Marshall McLuhan remarked somewhere that the best propaganda was produced by Madison Avenue, by people who are not emotionally invested in the subject. Here, George Stevens Jr. Wishes to celebrate his father, certainly an important director and Hollywood personality. Andrew Sarris had it exactly right: "George Stevens was a minor director with major virtues before "A Place In the Sun," and a major director with minor virtues after." He continues, "All in all, his little movies have outlasted the big ones...His best days were in the thirties and forties when a movie was just a movie...." This tribute would have been more effective if it had been produced and narrated by someone who had no axe to grind and did not idolize the subject. With a more schmaltz-free approach, we might have learned more about his distinctive talents and contribution.
