Golden Globe, and was nominated for one more. Both films deal with ethics issues in the corporate world.
The setting for these films however, is like night and day. “All My Sons” is set in typical small town America, where everyone not only knows everyone, but their business as well. We see the hustle and bustle of New York City, along with the impersonal atmosphere of big city life in the film “Wall Street”. “All My Sons” provided us with a vision of a post World War II town, with typical American families, on typical streets, where “everyone would have a white picket fence.” In contrast, the setting of “Wall Street” took place during the information age, where “Information meant Power”, and Greed and Power are the major motivations.
“All My Sons”, is a story about a man who grew up if not in poverty, near to it. This man, Joe Keller, believed that hard work and determination could provide a life of comfort for his family, and keep him from being known as “just another average Joe”. Although his work has paid off and he owns his company, a bad business decision has caused the loss of life for twenty-one military pilots during World War II. The film depicts how the Keller family is affected by this decision.
“Wall Street” is a film about a young stock broker, and his willingness to do anything to get to the top. Bud Fox, does not want to live the life of his blue collar Father, and will do anything to get ahead. Audiences see the effort he made to get into Gordon Gekkos office, as well as how easily he is convinced to relay insider information to Mr. Gekko.
In “All My Sons”, Joe Keller and his partner, Steve Deever had converted their appliance manufacturing plant to manufacture cylinders for the United States military during WWII. This became an ethical dilemma when the cylinders produced were faulty. Not shipping them would cost the firm their government contract, and probably be fatal to the firm. When concerned about cost of shipping them, while knowing they were faulty his partner, Steve Deever questioned the decision to ship them anyway. Joes reply, “Ship thats all, it isnt the first time weve shipped things out of here that wasnt a hundred percent. Do you think every stove we shipped out of here before the war was perfect? Nobody turns out a perfect product.”
Joe was probably right that it was not the first they had shipped an imperfect product. He was wrong to think that shipping the cylinders would save the contract, and the company. The defective cylinders were responsible for the death of twenty-one pilots, and landed both Joe and Steve in jail. Although Joe managed to convince the jury and the court that he had no prior knowledge of the defects, and was thus acquitted, his partner, Steve was sent to prison for this decision.
Joe Keller did not get off “scot free”, however. Throughout the remainder of the film we watch Joe try to justify his decision, and deal with his guilt. We see the effect that the knowledge of his guilt has on his wife, Kate, and the struggle everyone makes to keep his son, Chris, from learning of his guilt. Kate deals with the situation through the denial of Joe doing any wrong, and the denial that their oldest son, Larry, is dead and will not be returning home. Chris struggles to understand why his mother will not accept Larrys death, as well as his engagement to “Larrys girl”, Ann Deever. In the end, Joe Keller, is forced to face the fact that not only is Larry dead, but that he died not as a result of a faulty cylinder, but from not wanting to face anyone after the news of that shipment was released. Joe cannot live with the guilt or pretence anymore. On his way up the stairs to the room where he takes his own life, we hear his last words. “They were all my sons.” We know Joe is broken at this point.
In “Wall Street”, Bud wants to land the big account so badly, that when he finally gets in to the office to see Gordon Gekko, he refused to walk away empty handed. When Mr. Gekko doesnt want to hear the legal information that Bud has acquired through honest, hard work, and research; Bud gives him information about Blue Star Airline that was revealed in confidence, by his father over dinner. Bud made a quick snap decision in order to “bag the elephant”.
Bud should have remembered the advice that his friend, Marv, at the office had shared earlier on in the film. Marv had told him “Buddy, Buddy! When are you going to realize its the big game hunters that bag the elephants? Not guys like us”. Bud did not take this advice and as a result put himself in a position to become involved in the illegal antics of the corporate raider, Gordon Gekko.
When Bud tried to get out of sharing insider information with Mr. Gekko by telling him that “Mr. Gekko thats not exactly what I do. I could, I could lose my license. If the FCC found out, I could go to jail, thats inside information isnt it?” Gekkos response “You mean like when a father tells a son about a court ruling on an airline? Or someone overhears that Im buying Teldar Paper and decides hes going to buy some for himself, or the chairman of the board of XYZ decides its time to blow out XYZ? Is that what you mean? Im afraid pal, unless your fathers on the board of another company you and I are going to have very a tough time doing business together.”
Although this bothers Bud, it does not bother him long enough to keep him from complying with Gekkos wishes. He wanted the foot in the door and the money he could make in Gekkos world more than he wanted to stay true to his conscience.