O. Henry's Full House

Last updated
O. Henry's Full House
O. Henry's Full House Poster.jpg
Theatrical film poster
Directed by Henry Koster
Henry Hathaway
Jean Negulesco
Howard Hawks
Henry King
Screenplay by Richard L. Breen
Walter Bullock
Philip Dunne
Ivan Goff
Ben Hecht
Nunnally Johnson
Charles Lederer
Ben Roberts
Lamar Trotti
Based onShort stories
by O. Henry
Produced byAndré Hakim
Starring Fred Allen
Anne Baxter
Jeanne Crain
Farley Granger
Charles Laughton
Oscar Levant
Marilyn Monroe
Jean Peters
Gregory Ratoff
Dale Robertson
David Wayne
Richard Widmark
Narrated by John Steinbeck
CinematographyLloyd Ahern
Lucien Ballard
Milton R. Krasner
Joseph MacDonald
Edited byNick DeMaggio
Barbara McLean
William B. Murphy
Music by Alfred Newman
Distributed by 20th Century Fox
Release date
  • October 16, 1952 (1952-10-16)
Running time
117 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$1 million (US rentals) [1]

O. Henry's Full House is a 1952 American anthology film made by 20th Century Fox, consisting of five films, each based on a story by O. Henry. [2]

Contents

The film was produced by André Hakim and directed by five directors from five screenplays with different authors. The music score was composed by Alfred Newman. The film is narrated by author John Steinbeck, who made his only on-camera appearance to introduce each story.

Plot

Prologue

A prologue presented by narrator John Steinbeck introduces biographic background on O. Henry and mentions several of his other stories not included, notably the story of reformed safecracker Jimmy Valentine in A Retrieved Reformation .

"The Cop and the Anthem"

Directed by Henry Koster, from a screenplay by Lamar Trotti, it stars Charles Laughton, Marilyn Monroe and David Wayne. As winter approaches, a vagrant decides it's time for his annual winter spell in prison. But no matter how hard he tries, he cannot get himself arrested.

"The Clarion Call"

Directed by Henry Hathaway, from a screenplay by Richard Breen, it stars Dale Robertson and Richard Widmark. A detective cannot arrest a murderer he knows from his past due to his honor involving an outstanding financial debt to the criminal. Once a newspaper offers a reward, after being mocked by the criminal, the detective arrests the criminal and collects the reward to repay the debt.

This vignette reunited Henry Hathaway and Richard Widmark who'd worked together on the noir classic Kiss of Death (1947). Widmark's character in The Clarion Call, "Johnny Kernan", is actually a reprise of his Oscar-nominated character "Tommy Udo" from Kiss of Death.[ citation needed ] Widmark's Udo/Kernan character was inspired by his love of Batman comics' "The Joker".[ citation needed ] The Tommy Udo performance in turn influenced Frank Gorshin in preparation for his "Riddler" character on the Batman TV series in the 1960s. [3]

"The Last Leaf"

Directed by Jean Negulesco, from a screenplay by Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts, it stars Anne Baxter, Jean Peters, and Gregory Ratoff. The story is set in Greenwich Village during the depths of winter. A poor old painter saves the life of a young woman, dying of pneumonia, by giving her the will to live. From her bed the patient can see an ivy vine through the window gradually losing its leaves in the intense cold. She has taken it into her head that she will die when the vine loses its last leaf. Seemingly, the last leaf never falls, and the young woman survives. In reality, the vine lost all its leaves during the cold night. The leaf she thought she had seen was just the image of a leaf painted on the wall with perfect realism, by the old artist, who died of exposure in the cold shortly after finishing the painted leaf.

"The Ransom of Red Chief"

Directed by Howard Hawks, from a screenplay by Nunnally Johnson, rewritten by Ben Hecht and Charles Lederer (none of whom were credited), it stars Fred Allen, Oscar Levant, Lee Aaker, Irving Bacon, and Kathleen Freeman. Two con men kidnap a child in order to collect a substantial ransom, but the child proves to be too much for them.

Nunnally Johnson wrote the original screenplay for Clifton Webb as "Slick" and William Demarest as "William", but when Fred Allen and Oscar Levant were cast, Hawks asked Hecht and Lederer to do a rewrite. Johnson was unhappy with the result and asked to have his name removed from the film. [4]

"The Gift of the Magi"

Directed by Henry King, from a screenplay by Walter Bullock and Philip Dunne (who was uncredited), it stars Jeanne Crain and Farley Granger. On Christmas Eve, with little money, Della sells her hair to buy her husband Jim a watch fob. Jim has sold his watch to buy her a pair of ornamental combs. When they exchange these now useless gifts, they realize how deep is their love for one another.

Cast

The Cop and the Anthem
The Clarion Call
The Last Leaf
The Ransom of Red Chief
The Gift of the Magi

"The Ransom of Red Chief"

When the film was first premiered in September 1952 in Los Angeles, it consisted of five parts, including Howard Hawks' "The Ransom of Red Chief".

The Hawks short was so poorly received that the studio removed it before the film opened in New York that October, leading some outlets to describe the film as O'Henry's Four of a Kind. [5]

Eventually, "The Ransom of Red Chief" was reinstated, and is included on the DVD release. [6]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Howard Hawks</span> American film director (1896–1977)

Howard Winchester Hawks was an American film director, producer, and screenwriter of the classic Hollywood era. Critic Leonard Maltin called him "the greatest American director who is not a household name." Roger Ebert called Hawks "one of the greatest American directors of pure movies, and a hero of auteur critics because he found his own laconic values in so many different kinds of genre material." He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director for Sergeant York (1941) and earned the Honorary Academy Award in 1974.

<i>Ball of Fire</i> 1941 film by Howard Hawks

Ball of Fire is a 1941 American screwball comedy film directed by Howard Hawks and starring Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck. The Samuel Goldwyn Productions film concerns a group of professors laboring to write an encyclopedia and their encounter with a nightclub performer who provides her own unique knowledge. The supporting cast includes Oscar Homolka, S. Z. Sakall, Henry Travers, Richard Haydn, Dana Andrews, and Dan Duryea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oscar Levant</span> American comedian, musician and actor

Oscar Levant was an American concert pianist, composer, conductor, author, radio game show panelist, television talk show host, comedian, and actor. He had roles in the films Rhapsody in Blue (1945), The Barkleys of Broadway (1949), An American in Paris (1951), and The Band Wagon (1953). He was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960 for recordings featuring his piano performances. He was portrayed by Sean Hayes in the Broadway play Good Night, Oscar, written by Doug Wright. Levant appeared as himself in the Gershwin biopic Rhapsody in Blue (1945).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Widmark</span> American actor and producer (1914–2008)

Richard Weedt Widmark was an American film, stage, and television actor and producer.

<i>Kiss of Death</i> (1947 film) 1947 film by Henry Hathaway

Kiss of Death is a 1947 American film noir directed by Henry Hathaway and written by Ben Hecht and Charles Lederer from a story by Eleazar Lipsky. The story revolves around ex-con Nick Bianco and another hoodlum, Tommy Udo. The movie also starred Brian Donlevy and introduced Coleen Gray in her first billed role. The film has received critical praise since its release, with two Academy Award nominations.

<i>The Frogmen</i> 1951 American black and white WWII drama film by Lloyd Bacon

The Frogmen is a 1951 American black-and-white World War II drama film from Twentieth Century Fox, produced by Samuel G. Engel, directed by Lloyd Bacon, that stars Richard Widmark, Dana Andrews, and Gary Merrill. The film's storyline is based on operations by United States Navy Underwater Demolition Teams, popularly known as "frogmen", against the Japanese Army and naval forces. It was the first such film about scuba diving and became a popular cultural hit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Ransom of Red Chief</span> 1907 short story by O. Henry

"The Ransom of Red Chief" is a short story by O. Henry first published in the July 6, 1907 issue of The Saturday Evening Post. It follows two men who kidnap and demand a ransom for a wealthy man's son. Eventually, the men are overwhelmed by the boy's spoiled and hyperactive behavior, so they pay his father to take him back.

Chris Terrio is an American screenwriter and film director. He is best known for writing the screenplay for the 2012 film Argo, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. Terrio also won the Writers Guild Award for Best Adapted Screenplay of 2012 and was nominated for Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay, a BAFTA, and the 2013 Los Angeles Film Critics Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for this work.

Richard L. Breen was a Hollywood screenwriter and director.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gregory Ratoff</span> Russian-American actor (1893–1960)

Gregory Ratoff was a Russian-American film director, actor and producer. As an actor, he was best known for his role as producer "Max Fabian" in All About Eve (1950).

<i>Yellow Sky</i> 1948 film by William A. Wellman

Yellow Sky is a 1948 American Western film directed by William A. Wellman and starring Gregory Peck, Richard Widmark, and Anne Baxter. The story is believed to be loosely adapted from William Shakespeare's The Tempest. The screenplay concerns a band of reprobate outlaws who flee after a bank robbery and encounter an old man and his granddaughter in a ghost town.

<i>National Lampoons Movie Madness</i> 1982 American film

National Lampoon's Movie Madness is a 1982 American comedy film produced by National Lampoon as the second film from the magazine. The film was originally produced under the title National Lampoon Goes to the Movies; completed in 1981, the film was not released until 1982, and was reedited and retitled as Movie Madness.

<i>Nob Hill</i> (film) 1945 film by Henry Hathaway

Nob Hill is a 1945 Technicolor film about a Barbary Coast, San Francisco, United States saloon keeper, starring George Raft and Joan Bennett. Part musical and part drama, the movie was directed by Henry Hathaway. It remains one of Raft's lesser known movies even though it was a big success, in part because it was a musical.

<i>The Cobweb</i> (1955 film) 1955 film by Vincente Minnelli

The Cobweb is a 1955 American Eastmancolor MGM drama film. It was directed by Vincente Minnelli, and based on a novel by William Gibson. The film stars Richard Widmark, Lauren Bacall, Charles Boyer, and Gloria Grahame

<i>The Secret Ways</i> 1961 film by Richard Widmark, Phil Karlson

The Secret Ways is a 1961 American neo noir mystery thriller film based on Alistair MacLean's 1959 novel The Last Frontier. It was directed by Phil Karlson and stars Richard Widmark.

<i>The Wayward Bus</i> (film) 1957 film directed by Victor Vicas

The Wayward Bus is a 1957 American drama film directed by Victor Vicas and starring Joan Collins, Jayne Mansfield, Dan Dailey and Rick Jason. Released by 20th Century-Fox, the film was based on the 1947 novel of the same name by John Steinbeck.

<i>The Sun Also Rises</i> (1957 film) 1957 film by Henry King

The Sun Also Rises is a 1957 American drama film adaptation of the 1926 Ernest Hemingway novel of the same name directed by Henry King. The screenplay was written by Peter Viertel and it starred Tyrone Power, Ava Gardner, Mel Ferrer, and Errol Flynn. Much of it was filmed on location in France and Spain as well as Mexico in Cinemascope and color by Deluxe. A highlight of the film is the famous "running of the bulls" in Pamplona, Spain and two bullfights.

Benjy is a 1951 American short documentary film directed by Fred Zinnemann. It won an Oscar in 1952 for Documentary Short Subject.

The Razzie Award for Worst Screenplay is an award presented at the annual Golden Raspberry Awards for the worst film screenplay of the past year. The following is a list of nominees and recipients of that award, including each screenplay's author(s).

<i>Invitation to Happiness</i> 1939 film by Wesley Ruggles

Invitation to Happiness is a 1939 American drama film directed by Wesley Ruggles and written by Claude Binyon. The film stars Irene Dunne, Fred MacMurray, Charlie Ruggles, Billy Cook, William Collier, Sr. and Marion Martin. The film was released on June 16, 1939, by Paramount Pictures.

References

  1. 'Top Box-Office Hits of 1952', Variety, January 7, 1953.
  2. Crowther, Bosley (October 17, 1952). "THE Four O. Henry Short Stories Offered in Fox Movie at Trans-Lux 52d Street". The New York Times .
  3. "The Riddler: The Lasting Appeal of Batman's Most Enigmatic Foe". 17 September 2013.
  4. O. Henry's Full House at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
  5. McCarthy, Todd (2007). Howard Hawks: The Grey Fox of Hollywood. Open Road + Grove/Atlantic. ISBN   9780802196408.
  6. Hicks, Chris (December 15, 2006). "Old favorite 'O.Henry' on DVD at last". Deseret Morning News. Archived from the original on January 5, 2007. Retrieved August 18, 2019.