Milliardaire pour un jour

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')

The film centers about the boozy as well as brassy elderly female called Apple Annie (Bette Davis , though before Bette accepted the role , Shirley Booth was Capra's first choice for Annie , but she politely declined the role) . She is an old , ugly and poor woman on his own resources , she splits luck to a mobster (well played by Glenn Ford who helped finance the movie through his production company) giving him apples . Ford (who asked his sweetheart Hope Lange as Queenie) has a beautiful girlfriend and helps Annie and he sets up a masquerade for her daughter Louise (Ann Margret's first movie) , who has lived all her life in a Spanish convent, is coming to America and she goes to marry to a high class man and for him to believe than Bette/Annie is a countess . You've got to see it to belove it! . Warmth, schmaltz, heart, whatever it is, this motion picture's got it - that certain something that turns the screen hilariously and miraculously wonderful!

In the film there is a mingle of comedy , drama and humor , it's a very amusing movie . Although this is not as good remake as ¨ Capra's Lady for a day ¨ , the former and early classic movie . First-range acting , especially by main actors : Bette Davis , Glenn Ford , Hope Lange , Peter Falk , Ann Margret but the secondary actors are also excellent : Edward Everett Horton , Thomas Mitchell , Arthur O'Connell , among others . The original version of the film, ¨Lady for a day¨(1933) -also directed by Frank Capra- was pretty good , and even had Oscar-nominated performance for May Robson as Annie . According to the Bette Davis biography, 'Fasten Your Seatbelts', the actress was furious when she read a Glenn Ford interview in which the actor claimed to have gotten her the part because of the boost she had given him years before . Direction by Frank Capra , in his last film , is very good , he had a lot of experience because of his previous classic films, such as ¨It's a wonderful life¨, ¨ Meet John Doe ¨, ¨ Mr Smith goes to Washington ¨ and several others. Rating : 7 , above average , well worth watching .

This Frank Capra directed film is actually Capra's second attempt with the movie. POCKETFUL OF MIRACLES is actually a remake of LADY FOR A DAY (1933), and I've got to say that nothing in this remake made me favor it over the original. May Robson and Warren William just did a better job with the material than Bette Davis and Glenn Ford. In particular, Ford is more selfish and nasty when compared to the "nice" scoundrel played more gracefully by William. Plus, overall, it looks like everyone just tried and emoted too much in the remake. The original was slow and graceful and also quite beautiful. The remake is just LOUDER and brash--like it is a "dumbed-down" version of the original.

However, despite my complaint, the basic story itself is still excellent and couldn't help but produce a good movie. This one is sure worth watching, but if at all possible, find LADY FOR A DAY--it's a much better example of the magic of Frank Capra.

Glenn Ford and the late Hope Lange in a comedy with Bette Davis taking a supporting role. Interesting enough, this crowd pleaser works quite well.

Dave The Dude (Ford) is a gangster on the verge of making a big deal. Dave is superstitious. He always must get an apple from that vagrant-looking Davis.

Davis, as Apple Annie, was phenomenal in this film. She acts just like an old broken down bag-lady. She does it with a finesse. (Is it really possible to have a refined bag-lady, you bet it is.)

Anyway, it appears that Davis has a daughter living abroad all these years. Ann-Margret is she and the latter thinks that her mother is high society. Trouble now is that Ann is getting engaged to a count and they're coming to New York to look mom over. Dave and his girlfriend, Lange, fix up Davis to make her look like a dowager. They even provide a husband for her-Thomas Mitchell!

As if this isn't funny enough, we have Peter Falk, in a truly worthy Oscar nominated supporting performance, as Dave's sidekick who can't fathom what is going on.

Edward Everett Horton is the butler who can't take bad endings. Fortunately, for him, the film has anything but that kind of ending. It's up-beat down to the last laugh.

When "the kids" sail away, Apple Annie resorts to her old ways by even announcing that her prices have gone up to her faithful friends.

A romp and memorable film.

Bette Davis turns in a great performance as "Apple Annie". Peter Falk, as has been noted, gets the best lines. Glenn Ford shows his talent for comedy. The young Ann-Margret is as cute as can be. But if i can be permitted a bit of Trivial Observation: I had to watch the next to last scene (the police-escorted motorcade) again because i could not believe it on the first viewing. Did anyone else notice the rear projection in the back windows of the cars? The story is set in the 1930's, the cars are of that era but the automobile following in the back window looks like a 1950 Cadillac! Either that car window was a time tunnel or someone used the wrong film clip for the rear projection. That's why studios have a Continuity Department.