ridiculous rating

Better Late Then Never

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

A fairly tale out of Damon Runyon, a writer with whom everyone must touch bases now and again. Nobody can make up nicknames like Damon Runyon -- Dave the Duke, Sammy the Schtunk. This particular adaptation of his work by the renowned director Frank Capra tells the tale of Apple Annie (Bette Davis) a ragged street drunk who has a friendly relationship with Dave the Duke (Glenn Ford). Ford has just promoted his girl friend (Hope Lange) into a dancer and chanteuse in his night club and suddenly the shekels are rolling in. This invites the attention of Chicago gangster Steve Darcey (Sheldon Leonard) who wants to run New York now.In the midst of this impending confrontation, Ford and his principal goons (Mickey Shaughnessy and Peter Falk) discover that Apple Annie has a daughter (Ann-Margaret) who has been living at a boarding school in Spain for years. Davis has made a sub rosa arrangement with the exclusive Marberry Hotel to mail Annie's letters from there and to pick up her daughter's letters at the same address. Ann-Margaret announces that she is now returning to New York with her aristocratic fiancé and his family, expecting to find Davis living in luxury at the opulent hotel.Ford forgets about his confrontation with Leonard and devotes his time, money, and energy to seeing to it that Davis looks like a wealthy matriarch, borrowing an elaborate hotel suite from an absent buddy and calling in a horde of makeover people to re-do the tattered and raggedy bundle that Davis as become. The various ladies hustle Davis into the bedroom followed by Fritz Feld as the hair dresser. "Hey -- he can't go in dare!" says Falk. Lange, who is hustling them about, turns and replies, "It's all right. Honest, it's all RIGHT." Feld sneers at Falk and minces into the room. Feld is always good, always in small parts. He's the psychiatrist in "Bringing up Baby." ("The love impulse in men very frequently reveals itself in terms of conflict.") There follow the usual complications. The pace is fast but the movie is really to long for the story, which would pack more of an emotional and ludic wallop if it were trimmed by about one quarter of its running time. No organic reason for Ann-Margaret to sing all the verses of "I Gave My Love a Cherry" a capella. Glenn Ford does the best he can with the comic role and the frantic pace. He can be hilariously funny in the right context, as he was in "The Teahouse of the August Moon," but he's less convincing as a shady New York operator. He's not vulgar enough. He sounds as if he's been graduated from college. A handsomer Edward G. Robinson is called for. Hope Lange, on the other hand, is a real surprise. He forte is looking winsome and shy. This role takes her from a girl in a raincoat quietly pleading for favor, to a brassy show-business type with a loud (but never coarse) voice. She's quite pretty, and she kept her looks for years. She was my very appealing co-star in "Blue Velvet." I never managed to lay eyes on her during the shoot.

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.

Runyonesque era films rarely interest me. I made an exception for the Clan in "Robin And The Seven Hoods".I didn't expect this film to catch my fancy either, but there are enough unique aspects to this film to make it well worthwhile watching.1. This has to be the strangest choice of a role ever made by Bette Davis. Even stranger than "Baby Jane". So, it's worth watching this film just to see Bette Davis in this most unique role. And, although it certainly plays against her "type", she does superbly.2. This was the last film project for director Frank Capra. And yes, it is "Capracorn", but I usually enjoy "Capracorn".3. This was also the last film for the wonderful character actor Thomas Mitchell, a veteran of Capra films, including "Lost Horizon".4. A good performance by Hope Lange.5. The big screen debut of Ann-Margaret.6. An elderly Edward Everett Horton, another veteran of other Frank Capra films going way back to "Lost Horizon". Not to mention a number of other well-recognizable character actors.So what's to criticize? Well, it is a bit longish -- 2:16 minutes, and I think some of the early scenes could have been edited a big. And the ending seemed hurried and a bit illogical. Aside from that, if you like Runyonesque stories -- and perhaps even if you don't -- you should give this film a look. As I indicated, there are many unique features to it...enough to make it nearly an historic film.

in this case, the name of director is the best definition for the movie. like many of movies by Capra, Pocketful of Miracles is a superb fairy tale. but not only. Bette Davis does an admirable job and Ann Margret is charming at whole at first steps on screen. Glen Ford is a special gangster and Hope Lange far to be a surprise. a family film who represents gate to another time. a film about values, hopes and mankind . and, sure, about magic in a profound and lovely sense. a film who, out of artistic value, is a trip in an useful atmosphere heart. that is its best virtue. and the source of delicate joy after its end. because the romanticism and the friendship are essential pillars. always. for everybody.