Full House
Directed by Henry Hathaway, Howard Hawks, Henry King, Henry Koster, and Jean Negulesco
Written by Lamar Trotti et al based on the stories of O. Henry
1952/USA
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
First viewing/Netflix rental
[box] Sam ‘Slick’ Brown: An oil well is a hole in the ground surrounded by suckers.[/box]
Taking a cue from the Somerset Maugham omnibus films being made in Britain, Fox came out with this star-studded collection of O. Henry short stories, each shot by a different director. I enjoyed it very much.
O. Henry is justly famous for the twist endings in his short stories so I will stick to the barest of synopses. The first story is “The Cop and the Anthem” in which a tramp (Charles Laughton) has the devil of a time getting himself arrested so that he can have a warm cell for the winter. In “The Clarion Call” a policeman (Dale Robertson) wants to arrest his former buddy (Richard Widmark) for murder but can’t because he still owes his friend $1,000.
from “The Cop and the Anthem”In “The Last Leaf” a jilted woman (Anne Baxter) catches pneumonia and tells her sister (Jean Peters) she will die when the last leaf falls off an ivy vine growing across from her window. “The Ransom of Red Chief” tells the story of two conmen (Fred Allen and Oscar Levant) who decide to kidnap a child in rural Alabama and get much more than they bargained for. Finally, “The Gift of the Magi” tells the famous story of a young married couple (Farley Granger and Jeanne Crain) and how they solve their Christmas gift-giving problems. Also with David Wayne and Marilyn Monroe.
from “The Ransom of Red Chief”My mother used to have a collection of O. Henry stories so I knew how all these would come out. They were still very pleasant viewing. I think this was the first time I’ve seen Oscar Levant play someone other than himself. He seemed exactly the same but, as always, entertaining.
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