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Pocketful of Miracles

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Pocketful of Miracles (1961)

December. 18,1961
|
7.1
|
NR
| Drama Comedy
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A New York gangster and his girlfriend attempt to turn street beggar Apple Annie into a society lady when the peddler learns her daughter is marrying royalty.

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SincereFinest
1961/12/18

disgusting, overrated, pointless

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Breakinger
1961/12/19

A Brilliant Conflict

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Mehdi Hoffman
1961/12/20

There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

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Hattie
1961/12/21

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

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DKosty123
1961/12/22

What's not too like.? Capra producing and directing. If there is a problem here, it is the huge egos of the cast. With Capra though, the egos of Bette Davis and others in a large big name cast are not carried over into the film. Glenn Ford is a surprise as the top star, but he brings off that role pretty well. Hope Lang is not just good, but her beauty here is amazing as putting her into a dancing costume on stage is an amazing sight. Of course there was a previous version of this starring Warren William in the 1930's but this film is not totally a remake. The cast is so great you really don't care. Peter Falk (Columbo) is great in support as are many others including Edward Everett Horton.There is good comedy, and the music is really well done. Some critics of this were negative when this was released, but when I watched it, I was hard pressed to figure out why. This is an entertaining film. Sheldon Leonard is classic in this doing his big con man routine.

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Edgar Allan Pooh
1961/12/23

. . . may just see this flick as Peter Falk's chance to pick up an Oscar Nod for inventing the Bob De Niro\Al Pacino\Sylvester Stallone Branch of Italian Stallion Acting. The Deplorable Products of U.S. Strongman Vlad "The Mad Russian" Putin's American Secretary of Miseducation (Billionairess Betsy "Amway Calling" DeVos and her chains of For-Profit Charter Brainwashing Shacks) won't know the rest of the POCKETFUL OF MIRACLES story. POCKETFUL marks the final stages of Director Frank Capra's schizophrenic break with Reality. After an early Tinseltown career focused upon championing the Little Guy for low-rent movie studios (culminating with IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE), Capra signed a pact with Satan to destroy most of Hollywood by starring himself in IT'S A WEASEL's LIFE. Joining forces with fellow rat finks and closet KGB-controlled thugs such as John Ford, Elia Kazan, Ronald Reagan, Charlton Heston, Ward Bond, and the latter's sidekick Marion Mitchell "Il Duce" Morrison, Capra helped to jail or assassinate countless film giants including Dalton Trumbo, John Garfield, Errol Flynn, Anne Revere, Kirk Douglas, and Joseph L. Mankiewicz. POCKETFUL represents the victims of Capra's Cabal through "Apple Annie's" Beggars Guild. Capra anticipates Putin's successful U.S. Putsch through the Fat Cat One Per Centers threatening Annie's Family. His hurried POCKETFUL conclusion implying that these two groups can cooperate toward a common goal reeks of the Real Life insanity tearing apart Capra's mind by the 1960s as it dawned upon him that his Younger Self would have committed suicide in a heartbeat rather than willingly allow the Geriatric Witch Hunter he'd become to irrevocably tarnish his formerly Good Name.

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utgard14
1961/12/24

Frank Capra's final feature film is a remake of his earlier movie Lady for a Day, one of my favorite movies from the '30s. The story is about an elderly street peddler named Apple Annie who is turned into a society matron by a gangster named Dave the Dude. The original movie starred May Robson and Warren William, both largely forgotten today except among classic film fans. This one has more well-known stars, Bette Davis and Glenn Ford, but isn't as good. It just isn't as much fun and doesn't have the same heartwarming quality the original did. Davis and Ford are okay but represent a change in the times I'd say. Davis' Annie is ghoulish and Ford's Dave is hard to like. The charm of the previous film, made in a much different era for filmmaking, is gone. Also the original movie was made during the period it was set in, which gave it a feeling of authenticity this one doesn't have. On the plus side, Peter Falk and Hope Lange are good in supporting parts, Ann-Margret is fine in her screen debut, and reliable vet Thomas Mitchell enjoyable as ever in his final film. Lots of old familiar faces like Sheldon Leonard, Edward Everett Horton, Barton MacLane, and Jerome Cowan is another plus. It's overlong and not among Capra's best but certainly something fans will want to see. I recommend seeking out the 1933 classic first, though.

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Michael_Elliott
1961/12/25

Pocketful of Miracles (1961) ** (out of 4) Legendary director Frank Capra's final film had him working with Bette Davis and Glenn Ford in a remake of his 1933 film LADY FOR A DAY. The two films are pretty straight forward in terms of their story. The homeless Apple Annie (Davis) is considered a hero by gangster Dave the Dude (Ford) who believes that her apples bring him luck. Annie eventually is shocked to learn that the daughter she hasn't seen since a baby is coming to visit her with a rich Duke and doesn't want her to know she's homeless. With the help of Dave, Annie transforms into a royal mother. I enjoyed LADY FOR A DAY for its heart and charm but the same can't be said for this overlong remake that just goes on and on and on. The movie runs a whopping 137-minutes, which is about, at least, half an hour too long. This film and the original tell the exact same story but like a lot of remakes from this era, this film has to throw in countless subplots and must expand the film as much as they can and in doing so they kill everything good that it does have going. The main reason to watch this film is for the performance by Davis who really shines in both parts of her character. I found her incredibly touching as the homeless woman and this is especially true during her scene in the hotel where she's trying to get a letter that her daughter wrote her. Davis also does a very good job in the "rich" style and this includes when she first pops out of the bedroom to display her new self. That walk and facial gesture she gives is priceless. Hope Lange, Peter Falk and Ann-Margret, in her first film, all turn in nice supporting performances. The weakest link is Ford, believe it or not. He's a great actor but this role just wasn't right for him. A lot of this is due to the screenplay, which makes him too much of a jerk but even Ford appears to be sleepwalking through a lot of the wondering scenes. Capra's direction is decent throughout and he still knows how to hit the heart but the comedy is lacking and there's certainly no reason for the extended running time. Even though there's some nice stuff here, in the end you can't help but look at this as a disappointment considering Capra, Davis and Ford are doing the work.

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