Simply Perfect

A Masterpiece!

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

They just don't make movies like this anymore! Frank Capra brought magic to the silver screen and A Pocketful Of Miracles is as good as movie making gets! Great storyline, great characters, great acting, and great directing!

A bevy of stars highlight this silly film about a bootlegger Dave the Dude (Glen Ford) who is convinced that the apples he buys from Apple Annie (Bette Davis)-a street peddler- bring him luck. His right hand man, Joy Boy (Peter Falk), gives an Academy Award Nominated performance, which, according to Frank Capra, was "a bright spot in this 'miserable film'"Annie's daughter Louise (Ann-Margaret), believing the lie that her mother is a well-to-do socialite, sends a letter that she is engaged to marry into royalty and is on her way to New York to introduce her intended and his father, a Count to her.

This is a scene-by-scene remake by Frank Capra of his 1933 Depression-era classic "Lady for a Day." By itself, this is an enjoyable and supremely colorful tale of redemption and generosity. Unfortunately, it suffers by comparison with the original and plays as a dumbed-down version that has no soul.Glenn Ford plays Dave the Dude, a flamboyant mobster who relies for his luck on Apple Annie, played by Bette Davis. Transformation-type roles are difficult to pull off, and this is not one of Davis' better turns. She doesn't inhabit the character as emotionally as May Robson did in the original. Once she "transforms" into a society lady, she loses the character completely and leaves all traces of the original Annie behind. Peter Falk is the real standout, playing Ford's sidekick Joy Boy who has a wisecrack at every turn and several funny bits early in the film (he virtually disappears midway through, and the film suffers noticeably.Unlike in the original, the rest of the supporting cast is fairly dull, especially Ann-Margret as Louise. How they could make a young and vivacious Ann-Marget dull is beyond me, but they managed it. Sheldon Leonard is wasted as "Big Boss" Steve Darcey, and aging Edward Everett Horton should have been in the original, not the remake. Thomas Mitchell does OK as Judge Henry G. Blake, though Guy Kibbee set the standard in the original version. Several casting choices are just eccentric. Arthur O'Connell as a Spanish Count? He chews the scenery with gusto, and is a hoot to watch mangling a Spanish accent, but who came up with that winner?Ford is the empty center of the film. He does not come across as a powerful mobster figure at all, and ultimately has to do a lot of arm-waving and vigorous gesturing to get people to do what he wants when all it should take is a look. Some of the characterizations are interesting in their own right, and the addition of vivid color makes this watchable, but except for Falk and the splendid color, everything in this version is inferior compared to the original. Yes, everything. Everything!They kept the same dialog as in the original in the majority of the scenes, but sometimes it doesn't work because of different acting styles and mannerisms. Dialog fashioned to refer to actors' particular characteristics is retained despite the fact that there are different actors - I'm sorry, that is plain silly. The wit and originality of the original is replaced by style and flashy production values, and it doesn't work for me. A lesson in the pitfalls of doing remakes for no discernible reason except to "upgrade" the product.Almost everyone involved in this project did much, much better work elsewhere. Worth viewing for the tale itself and the colorful atmosphere, but better off seeing the original instead.

With "Pockeful Of Miracles" Frank Capra remakes his own "Lady For A Day" with Capraseque results - that means a mix bag with mostly delightful stuff in it - The major problem here is Glenn Ford, not as an actor but as a producer. There is too much dedicated to Ford's character's businesses, moving away from what really matters - Apple Annie and her predicament. Bette Davis was one of the major supporters of Glenn Ford at the beginning of his career - A Stolen Life, did for his career what "Thelma and Louise" did for Brad Pitt's and one should remember that Davis sort of "imposed" Ford for that role. Now Glenn Ford bills himself above Bette Davis. That should tell you something. The film, however, more than survives the petty egos and comes out as a wonderful swan song for the extraordinary Frank Capra. Bette Davis herself confessed to have found enormous difficulty at being faithful to Apple Annie in those gorgeous gowns post-makeover, but this is, was and always will be a fairy tale and as such it succeeds beautifully. The entrance of Davis after the make-over scored with the Nutcracker suite, it's one of my most cherished movie memories as are Davis's eyes as she witnesses the "miracle" in first person. A collection of wonderful character actors: Thomas Mitchell, Ellen Corby and in particular Edward Everett Horton makes the whole thing a smashing pleasure. Beautiful Hope Lange is terrific and Peter Falk wears a coat that makes his character a shady relative of his future "Colombo". If you're not made of stone and/or your levels of cynicism have not reached inhuman stages, you're going to enjoy this very much. I certainly did.