A Father's Son

What a beautiful movie. What a gift to true Michael Landon fans. Initially, I thought this was a typical documentary by a son with other actors talking about how great Michael Landon was. However, this is actually a very honest, intimate story by his son about their family life. It didn't sugar coat either Michael or Michael Jr.'s lives. This would make an excellent addition to family movie night, especially for teenagers. I think Michael Sr. must be very proud of his son.

Before my review, I just wanted to note that this film originally aired on CBS on May 23, 1999, under the title "Michael Landon: The Father I Knew". I saw this film when it first aired, and never lost respect for Michael "Mike" Landon or his son Michael Jr. As someone who has had a life long interest in film and television production, Michael Landon is sort of one of my "heros", largely because he's one of the only people in history to write, direct, produce, and act in three highly successful hit series with only one season of downtime between each (during which he was still busy developing the new show!), and during the height of the success of 'Little House', created, wrote, directed, and produced the series "Father Murphy" starring Merlin Olsen, which ran for two seasons concurrent with LHOP's seventh and eighth seasons during the same time period when he divorced and remarried (so he was producing two series concurrently and actively involved and wearing multiple hats with each...that HAD to be stressful!). He had started work on yet another series in the months immediately prior to his untimely passing in 1991 (the pilot for this series aired as a movie of the week posthumously, and was called "Us"). His talent was such that only a handful of people, including television pioneers Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, have ever paralleled his success, and nearly all such people also had unfortunate family issues as a result of their highly demanding careers. While there are many who "pan" this film because it was told only from Michael Jr.'s POV and some feel that it sheds Mike in a very bad (and "inaccurate") light, you do have to remember, the film was called "The Father I Knew" (and now "A Father's Son"), which gives it away that it is Michael Jr.'s take on the events as HE saw them, perhaps not in the way they actually happened. With that said, one VERY important aspect that was left out of the film was the day to day stresses and struggles of Mike's career--as I said, he had no less than quadruple credits on all his series, and there were even episodes of all his series that he "ghost wrote" but the credit went to someone else. He was a very controlling artist by design, and as such, unfortunately, in telling stories that touched the lives of so many millions of people and likely saved marriages and family relationships and even personal friendships and relationships with co-workers and also how we should treat those less fortunate than us, he sadly and inadvertently sacrificed the happiness of his own family. It is quite possible that if his work life hadn't been so demanding and hectic and he was able to balance things with his personal life better, he wouldn't have fell in love with the make up artist on his show as a result of spending more time with her and the rest of the "Little House on the Prairie" cast and crew than his own wife and family. It has been reported by multiple cast and crew members from 'Little House' that there was always a very strict 6PM wrap time because Landon DID want his cast and crew to have a life outside of the work, which is extremely rare in film and television, where oftentimes production runs continually around the clock, with early call times in the wee hours of the morning that extend to the wee hours of the morning the next day, day in and day out. Unfortunately for Mike, though, his own 6PM wrap was not often observed by him personally, as he would then leave the set to go work on editing film or working on a script for the next week's show. Again, Michael Landon is a man I admire from a career goal standpoint, but perhaps he taught us some important lessons off screen that sort of reveal his own hypocritical lifestyle. After watching this film, you can almost see that there were storylines for episodes of all his series that unfortunately mirrored his own real life shortcomings, and in retrospect add the unintended message of "Do as I say, Not as I Do". Although he did it subconsciously, he more or less sacrificed his own relationships to "save" ours, in an indirect way. As the "moral" of many 'Little House' storylines go, appreciate your friends, your family, and let them know you love them, not only by telling them, but by showing them and being there for them--like he ultimately wasn't for his own kids as he should have been. Michael Jr. really did a great job of telling his own emotional story of how he felt as a result of this, and this movie serves the purpose of reminding everyone that no one--not even the man who embodied Little Joe aka Charles Ingalls aka Jonathan Smith, and brought to life so many other hundreds of characters--is perfect or infallible. But he still created several bodies of respectable work though, which have touched the lives of millions. For that, I will always have respect for him.

This movie is an excellent. I grew up watching Little House on the Prairie that Michael Landon starred in. I am a fan of TV show. I do remember about Michael Landon. I'll never forget about him. I wanted to see this movie again. I saw it on TV cable many years ago. Michael Jr. had feelings for his famous father in that movie. Those are his huge personal issues. I do remember I heard the news about Michael's diagnosis, pancreatic cancer, on TV and then his death. Michael was a very nice man on his TV interviews.

I was a bit disappointed years ago when I watched this movie on tv. (only, it was the other title) Not disappointed in the movie, itself. But disappointed in the knowledge that the Real Michael Landon was so far off from living the character of Charles Ingalls. But my opinion has changed a lot. He may not have been the perfect family man Charles Ingalls was, but he was still a good man in many respects. He left his family and kids, but he didn't leave them to starve and go without. He wasn't abusive. He never touched his daughter in an inappropriate way. He wasn't a perfect man, but he wasn't a male version of "MOMMY DEAREST, either. I gave this movie a 4-star rating, but I still think Michael Landon was a 5-star star. VERY GOOD MOVIE

I grew up watching Little House on the Prairie and then later on in my college years, I watched Highway to Heaven. I have always admired Michael Landon and loved his wholesome shows. I thought he was a wonderful man. I still admire him but this movie gave me a different perspective of a great actor, who also had flaws. He's also human, with so many flaws! I liked that in the end, Michael Landon, Jr learned who his father really was...he was just a man-- a perfectly imperfect man!

Michael Landon was human...not an angel like he portrayed on tv. I understand and have always accepted that fact. What is disappointing to me is that Michael Landon Jr. produced this after his father's death mainly because he felt traumatized after his parents divorced. A lot of parents divorce but few children have the opportunities stardom can afford. I felt it was a cheap shot on the part of the son and can only hope he feels better about his early life now. No one has perfect parents, but we all have to rise above the pettiness and make the most of our lives. On a positive note, John Schneider did a great job with the portrayal of Michael Landon.

Arrived promptly. Very good for price.

Eye opening. This is an interesting case study on how difficult circumstances at an early age in ones' life directly relates to our behavior and thinking as we get older - and in this case, for both Landons. Really enjoyed this movie!