Peter Falk (1961)
Pocketful of Miracles (1961) – A good-hearted gangster turns an old apple seller into a society matron so she can impress her daughter. Cast: Glenn Ford, Bette Davis, Hope Lange, Arthur O’Connell Dir: Frank Capra C-137 mins, TV-G
Hollywood’s always produced remakes and sequels. That’s nothing new. What’s new is the sheer number of them and their suck rate.
With Pocketful of Miracles, director Frank Capra made a rare career misstep with a remake of his own Lady for a Day (1933), a charming, wish-fulfillment fable based on a story by Damon Runyon. Unfortunately, Miracle lacks the magic of its predecessor. Overlong and frequently mawkish, the whole affair is an exercise in trying too hard.
This recommendation is based on the one element that makes the rest worthwhile, Peter Falk’s Academy Award-nominated performance as Joy Boy. Cagney might have stole The Roaring Twenties right out from Bogart and Steve McQueen surely mugged Yul Brynner in The Magnificent Seven, but you haven’t seen an actor steal a film until you’ve seen Falk walk away with this one. Every scene with Joy Boy is an absolute gem. It’s like he’s in a different, much better movie.
Recently, Falk was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, and today’s pick is a reminder of what that awful disease is taking from all of us. “Irreplaceable” doesn’t begin to cover it.
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