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| O. Henry's Full House - 1952 |
Coming up next is 1952's "O. Henry's Full House", an anthology film featuring five of the famous writer's best loved stories. These all come from his New York period .
The film's cast includes Fred Allen, Anne Baxter, Jeanne Crain, Farley Granger, Charles Laughton, Oscar Levant, Marilyn Monroe, Jean Peters, Gregory Ratoff, Dale Robertson, David Wayne, Richard Widmark, Lee Aaker, Irving Bacon, Fritz Feld, Richard Hylton, Sig Ruman, Martha Wentworth, and John Steinbeck.
To begin things, beloved American author John Steinbeck introduces us to O. Henry and some of his works. He appears throughout the film in between each segment.
The first story is taken from "The Cop And The Anthem" and features a transient named Soapy. Winter is fast approaching in New York. In search of somewhere warm to spend the cold months, Soapy intends on getting arrested so that he can have food and lodgings all taken care of.
Things don't go Soapy's way. No matter what he does, he just can't seem to get arrested. He ends up in a church with his friend Horace. While listening to the music, Soapy's soul is stirred.
When Horace suggests that they go get a beer, Soapy says, "It isn’t beer that I need. It’s hope, faith, the assurance that it’s still not too late to
pull myself out of the mire, to make a man of myself again, to
conquer the evil that’s taken possession of me!"
However, just as he is about to get his life together, Soapy is arrested and sentenced to ninety days in jail for vagrancy.
The next story is "The Clarion Call". Here, we see a cop who has a lead on where a murderer is hiding out. Sadly for him, the murderer is an old friend of his.
Due to extenuating circumstances, the cop is not able to arrest the murderer because he owes him a debt, which the bad guy is quick to point out.
Our faithful flatfoot is able to turn the tables on his old pal. He finds a way to get the money together to pay him off and is then able to arrest him with a clear conscience.
Next, comes "The Last Leaf". Here, a woman returns home in a blizzard after being spurned by her lover.
She develops pneumonia and loses the will to live. No matter what her sister says or how she tries to help, nothing can convince the patient that she will recover.
She sees a vine outside her window. The vine is fast losing its leaves in the blizzard. The sick woman tells her sister that when the last leaf falls she will die. Beside herself with worry, the sister tells her troubles to a struggling artist.
The artists goes out into the cold night and paints a leaf on the vine. It comes at a cost. He dies of a heart attack right afterwards. Seeing that the "leaf" survived the night, the sick woman has hope and begins to get well. Her sister tells her, "It hung on, Jo, right through the storm. Isn’t that something? And if one brave little leaf can
do it, you can do it, too."
The next (and most hilarious) story is "The Ransom Of Red Chief". Here, two men (Slick, on the left, and William, on the right) desperately in need of funds resort to kidnapping a child and holding him for ransom in order to raise the money that they need.
They end up kidnapping the mayor's son, J.B. This kid gives them a real run for their money. He actually terrifies them!
J.B. leads a bear to where Slick and William are camping. Once they are safely away from the bear, William mentions that he thinks it's a cinnamon bear. "I don't care what flavor he is," says Slick. "He's more apt to taste me!"
The guys deliver J.B. back to his unconcerned parents and high-tail it out of town just as quick as they can.
The final story is "The Gift Of The Magi". Here, we learn how the wise men began the fashion for giving Christmas presents.
Jim and Della are a newly married couple. They are very poor, but very much in love.
While they are out walking one day, they see some things they like. Jim has a very old pocket watch that belonged to his grandfather. He sees a fob that would suit it perfectly. Della has luxuriously long hair. She sees some combs that she takes a fancy to. Both realize how much the other wants these things.
To buy Della the combs, Jim sells his watch. To buy Jim the fob, Della sells her hair. The two of them realize just how much they love each other when they exchange presents.
They embrace as they listen at the window to carolers who are singing "Joy To The World" and "Hark The Herald Angels Sing".
Cast rundown:
Fred Allen..............................Slick Brown
Anne Baxter............................Joanna Goodwin
Jeanne Crain...........................Della Young
Farley Granger.........................Jim Young
Charles Laughton.....................Soapy
Oscar Levant...........................William Smith
Marilyn Monroe........................Streetwalker
Jean Peters.............................Susan Goodwin
Gregory Ratoff.........................Behrman
Dale Robertson........................Barney Woods
David Wayne...........................Horace
Richard Widmark......................Johnny Kernan
Lee Aaker................................J.B. Dorset
Irving Bacon............................Ebenezer Dorset
Fritz Feld.................................Maurice
Richard Hylton.........................Bill
Sig Ruman..............................Menkie
Martha Wentworth...................Mrs. O'Brien
John Steinbeck.........................Himself
And that's it for O. Henry's Full House. During previews for the film, the segment "The Ransom Of Red Chief" was very poorly received. Before it's release, the studio cut it, and the film was known as "O. Henry's Four Of A Kind". It was restored when the film was released on television in the 1960s. It's a shame that it was cut. It's a very well-done scene and very funny.
Fun fact: Marilyn Monroe received top billing for this film, though she is only in it for about one minute.
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