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Load of rubbish!!

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

A Pocketful of Miracles is a sparkling 1961 comedy, based on a Damon Runyan work, that was the final directorial assignment of the legendary Frank Capra. It is actually a remake of a 1933 film called Lady for a Day.This film stars Glenn Ford as Dave the Dude, a highly superstitious gangster who buys an apple every day from a peddler named Apple Annie (Bette Davis) because he believes her apples bring him good luck. One day, Dave panics when Annie is not at her usual spot peddling her wares. Upon tracking her down, he learns that she is frightened because she is about see her daughter Louise for the first time since she was a child. Louise has been living a luxurious life in Spain with a wealthy Count and his son, to whom she is engaged. Annie admits to Dave that she has exaggerated about her life in the letters that she has written to her daughter, so Dave, with the assistance of his moll, Queenie Martin (Hope Lange) decide they are going to make Annie appear like a queen for her daughter's visit.This classic comedy effortlessly utilizes Damon Runyan-like characters in a warm family story that is irresistible. Davis has rarely been so warm and vulnerable on screen and it is fun seeing her reunited with Ford for the first time since the 1941 melodrama A Stolen Life. Peter Falk received a Best Supporting Actor nomination for his hilarious performance as Joy Boy, Dave's stooge. The impressive supporting cast includes Arthur O'Connell, David Brian, Edward Everett Horton, Sheldon Leonard, and Thomas Mitchell. Ann-Margret makes her film debut here, playing Louise, but the most pleasant surprise here is the performance by Hope Lange as Queenie Martin....this kind of character is such a refreshing change of pace for Lange. Queenie is brassy and unsentimental, a stark contrast from the "Cut-my-arm-off-if-it-will-make your-life-easier" characters that she usually played.For a film that is almost 60 years old, this film still impresses thanks to an entertaining story, a sterling all-star cast, and the directorial magic of Frank Capra.

This is a scene-by-scene remake by Frank Capra of his 1933 Depression-era classic "Lady for a Day." By itself, this is an enjoyable and supremely colorful tale of redemption and generosity. Unfortunately, it suffers by comparison with the original and plays as a dumbed-down version that has no soul.Glenn Ford plays Dave the Dude, a flamboyant mobster who relies for his luck on Apple Annie, played by Bette Davis. Transformation-type roles are difficult to pull off, and this is not one of Davis' better turns. She doesn't inhabit the character as emotionally as May Robson did in the original. Once she "transforms" into a society lady, she loses the character completely and leaves all traces of the original Annie behind. Peter Falk is the real standout, playing Ford's sidekick Joy Boy who has a wisecrack at every turn and several funny bits early in the film (he virtually disappears midway through, and the film suffers noticeably.Unlike in the original, the rest of the supporting cast is fairly dull, especially Ann-Margret as Louise. How they could make a young and vivacious Ann-Marget dull is beyond me, but they managed it. Sheldon Leonard is wasted as "Big Boss" Steve Darcey, and aging Edward Everett Horton should have been in the original, not the remake. Thomas Mitchell does OK as Judge Henry G. Blake, though Guy Kibbee set the standard in the original version. Several casting choices are just eccentric. Arthur O'Connell as a Spanish Count? He chews the scenery with gusto, and is a hoot to watch mangling a Spanish accent, but who came up with that winner?Ford is the empty center of the film. He does not come across as a powerful mobster figure at all, and ultimately has to do a lot of arm-waving and vigorous gesturing to get people to do what he wants when all it should take is a look. Some of the characterizations are interesting in their own right, and the addition of vivid color makes this watchable, but except for Falk and the splendid color, everything in this version is inferior compared to the original. Yes, everything. Everything!They kept the same dialog as in the original in the majority of the scenes, but sometimes it doesn't work because of different acting styles and mannerisms. Dialog fashioned to refer to actors' particular characteristics is retained despite the fact that there are different actors - I'm sorry, that is plain silly. The wit and originality of the original is replaced by style and flashy production values, and it doesn't work for me. A lesson in the pitfalls of doing remakes for no discernible reason except to "upgrade" the product.Almost everyone involved in this project did much, much better work elsewhere. Worth viewing for the tale itself and the colorful atmosphere, but better off seeing the original instead.

This film was also a remake of a film made in 1933 called Lady For a Day with Warren William and Mae Hopson. But it was an excellent remake. I especially liked Peter Falk's portrayal in this film. The entire cast is really top notch.I don't think anything is as good as the original. But, this film comes very close. The cast is really what makes this version so good. Bette Davis is excellent as is Glenn Ford and Thomas Mitchell. This is also an early film for Ann-Margaret.I, personally, would recommend this film as highly as I would Lady For a Day. By all means, watch both films. They each have an ambiance that makes both movies unique.

Apple Annie (Bette Davis) makes her living as a gin-sauced, basket-carrying, apple-selling NYC street woman. This motion picture is in color which makes Davis's famous facial expressions, especially her eyes, all the more effective.The people Apple Annie hangs out with are other street vendors who are social misfits of various sorts; but, they have one thing in common: poverty.Apple Annie is well connected with a mobster known as The Dude. Fortunately, he's superstitious. The tough mobster (Glen Ford) believes Apple Annie's apples bring him daily good luck because she says, "God Bless You," to everyone who buys from her.All along Apple Annie's been writing her daughter on stationary from an upper-crusty city apartment complex, in order to pretend that she's a well-to-do lady. When her daughter, Louise (Ann Margaret, in her film debut) writes that she's coming to the city with her potential fiancé', whose father is a Spanish count, Apple Annie's pretense is not only about to be exposed but it could ruin her only child's chance for marrying well enough so that she'll never live in poverty as her mother has.The rest of the story is fabulous: humorous, ingenious, well-casted, scripted and acted. It's anything but a typical mob story.For me, the priceless scenes are between the veteran actor Bette Davis and upstart Ann Margaret. Imagine being able to claim that in your first film you starred as Bette Davis's daughter? Margaret gives a fine first film performance face-to-face with the Queen of the Screen. Peter Faulk does his mobster version of "Columbo," in top form. Davis, in Technicolor, delivers one of the most realistic, heart-felt, truly dramatic metamorphosis characters I've seen.