Posted by Ursula 2.7T on 04/11/06 18:58

Frank R.A.J. Maloney wrote:
> Last Friday night one of our local PBS stations showed _Pocketful of
> Miracles_ (1961). Either I was in an impatient mood or it's not a very good
> film, but I bailed after 20 minutes or so, bored to distraction by the
> pacing and the obviousness of the story. The only thing that worked for me
> while I did stick with it was Bette Davis as Apple Annie. Hope Lange was
> absolutely hopeless as Queenie and I could certainly while so many here
> dislike Glenn Ford. But then I didn't see the whole film, so what do I know?
>
> Now I read in the IMDb that it is a remake of Capra's 1933 film _Lady for a
> Day_, which I have not seen but which sounds like it would be more to my
> liking.
>
> Meanwhile, my record for liking Damon Runyon-based films remains pretty
> dismal. Films like _Little Miss Marker_ (and the Bob Hope version _Sorrowful
> Jones_) and _The Lemon Drop Kid_ are impossible. _Guys and Dolls_ is an
> interesting failure and that's about the best I can say for any Runyon
> property. But I haven't seen them all and I'm still holding out hope for _A
> Slight Case of Murder_, if ever I can score a copy.

Frank, I'd agree with you on Runyonesque films, and although I've never
seen Pocketful of Miracles, I too think I'd be shutting it off after 20
minutes or less. In general I'm not into sappy feel-good movies, which
leaves out most Capra movies for me. However, you might try Lady for a
Day sometime. TCM runs it every so often. The potential is definitely
there for this to be a sappy trainwreck, but May Robson gives a really
wonderful, understated performance, and Warren William really walks the
fine line between being a tough mob guy and a good guy with a soft-spot
for Apple Annie. In addition, you get Ned Sparks and Glenda Farrell
and Guy Kibbee -- three character actors you can rarely go wrong with!

Ursula.

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