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.

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.

Although known for his surprise endings, the endings of the five tales told here are not all that surprising. The "The Cop and the Anthem" (Rating 6 of 10) is a bit heavy-handed and contrived. In "The Clarion Call" (Rating 7), Widmark not only reunites with "Kiss of Death" director Hathaway but seems to be (over)playing his role from the earlier film. "The Last Leaf" (Rating 8) is touching and well-acted, particularly by Peters. The much-maligned "The Ransom of the Red Chief" (Rating 8) is the only comedy here and is quite amusing. O. Henry's most famous story, "The Gift of the Magi" (Rating 6), is rather unsatisfying. All in all, a mixed bag but well worth watching.

This is one of my favorite old movies. You can't go wrong with this one--if you ever have a chance to see it! I don't recall enough details to improve upon what's been said by other reviewers, but each part was engrossing (though I agree that "The Ransom of Red Chief" was the weakest dramatization of a great short story of the bunch), especially "The Gift of the Magi" and "The Last Leaf." Lingers in the memory long after you see it.

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".