Pocketful of Miracles
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Movie Reviews of Pocketful of Miracles
Movie Review: Matronly Davis
Summary: 4 Stars
POCKETFUL OF MIRACLES (1961) is a delightful film, wonderful to see during these trying times. Bette Davis and Glenn Ford are reunited (they starred 15 years before in A STOLEN LIFE) in this Ford-produced comedy drama directed with great spirit by Frank Capra. As for the qualith of the DVD, MGM has done a splendid job with the picture and sound. The colors are a bit faded (as it did in previous video editions) and the print source has some minor defects. There is a time code problem after the first hour and 50 minutes that causes a pause in the time code (the timecode jumps ahead 30 minutes... easy corrected by tapping the forward or backward button on the remote if this is distracting to you). This timecode error does not affect the play of the picture, mind you. Its merely a suspected authoring flaw.Buy this DVD....wonderful picture at a wonderful price.
Movie Review: Minor Capra Better Than No Capra
Summary: 4 Stars
This film doesn't work like classic Capra and I think the reason is two-fold. I think Capra worked best when dealing with the here and now and this is essentially a period piece. Color is also something that doesn't come to mind when you think of Capra. The film also suffers from a bit of overlength. Hey, these are minor quibbles. This is exquisite corn that only a salesmen like Capra can pull off. The cast is uniformly terrific. Bette Davis gives a graceful performance as Apple Annie recalling her halcyon Hollywood days. Peter Falk is a riot as a sarcastic gangster. It was great seeing Thomas Mitchell, Doc from "Stagecoach", in peak form as a pool shark judge. Ann-Margaret just glows in her film debut as Davis' daughter. The film only suffers when you think of the towering reportoire of the film's director.Movie Review: Glenn Ford as a Soft-Hearted Gangster?
Summary: 4 Stars
Ok, I'm not too sure Ford really nails his role, though he certainly tries his best.
But otherwise this is a heartwarming, enjoyable New York-during-the-holidays kind of film, with a stellar cast including Bette Davis in a signature role and a very funny Peter Falk as Ford's "primitive" sidekick.
This film has all of Capra's trademark moments, a wonderful Cinderella story enlivened by the setting and the great supporting characters. Though you could easily trim 20 or so minutes, this film is a treat that has gotten better with age.
Movie Review: Christmas charmer
Summary: 4 Stars
This story about a community of folks coming together to help one of their own is a real charmer.Movie Review: Pocketful of indifference...
Summary: 3 Stars
I think that sums up my feelings on the film as a whole, which I can't decide if it's worse or better than outright hating it. Honestly, when the film was over, aside from genuinely liking some of the performances, there was nothing I remembered or cared to repeat about this film. It was decent, and at times entertaining, but when all is said and done it just doesn't have that spark needed to make me want to watch it again.
So the film is a remake of Capra's own `Lady for a Day' from 1933. I'm not sure why he wanted to remake his own film, and honestly I have yet to see `Lady for a Day' (but it is in my Netflix queue) so I can't say if the remake was an improvement or not, but regardless of his personal intentions it is widely known that this was the movie that broke him. Thanks in large part to the very difficult star named Glenn Ford, Capra swore off film all together after suffering during the filming of `Pocketful of Miracles'.
The film is about Apple Annie, an alcoholic homeless woman who has a daughter she never sees. Her daughter lives overseas and is preparing to marry into wealth and so Annie calls upon local gangster Dave `the Dude' Conway to help her fake wealth. She has been writing to her daughter, pretending to be wealthy, and so she is afraid that her actually situation will cause her daughter's fiancée to have second thoughts. Conway uses his connections to turn Annie into a lady in order to save her daughter's impending marriage.
The film sports a longer running time (over two hours) yet it never manages to film that time with anything substantial. Annie never becomes three dimensional, which would have really aided the film drastically, and so we feel slightly disconnected to her concerns. Bette Davis was without question the greatest actress to ever grace the big screen, but still, even she couldn't elevate the lack of character given her character. Hope Lange and Ann-Margret are nice to look at and have their moments, but even their characters are extremely underwritten. It's Glenn Ford and Peter Falk that walk away with this film, adding layers to characters that could have otherwise appeared one-note. Some have said that Ford is hammy, but I found him refreshing in this otherwise droll film. Falk walked away with an Oscar nomination for his fiery portrayal of the Dude's right hand man Joy Boy. Watching him was like watching Pesci in `GoodFellas'; feisty and unforgettable.
Still, regardless of my admiration for Ford and Falk here I cannot say that they saved the film; they merely made it more tolerable. They prohibited me from turning it off before the credits began to roll. Now that the film is over I doubt I'll ever watch it again; but I will always think back to Ford and Falk with warm feelings. It's too bad they couldn't have starred in a better film.