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20th Century Fox
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A dozen top stars - five famed directors bring you the best stories of O. Henry!
Five O. Henry stories, each separate. The primary one from the critics' acclaim was "The Cop and the Anthem". Soapy tells fellow bum Horace that he is going to get arrested so he can spend the winter in a nice jail cell. He fails. He can't even accost a woman; she turns out to be a streetwalker. The other stories are "The Clarion Call", "The Last Leaf", "The Ransom of Red Chief", and "The Gift of the Magi".
CinemaSerf
Nov 3, 2024 · via TMDB
A compendium of five stories from the acclaimed US writer that are all quite entertaining. It starts off with a story about "Soapy" - a wily vagrant who decides that with winter coming, it's time to get himself snuggly incarcerated for the harsh weather. Who else but Charles Laughton could get that character up and running with an avuncular amiability and mischief to him, especially when he alights on the down on her luck lady of the night (Marilyn Monroe). Sadly for him, though, it seems it wasn't just Sam Goldwyn who couldn't get arrested in Hollywood. Next the "Clarion Call" sees a detective (Dale Robertson) attempt to prove whether or not his childhood friend (Richard Widmark) is guilty of killing a man when a robbery goes wrong. "The Last Leaf" has a rather sad premiss to it as a young girl (Anne Baxter) is saddened by a break-up and wanders out into the snow where she promptly catches pneumonia. Despite the best care of her sister (Jean Peters) it looks like her dwindling life-force is attached to the leaves on a tree that are gradually being blown away by a violent storm. Perhaps only the painter who lives upstairs (Gregory Ratoff) and earns a meagre living selling his paintings for a few dollars here and there might be able to help? The fourth short story was my favourite. Two hustlers - Oscar Levant and Peter Allan are trying to flog some dodgy goldmine share certificates, but decide they have to scrape together some cash to buy some actual gold that can plausibly have been dug up in the mine. To that end, they decide to kidnap the ten year old "J.B." (Lee Aaker) and ransom him to his folks. Little do they realise that this youngster is way more than a match for these two bumpkins, and soon the tables are well and truly turned. Finally, there is a festive theme as a young couple, expecting a baby, struggle with balancing the books and getting something nice for the other for Christmas. Jeanne Crain and Farley Granger deliver quite a sensitive story about the sacrifices that both are prepared to make to give the other just that little extra joy as they anticipate their dinner of meatloaf and milk that's chilled in box on the window sill. Each of these stories have simple morals underpinning them, but they are presented in a fashion that allows the characters to tell us the story without labouring any message. Laughton is in his element, so too is the understated Ratoff and there's plenty of fun to be had at the hands of the young Aaker too. A soupçon of human nature, faith and buffoonery that I rather enjoyed.
User reviews courtesy of TMDB.
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Charles Laughton
Soapy (segment "The Cop and the Anthem")
Marilyn Monroe
Streetwalker (segment "The Cop and the Anthem")
David Wayne
Horace (segment "The Cop and the Anthem")
Dale Robertson
Barney Woods (segment "The Clarion Call")
Richard Widmark
Johnny Kernan (segment "The Clarion Call")
Anne Baxter
Joanna Goodwin (segment "The Last Leaf")
Jean Peters
Susan Goodwin (segment "The Last Leaf")
Gregory Ratoff
Behrman (segment "The Last Leaf")
Fred Allen
Sam "Slick" Brown (segment "The Ransom of Red Chief")
Oscar Levant
William Smith (segment "The Ransom of Red Chief")
Jeanne Crain
Della (segment "The Gift of the Magi")
Farley Granger
Jim (segment "The Gift of the Magi")
Joyce Mackenzie
—
Lee Aaker
J.B. Dorset (segment "The Ransom of Red Chief")
Richard Rober
Chief of Detectives (segment "The Clarion Call")
Fred Kelsey
Mr. Schultz (segment "The Gift of the Magi")
Richard Garrick
Doctor (segment "The Last Leaf")
John Steinbeck
Narrator
Kathleen Freeman
Mrs. Dorset (segment "The Ransom of Red Chief") (uncredited)
Irving Bacon
Ebeneezer Dorset (segment "The Ransom of Red Chief") (uncredited)
Will Wright
Hotel Desk Clerk (segment "The Clarion Call") (uncredited)
Thomas Browne Henry
Café Manager (segment "The Cop and the Anthem") (uncredited)
Steven Geray
Boris Radolf (segment "The Last Leaf") (uncredited)
Warren Stevens
Druggist (segment "The Last Leaf") (uncredited)
Robert Easton
Yokel (segment "The Ransom of Red Chief") (uncredited)
Carl Betz
Jimmy Valentine (segment "Prologue") (uncredited)
Herb Vigran
Poker Player (segment "The Clarion Call") (uncredited)
Harry Hayden
A.J. Crump (segment "The Gift of the Magi") (uncredited)
Fritz Feld
Maurice (segment "The Gift of the Magi") (uncredited)
Sig Ruman
Menkie (segment "The Gift of the Magi") (uncredited)
House Peters
Dave Bascom (segment "The Clarion Call") (uncredited)
Pat Flaherty
Irish Cop (segment "Prologue") (uncredited)
Robert Foulk
Cop (segment "The Cop and the Anthem") (uncredited)
Everett Glass
Desk Clerk (segment "The Clarion Call") (uncredited)
Norman Leavitt
Yokel (segment "The Ransom of Red Chief") (uncredited)
Jack Mather
Cop (segment "The Cop and the Anthem") (uncredited)
Frank Mills
Man Being Booked (segment "The Clarion Call") (uncredited)
Martha Wentworth
Mrs. O'Brien (segment "The Last Leaf") (uncredited)
Gloria Gordon
Ellie Mae (segment "The Ransom of Red Chief") (uncredited)
Thomas Browne Henry
Manager (segment "The Cop and the Anthem") (uncredited)
Jimmie Horan
Bookkeeper (segment "The Gift of the Magi") (uncredited)
Richard Hylton
Bill (segment "The Gift of the Magi") (uncredited)
Richard Karlan
Headwaiter (segment "The Cop and the Anthem") (uncredited)
David McMahon
Cop (segment "The Clarion Call") (uncredited)
Tyler McVey
O. Henry (segment "Prologue") (uncredited)
Stuart Randall
Detective (segment "The Clarion Call") (uncredited)
Henry Slate
Poker Player (segment "The Clarion Call") (uncredited)
Harry Tenbrook
Bar Customer (segment "The Clarion Call") (uncredited)
Philip Tonge
Umbrella Man (segment "The Cop and the Anthem") (uncredited)
Ernö Verebes
Waiter (segment "The Cop and the Anthem") (uncredited)
Ruth Warren
Neighbor (segment "The Last Leaf") (uncredited)
Billy Wayne
Bystander (segment "The Cop and the Anthem") (uncredited)
Will Wright
Manager (segment "The Clarion Call") (uncredited)
May Wynn
Mother (Prologue) (uncredited)
Richard Allan
Pete (segment "The Gift of the Magi") (uncredited)
Phil Arnold
Convict (segment "Prologue") (uncredited)
Carl Betz
Jimmie Valentine (segment "Prologue") (uncredited)
Harry Carter
Cop in Park (segment "The Cop and the Anthem") (uncredited)
Warner Baxter
Cisco Kid ((Prologue) (archive footage)) (uncredited)
James Flavin
Cop (segment "The Cop and the Anthem") (uncredited)
Lucien Ballard
Director of Photography
Milton Krasner
Director of Photography
Henry Hathaway
Director
Henry King
Director
Henry Koster
Director
Howard Hawks
Director
Jean Negulesco
Director
Alfred Newman
Original Music Composer
Ivan Goff
Screenplay
Lamar Trotti
Screenplay
Richard L. Breen
Screenplay
Disorder
Manželství Mamerta Kalivody
Wifey Redux
Claim na Hluchém potoku
All About Eve
After the Quake
Prodej
Jakarta Twilight
New World
Rio Bravo
Flow
The Man Who Would Be King
Bečička
Chandamama Kathalu
Rebel Without a Cause
Konec cesty
The Bible: In the Beginning...
A Christmas Story
Re-Animator
Shanghai Express
Little Shop of Horrors
Afrocentricity
Muzikant
Trick 'r Treat
Coffee and Cigarettes
In the Bedroom
Broken Blossoms or The Yellow Man and the Girl
Days of Hate
Three Ages
Swing Time
Far from Men
Paris Je T'aime
Cohen and Tate
New Year Blues
Return to Horror Hotel
Tras el horizonte
Her Boy
Have You Seen This Woman?
New York Stories
Ring 0
The Twelve Chairs
Jsem přece šofér..!
Cain Rose Up
Good Luck Chuck
Death and the Compass
Four Rooms
Amazon Women on the Moon
Nobody Will Laugh
Gabrielle
The Exit Room
Can I Be Your Bratwurst, Please?
Obsession
Boys' Shorts
Queer Boys and Girls on the Bullet Train
Addiction
Death and the Cherry Tree
Pan Tomšík
Pilgrims
Walk the Blue Fields
Ako dve hrdličky
Rest Area
Willa
Willa
Derailed
Zázračné dítě
Jurát
Slabé srdce
Na svitaní
Kyvadlo
Vychovatel
Look At Me Touch Me Kiss Me
Panchatantra Kathalu
Hans mezi Petrem a Svenem
Soud pana Havleny
Bianka Braselli, dáma s dvěma hlavami
Hodinář
Jasnovidec
Matteo Falcone
The Graffiti of Mr. Tupaia
If You Were Me 3
Flow
On Becoming a Guinea Fowl
¿Y cómo es él?
Tyler Perry's Madea on the Run - The Play
Code 3
Mickybo and Me
King Ivory
Naked Lunch
The House of Tomorrow
Daddy Longlegs
Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex *But Were Afraid to Ask
A Futile and Stupid Gesture
The Beanie Bubble
House of D
Family Weekend
Accident Man
Almost Friends
Somewhere in Queens
Hooking Up
Standing Up, Falling Down
Critical Care
Disgrace
SubUrbia
Hard to Die
Landline
The Middle Man
The Legend of Barney Thomson
Run
Winged Creatures
Suburbicon
Small Apartments
CQ
Your Friends & Neighbors
Aug 7, 1952
Greensboro, North Carolina
Sep 18, 1952
Los Angeles, California
Oct 16, 1952
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Versus
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Today I Hang
1942
The PanoptiCon Tapes III
1990
Sign in to vote
Battle your watched movies head-to-head
Community Top Movies
Evil Dead II
1987 · 14 wins
The Dark Knight
2008 · 14 wins
Halloween
1978 · 13 wins
Final Destination
2000 · 12 wins
Halloween II
1981 · 11 wins
Trivia
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Movie Trivia
Guess the movie from a clue — tagline, plot, cast and more. Pick from four posters.
What movie experience do you prefer?
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