When was all my sons written

Miller had studied playwriting in college; the work he found to do during the war drew on that skill. From to , he was a roving reporter, visiting Army hospitals and training camps, talking to soldiers and turning their stories into patriotic radio plays for CBS and NBC.

For one broadcast, Miller interviewed Air Force pilots whose planes had been shot up over Germany, and who now were hospitalized stateside. Army Air Forces, causing the deaths of 21 pilots who flew P Warhawk fighter planes. For Miller, the anecdote distilled the question at the heart of the war effort: Was our struggle only for our own families, or were we fighting for the family of all humankind? We read the diary that Miller kept from to , a volume filled with poems and scene fragments, and his thoughts about how this play might transform the hearts and minds of American audiences.

With a number of stressors pressing on us, it's easy to cut him off. It's hard — particularly in a moment of crisis, which is just what Joe Keller faced — to step back and think of everyone else on the road. Some people are really good at remembering the whole world when they make decisions.

They are vegetarian, buy local food, compost, recycle, use no fossil fuels, walk dogs at the shelter, and help old ladies cross the street. We admire those people, but we don't always count ourselves among them. So maybe we actually can understand where Joe is coming from.

At least a little bit. National Endowment for the Humanities Lots of content about Miller, including a lecture and an interview, excerpts from plays, and a bibliography. There's also an interesting lesson on his relationship with Elia Kazan, who, unlike Miller, named names during the McCarthy Era.

All My Sons , Check out the first film adaptation of this play. Burt Lancaster stars at Chris Keller. Arthur Miller The playwright himself, some time in middle age. Over the phone, Miller sounds tired, a bit diminished. His wife of 40 years, photographer Inge Morath , died two years ago and he says the adjustment to being alone was "pretty tough for a long time. But I'm slowly returning to life.

What animates him is political discussion. Never one to retreat from strong opinions, Miller wrote "The Crucible" as an angry rebuke to Sen. The conviction was overturned on appeal. The spate of recent "All My Sons" productions, he's certain, are a response to President Bush's Iraq initiative and to the White House's ties to Halliburton, the oil services company contracted to rebuild Iraq.

I mean, the overwhelming power of greed is everlasting. And we've got it in spades now. A lifetime leftist, Miller says he's hopeful that Bush will lose in November. If the Democrats keep a stiff spine and don't let them get away with it, I should think there would be a chance. But you can't fight something with nothing. Forged in fire, and structured with the unrestrained intensity of opera, "All My Sons" was first staged in , with Elia Kazan directing, Ed Begley playing the father and Arthur Kennedy playing the son, Chris.