Customer Reviews

O Henry's Full House

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At long last one of my favorite films has finally made it to DVD and I can throw my TV copy VHS away. O Henry has always been a favorite writer of mine and it just so happens that he is buried right here in Asheville, North Carolina. If you visit his grave you will find coins on it in honor of THE GIFT OF THE MAGI. I remember first seeing this film on television back in the early 1960s. I was especially taken by the story of THE LAST LEAF (and still am today). It spurred me on to find and read other O Henry short stories where I then discovered that he had written well over two hundred of them!

For this 1952 omnibus film 5 stories were chosen (THE COP AND THE ANTHEM, THE CLARION CALL, THE LAST LEAF, THE RANSOM OF RED CHIEF, and of course MAGI) along with 5 different directors (Howard Hawks, Henry Hathaway, Henry King, Henry Koster, Jean Negulesco) and a top notch cast (Charles Laughton, Richard Widmark, Anne Baxter, Fred Allen, Jeanne Crain and a young Marilyn Monroe). To top it all off 20th Century Fox got author John Steinbeck to introduce the stories. As is often the case with anthology films the stories are a mixed bag with ANTHEM, LEAF, and MAGI being first rate while THE CLARION CALL and THE RANSOM OF RED CHIEF miss the mark due to lack of subtlety in direction and in some of the performances (RED CHIEF was cut after the premiere but restored for TV showings).

Nevertheless this release is a 5 star effort all the way thanks to a beautifully restored print and a slew of informative extras including two silent shorts, a trip to the O. Henry Museum in Austin, Texas and no less than a recording of O Henry himself done in the mid 1900s (he died in 1910). An excellent example of the old studio system school of filmmaking at its best and a great incentive to check out the original stories which had to be altered and expanded for the movie (ie. THE LAST LEAF is only 3 pages long in a full size edition).

These 5 stories are based on O Henry's short stories about the lives of the average human being. Very heartwarming and insightful. Most have a "message" about life, love, and the pursuit of happiness. Well acted and well written. Funny and poignant. My favorite is "Gift of the Magi" and the true meaning of love. Best if viewed with your family.

Not mentioned anywhere else in the description and cast, is that the introduction to each story by John Steinbeck. He didn't do many appearances on film, so this is a special surprise and pleasure.

O.Henry will always be remembered for his endearing short stories with a surprising twist at the end. Just as important, his characters were real people the common man could identify with. The average Joe, the man-on-the-street, the struggling homemaker---these were the memorable people O.Henry chose to write about and they made a lasting impression on anyone who ever read one of his stories. As O.Henry himself once said, "There are stories in everything. I've got some of my best yarns from park benches, lampposts, and newspaper stands."

Rather than take one story and pad it out into a two-hour movie, Hollywood made the wise decision of selecting five of his stories and stringing them together for one movie. The idea worked and was enhanced by starring some of the most famous actors of the day in each story. Another bonus is that celebrated writer John Steinbeck appears at the beginning of each story with a helpful introduction.

"The Gift of the Magi" from his collection The Four Million is perhaps his most widely read story and is arguably the crowning jewel of this video collection as well. Jeanne Crain and Farley Granger portray the young married couple short on cash but long on love who each desire to give the other a perfect Christmas present.

"The Cop and the Anthem" from the same collection stars Charles Laughton as Soapy, an elegant hobo who decides that the best way to stay warm in the winter is to get arrested and have a warm bed and three square meals a day in the city jail. David Wayne accompanies him on his attempts to get arrested and a sultry streetwalker portrayed by the legendary Marilyn Monroe adds spice to the escapade.

"The Clarion Call" from The Voice of the City pairs Richard Widmark as a well-to-do hoodlum and Dale Robertson as a successful detective. They are boyhood friends with an old score to settle and settle it they do when a murder is committed.

"The Last Leaf" from his collection The Trimmed Lamp is one sure to bring a tear to your eye. Anne Baxter and Jean Peters star in this touching story of a sick young woman who believes she will die when the last leaf has been blown from a tree outside her window. A frustrated artist attempts to lift her spirits one snowy night.

"The Ransom of Red Chief" from Whirligigs is perhaps the weakest link in this collection. A strong and extremely humorous story when read loses some of its punch due, in my opinion, to less than stellar acting by Fred Allen and Oscar Levant as two kidnappers who have the tables turned on them. Preview audiences who saw the film agreed and this entry was removed from the original film when it opened in 1952. It was not restored to the original film until it reached television and is now included on this DVD.

Fans of classic movies will enjoy these playful and optimistic tales set in New York, the city O.Henry once lovingly referred to as Baghdad-on-the-Subway.

`Tis the season to become tired of endless showings of It's a Wonderful Life. One antidote is to watch O. Henry's Full House. Twentieth Century Fox took five stories by O. Henry, gave each to a different director and screenwriter and assigned a number of Fox's top stars to the project. The result? A movie made up of five charming, sometimes sentimental tales stuffed with turn-of-the-century Americana and gentle irony. We learn about human nature, good intentions, humor in adversity, hope, a bit of despair, and love that's far more important than money. We're left smiling and contented, with happy endings all around. Not bad at all. John Steinbeck gives the bridging on-screen narrative.

"The Cop and the Anthem" is directed by Henry Koster and features Charles Laughton, Marilyn Monroe and David Wayne. A down-on-his luck, sly and verbose old tramp is determined to be arrested so he can spend the wintery Christmas season in jail where it's warm and he'll be fed. His stratagems backfire, but kindness and his good intentions result in...

"The Clarion Call" is directed by Henry Hathaway and features Dale Robertson and Richard Widmark (doing his Tommy Udo shtick). A police detective and a crazed killer, acquaintances once, find out just who the smarter one is when it comes to repaying a...

"The Last Leaf" is directed by Jean Negulesco and features Anne Baxter, Jean Peters and Gregory Ratoff. A young woman who no longer wants to live believes she will die when the last leaf from a vine outside her bedroom window falls to the ground. A poor painter, ahead of his time, intervenes when he...

"The Ransom of Red Chief" is directed by Howard Hawks and features Fred Allen and Oscar Levant. When two hapless confidence men decide to kidnap a young boy for ransom, they can't understand why the parents seem happy to let them keep the kid. Then they learn what they have on their hands and realize there's only one solution...

"The Gift of the Magi" is directed by Henry King and features Jeanne Crain and Farley Granger. This young couple are as poor as mice and love each other with joy. When they each make a sacrifice to ensure that the other will have a Christmas present, the irony is sweet and loving...

Sure, the movie is sentimental, but in a very nice way.

One of the pleasures of O. Henry's Full House is a chance to be reminded of Fred Allen. He's largely ancient history now, if he's remembered at all. In the Thirties and through the mid-Forties, he was one of the very best and most successful radio comedians America ever produced. Unlike Bob Hope and Jack Benny, his wit and his personality never made the bridge to movie or television success. Allen eventually was done in when radio discovered game shows after WWII and his audience migrated to a low common denominator. Allen was acerbic, inventive, very funny...and, week after week he wrote most of his own material. If you've ever heard his slightly nasal, questioning delivery you won't forget it. His autobiography, Treadmill to Oblivion, concentrates on his years in radio and what it was like grinding out wit every week and dealing with pigmy executives and humorless network censors. Fred Allen's Letters gives us a large sample of his witty, literate correspondence with all sorts of people.

O. Henry's Full House was Twentieth Century Fox's answer to Britain's three movies featuring stories by Somerset Maugham, Quartet - 4 Stories by W. Somerset Maugham ( The Facts of Life / The Kite / The Colonel's Lady / The Alien Corn ) [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2 Import - Great Britain ] in 1948, Trio (1950) ( 3 Stories by W. Somerset Maugham ) ( The Verger / Mr Knowall / Sanatorium ) [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2 Import - Great Britain ] in 1950 and Encore - 3 Stories by W. Somerset Maugham [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2 Import - Great Britain ] in 1951...all fine movies and worth watching.

The DVD video and audio transfers are just fine. There's a commentary track by Dr. Jenny Lind Porter, an O. Henry specialist. There are two short features about O. Henry and the William Sydney Porter (or O. Henry) Museum in Austin, Texas.

I bought this movie as a Christmas present for my girlfriend. I thought that "The Ransom of Red Chief" didn't hold up to the other four, but it had very tall shoes to fill. I loved the way these stories showed O. Henry's range as an author, as well as Steinbeck's enthusiasm about a fellow author. It's a shame that more people haven't seen this movie, but it is a gem, and you should jump at the chance to get it.

We enjoyed this video as part of a study of O. Henry and Christmas. Highly recommend.

A classic Christmas classic! This DVD is hard to find and was shipped very fast!

This is one of my favorite movies to use when teaching short stories. O Henry's stories are the best and this DVD shows a different time that 50 years later still captivates my students. Having Steinbeck narrate them is an added bonus.

I watched this every Christmas as a child and was amazed when I found it available from Amazon. It is truly a classic !! Once I received and viewed it I ordered four more copies for members of my family. The stories
are timeless, the cast is incredible and John Steinbeck is the narrator.
Need I say more?

Greg Getty