O. Henry's Full House (1952)

Directors:

Henry Hathaway
Howard Hawks

Writers:

Richard L. Breen (segment)
Walter Bullock (segment)

Release Date:

21 November 1952 (Sweden)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

A dozen top stars - five famed directors bring you the best stories of O. Henry!

Plot:

John Steinbeck introduces a quintet of five of O. Henry's most celebrated stories from his New York Period (1902-1910) in this anthology film.

Plot Keywords:

Ransom | Winter | Murder | Christmas | Christmas Gift

Cast

Fred Allen	...	Sam 'Slick' Brown (The Ransom of Red Chief)
Anne Baxter	...	Joanna Goodwin (The Last Leaf)
Jeanne Crain	...	Della (The Gift of the Magi)
Farley Granger	...	Jim (The Gift of the Magi)
Charles Laughton	...	Soapy (The Cop and the Anthem)
Oscar Levant	...	Bill Peoria (The Ransom of Red Chief)
Marilyn Monroe	...	Streetwalker (The Cop and the Anthem)
Jean Peters	...	Susan Goodwin (The Last Leaf)
Gregory Ratoff	...	Behrman (The Last Leaf)
Dale Robertson	...	Barney Woods (The Clarion Call)
David Wayne	...	Horace (The Cop and the Anthem)
Richard Widmark	...	Johnny Kernan (The Clarion Call)
Joyce Mackenzie	...	Hazel Woods
Lee Aaker	...	J. B. Dorset aka Red Chief (The Ransom of Red Chief)
Richard Rober	...	Chief of Detectives (The Clarion Call)

Also Known As:

Baghdad on the Subway (USA) (working title)
Full House (UK)

Runtime:

117 min | West Germany:95 min (cut version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

West Germany:12 (f) | Finland:K-8 | USA:Approved (PCA #16007) | Sweden:15

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

After the popular and critical success of two British anthology films based on W. Somerset Maugham short stories, Quartet (1948) and Trio (1950), with different casts and crews for each episode, 20th Century-Fox felt that the time was right for an American version of this format.

Quotes:

Sam 'Slick' Brown: Pull yourself together, William! What's a confidence man without confidence?

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Biography: Marilyn Monroe: The Mortal Goddess" (1996)

Soundtrack:

Bringing in the Sheaves

Top flight entertainment.

This is one of my favorite old movies. You can't go wrong with this one--if you ever have a chance to see it! I don't recall enough details to improve upon what's been said by other reviewers, but each part was engrossing (though I agree that "The Ransom of Red Chief" was the weakest dramatization of a great short story of the bunch), especially "The Gift of the Magi" and "The Last Leaf." Lingers in the memory long after you see it.