Pocketful of Miracles

Every December I dedicate one show to a Christmas movie alternative. As much as I love the cable tv marathons of It’s a Wonderful Life, A Christmas Story, and Elf, too much of a good thing is still too much. Plus, there are so many movies that are set during, touch on, or revolve around the holidays, it seems short-sighted to only watch the same two or three over and over again.

My alternative Christmas movie suggestion this year is 1961’s Pocketful of Miracles directed by none other than Frank Capra himself, the man who helmed It’s a Wonderful Life in 1946.  Pocketful of Miracles is an adaptation of a short story by Daymon Runyon, the same author responsible for Guys and Dolls and other tales of hustlers, tough guys, and gamblers. In this case, the story centers on Apple Annie, an old woman who sells her namesake fruit on the rainy streets of New York, and Dave the Dude, a gangster who buys Annie’s apples every day for luck.

Annie sent her only daughter to Europe for school as a child and since then has kept up the illusion that rather than a street peddler, she’s a refined lady of wealth living in one of New York’s finest hotels. Now a grown woman, her daughter is returning to America with her aristocratic finance in tow.

Meanwhile, Dave the Dude is negotiating with a Chicago gangster who wants to create a national crime syndicate and he wants Dave onboard or else. Dave relies on Annie’s apples for luck in his life of crime and so feels obligated to help out with her problem. He bankrolls her masquerade as Mrs. E. Worthington Manville, a high society lady, putting her up in a fancy hotel and providing her with everything from a butler to a husband.

Naturally, hijinks ensure but ultimately everything works out. Pocketful of Miracles lacks the mythic pathos of It’s a Wonderful Life, and critics of the time thought it inferior to the original version, Lady for a Day, which Capra also directed back in 1933. Plus, it was a troubled production with fights and behind-the-scenes intrigue between the leads, Glen Ford, Bettie Davis, and Hope Lange.

But there’s a lot to recommend here, including fantastic supporting performances from Peter Falk as Joy Boy, the Dude’s right hand man and Sheldon Leonard as Steve Darcy, the Chicago gangster. Falk was nominated for an Oscar and should have won for his wise-cracking, exasperated, one-liner-delivering tough guy. Pocketful of Miracles is also notable for some important firsts and lasts. Ann Margaret appears here in her first feature film as Apple Annie’s naïve but loving daughter, and it was Thomas Mitchell’s final film role as “Judge” Henry G. Blake, the blowhard pool hustler who poses as Apple Annie’s husband. Mitchell famously played Scarlett O’Hara’s father in Gone With the Wind and Doc Boone in Stagecoach. He plays his combination of high class and low class to perfection.

In some ways, Pocketful of Miracles feels old fashioned, especially considering it was made in 1961. It’s the last film from a classic Hollywood director at the end of the classic Hollywood period. But that’s part of what makes it a good Christmas film. There’s a sentimentality and an artificiality that reminds me of the best, cozy hokiness of the holiday season. The film starts off a little slow, but once the con is on, it becomes a fun, sometimes zany, ultimately sweet film that would be perfect to watch with your family this holiday season.