TCM Pick O’ The Day: Saturday, January 17th
by John Nolte
Peter Falk (1961)
Pocketful of Miracles (1961) – A good-hearted gangster turns an old apple seller into a society matron so she can impress her daughter. Cast: Glenn Ford, Bette Davis, Hope Lange, Arthur O’Connell Dir: Frank Capra C-137 mins, TV-G
Hollywood’s always produced remakes and sequels. That’s nothing new. What’s new is the sheer number of them and their suck rate.
With Pocketful of Miracles, director Frank Capra made a rare career misstep with a remake of his own Lady for a Day (1933), a charming, wish-fulfillment fable based on a story by Damon Runyon. Unfortunately, Miracle lacks the magic of its predecessor. Overlong and frequently mawkish, the whole affair is an exercise in trying too hard.
This recommendation is based on the one element that makes the rest worthwhile, Peter Falk’s Academy Award-nominated performance as Joy Boy. Cagney might have stole The Roaring Twenties right out from Bogart and Steve McQueen surely mugged Yul Brynner in The Magnificent Seven, but you haven’t seen an actor steal a film until you’ve seen Falk walk away with this one. Every scene with Joy Boy is an absolute gem. It’s like he’s in a different, much better movie.
Recently, Falk was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, and today’s pick is a reminder of what that awful disease is taking from all of us. “Irreplaceable” doesn’t begin to cover it.
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9 Comments
As John said “Lady for a Day” is a winner. Seek it out.
Tar Heel Mom:
It was Capra’s last movie and I think it’s in his book that he mentions the problems with Ford.
The thing with Falk in this movie is that he overshadows Bette Davis, something that is almost impossible the way she can chew a scene. She got back on track with Baby Jane the next year though.
“good-hearted gangster”
That’s all I need to know about it. Such a phrase is right up there in my fingernails-on-chalkboard list with ‘hooker with a heart of gold’
I definitely agree that Lady For A Day was much better. I’m more of a fan of the Pre-Code era and “Lady” had more of a pre-code feel to it. As much as I love Bette Davis, I have to say, May Robson was a better Apple Annie. (and Warren William as Dave the Dude and Guy Kibbe were also great!)
Still, Pocketful of Miracles is better than a lot of the remakes that have come out in recent times (e.g., “The Women”). I agree with everyone else, watch it for Faulk.
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