Pocketful of Miracles (1961)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

Frank Capra

Writers:

Hal Kanter (screenplay) and
Harry Tugend (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

25 December 1961 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Plot:

Boozy, brassy Apple Annie, a beggar with a basket of apples, is as much as part of downtown New York as old Broadway itself...

Plot Keywords:

Apple | Luck | Daughter | Dude | Mother

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 2 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Glenn Ford	...	Dave the Dude
Bette Davis	...	Apple Annie
Hope Lange	...	Queenie Martin
Arthur O'Connell	...	Count Alfonso Romero
Peter Falk	...	Joy Boy
Thomas Mitchell	...	Judge Henry G. Blake
Edward Everett Horton	...	Hudgins
Mickey Shaughnessy	...	Junior
David Brian	...	Governor
Sheldon Leonard	...	Steve Darcey
Peter Mann	...	Carlos Romero
Ann-Margret	...	Louise
Barton MacLane	...	Police Commissioner (as Barton Maclane)
John Litel	...	Police Inspector McCrary
Jerome Cowan	...	Mayor

Runtime:

136 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | American Sign Language | Spanish

Colour:

Colour (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Australia:G | Finland:K-12 | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | UK:U | USA:Approved (PCA #20029) | West Germany:6 | Argentina:Atp

Filming Locations:

Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Franton Productions

Trivia:

At one point, Apple Annie waves across the street to an unseen acquaintance called "Tallulah" who is opening in a play -- an in-joke reference to Bette Davis' long-running feud with Tallulah Bankhead.

Goofs:

Factual errors: While walking past Broadway Theater, Apple Annie hollers good luck "tonight" to unseen Tallulah Bankhead, presumably on that evening's opening of a play. However, Bankhead did not appear on Broadway from 1922-1933 and movie is set in 1931.

Quotes:

Joy Boy: I ain't gonna marry her! An' y'know why? 'Cause my wife don't like it when I go around marryin' people! She's funny that way!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Dawson's Creek: Hurricane (#1.5)" (1998)

Soundtrack:

My Bonnie (Lies Over the Ocean)

A Wonderful Fairy Tale

Apple Annie (Bete Davis) is an alcoholic beggar who sells apples and controls the beggary in Broadway area. Dave the Dude Conway (Glenn Ford) is a prominent gangster, who believes that Annie's apples are magic and brings `good luck' to him. Elizabeth 'Queenie' Martin (Hope Lange) is his lover, and she wants to get married with him and move to Maryland, to have children. One day, Annie receives a letter from her daughter Louise (Ann Margret, making her debut on the screens), who lives in Spain. She informs that she is going to get married with the son of a Count, and her future father-in-law is coming to New York with them to visit her. Annie becomes desperate and Dude decides to help her, pretending she is from the high-society of New York. This is another wonderful Frank Capra's magic movie. Indeed, it is a fairy tale. The cast, direction and screenplay are delightful and although being talkative and long, it is such a good film that the viewer does not feel the time passing. Bete Davis has another outstanding performance, as usual, very well supported by the magnificent cast. Highly recommended as a family entertainment. My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): `Dama Por Um Dia' (`Lady For a Day')