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O. Henry's Full House (1952)
Director: Henry Koster, Henry Hathaway, Jean Negulesco, Howard Hawks, Henry King
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
John Steinbeck, looking and sounding disconcertingly like Ward Bond, hosts five tales by O Henry, of which only Hathaway's segment ('The Clarion Call') is devoid of interest. Negulesco and King both contribute sentimental valentines ('The Last Leaf' and 'The Gift of the Magi') in which love transcends the miseries of illness and poverty respectively. Hawks' 'The Ransom of Red Chief' is about two child-kidnappers who end up paying their victim's dad to take the little horror off their hands. It's noteworthy for the casting of the two most mournful comics of the day as a double act; and for the fact that the adventures of such unprofessional no-hopers interested someone like Hawks in the first place. At the front of the movie, Laughton characteristically generates his own atmosphere of benign fantasy, playing a bum trying to get himself jailed for the winter. This episode ('The Cop and the Anthem') also includes an encounter between two sacred monsters - Laughton's hobo and Monroe's hooker meeting on a windy street corner for a brief demonstration of the virtues of kindliness and respect.Author: BBa
Cast & crew
Director: Henry Koster, Henry Hathaway, Jean Negulesco, Howard Hawks, Henry King
Producer: André Hakim
Cast: Charles Laughton, David Wayne, Marilyn Monroe, Richard Widmark, Dale Robertson, Joyce MacKenzie, Anne Baxter, Jean Peters, Gregory Ratoff, Fred Allen, Oscar Levant, Lee Aaker, Kathleen Freeman, Jeanne Crain, Farley Granger full cast
Duration: 117 mins
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