La giostra umana

An homage to O. Henry, featuring five of his short stories, an interesting collection of actors and directors, and narrated by John Steinbeck. It starts strong, with the first story featuring Charles Laughton in the role of an erudite tramp and a brief appearance from Marilyn Monroe, the second with a fantastic performance from Richard Widmark, and some nice visuals in the third, which was directed by Jean Negulesco. O. Henry's stories have bits of irony, humor, and little twists at the end, and are entertaining in a gentle, quaint kind of way. There is an unevenness to how well they translated to the screen, especially in the fourth story, directed by Howard Hawks, but I was entertained, and touched by O. Henry's humanism. I also loved seeing Steinbeck in his only film appearance.

One cannot really make a pastiche movie like this hang together as a coherent whole, but this oddity is interesting for the contributions of the high-powered cast: standing out are Charles Laughton, a disturbingly nasty Richard Widmark, Anne Baxter, and the drily comic Fred Allen, of whom we don't have enough of a film record. However, Oscar Levant's acting skills are really nonexistent; he should have stuck to his career as a musician and professional neurotic. Look for Marilyn Monroe in a cameo in "The Cop & the Anthem".

"O. Henry's Full House" is a film divided in five segments telling five wonderful tales in the beginning of the Twentieth Century.

1) "The Cop and the Anthem": the winter is coming and the homeless drifter Soapy (Charles Laughton) wants to go to jail for three months to get shelter and food. His partner Horace (David Wayne) suggests they look for shelter with the Salvation Army, but Soapy refuses. He forces many situations to be arrested but he is always forgiven. When he goes to the church, there is a miracle and Soapy decides to seek a job position. Will he succeed?

Directed by Henry Koster, this segment tells an ironic story of a bum with top-notch performance of Charles Laughton and a cameo of Marilyn Monroe.

2) "The Clarion Call": when a thief kills a man, the police investigators do not have any lead to follow. Police Sergeant Barney Woods (Dale Robertson) sees a pen that was found in the crime scene and he seeks out a man called Johnny Kernan (Richard Widmark). He finds Johnny that invites Barney to drink with him and they go to his hotel room. Johnny recalls their youth, when they were friends but Barney tells that he must arrest him since he recognized the pen that belonged to Johnny. However the criminal recalls that Barney owes him $ 1,000 that Barney lost in a card game. Barney unsuccessfully tries to raise the money to quit the debt. He decides to tell to the Chief of Police but out of the blue, he sees the spotlight on "The Clarion Call" and and runs to the newspaper. What did he see?

Directed by Henry Hathaway, this segment tells the story of an honest policeman that has a debt with a criminal that is wanted by the police. Richard Widmark is excellent in the usual role of a felon.

3) "The Last Leaf": When the lover of the twenty-one year-old Joanna Goodwin (Anne Baxter) breaks up with her, she wanders on the snow and gets pneumonia. Her older sister Susan Goodwin (Jean Peters) finds that Joanna does not want to live anymore and is following the leaves that keep falling from a tree. Their upstairs neighbor, the painter Behrman (Gregory Ratoff), tries to help the girls the best he can. Will he be able to save Joanna?

Directed by Jean Negulesco, this is the most sensitive and touching segment, with a heartbreaking conclusion. Anne Baxter is very beautiful in the role of a young woman with broken heart.

4) "The Ransom of Red Chief": the con men Sam 'Slick' Brown (Fred Allen) and Bill Peoria (Oscar Levant) flee to the countryside in their car and plot to kidnap the boy J.B. Dorset (Lee Aaker) to ask for ransom to his parents. But soon they find that the boy is a little devil.

Directed by Howarks, the segment is a funny comedy about two confidence men that make a wrong move kidnapping an evil boy. Lee Aaker's character seems to be Dennis, the Menace, created in 1951.

5) "The Gift of the Magi": In Christmas Eve, Della (Jeanne Crain) and her beloved husband Jim (Farley Granger) are penniless and in love with each other. Jim dreams on giving a tiara to Della since she has a wonderful hair and Della wants to give a chain to the pocket watch of Jim. On the Christmas night, they find a way to buy the gifts.

Directed by Henry King, this segment is a delightful love story with an ironic and funny conclusion.

My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Páginas da Vida" ("Pages of the Life")

One of the only times you'll get to see Steinbeck on film. The stories are all Unique and each comes with its set of twists and lessons learned. Of course I have my favorite and also my least favorite. I love that these stories are so full of detail, even the scenery and costuming. It's a true classic with an all star cast. Don't pass it up if it comes on. It's not perfect but what is?

Saw this with a childhood friend of mine in the 50's on TV when we were 'sneaking' staying up very late. When it was done, we looked at each other, both having been touched deeply, though we couldn't have described how. Ever after, it has been one of our 'special' memories -- one of us says "remember that movie?" and the other understands perfectly! That's what movies should do! Did anyone else have that experience on first watching it? I remember being very affected by Hitchcock's Saboteur, also, after watching it late one night as a kid. It stirred the same response that later made me a 'movie fan' -- that magical sense of someone (the director) saying something to you in a way that seemed to make life 'bigger' than it had been before.