O. Henry’s Full House (1952) DVD B&W Shown in original aspect ratio Approx. 1 HR 57 MIN Playable in North America (the US, Canada, Mexico, etc.) In English with optional subtitles / close captions
Starring: Fred Allen, Anne Baxter, Jeanne Crain, Farley Granger, Charles Laughton, Oscar Levant, Marilyn Monroe, Jean Peters, Gregory Ratoff, Dale Robertson, David Wayne and Richard Widmark. Narrated by John Steinbeck. Screenplay by Richard L. Breen, Walter Bullock, Philip Dunne, Ivan Goff, Ben Hecht, Nunnally Johnson, Charles Lederer, Ben Roberts and Lamar Trotti, based on short stories by O. Henry (William Sydney Porter). Directed by Henry Koster, Henry Hathaway, Jean Negulesco, Howard Hawks and Henry King
Five O. Henry stories, each separate, each timeless.
Prologue: A prologue presented by narrator John Steinbeck introduces biographic background on O. Henry.
"The Cop and the Anthem"
Directed by Henry Koster, from a screenplay by Lamar Trotti, it stars Charles Laughton, Marilyn Monroe and David Wayne. As winter approaches, a vagrant decides it's time for his annual winter spell in prison. But no matter how hard he tries, he cannot get himself arrested.
"The Clarion Call"
Directed by Henry Hathaway, from a screenplay by Richard Breen, it stars Dale Robertson and Richard Widmark. A detective feels he cannot arrest a murderer he knows from his past due to his honor involving an outstanding financial debt to the criminal. Once a newspaper offers a reward, after being mocked by the criminal, the detective arrests the criminal and collects the reward to repay the debt.
"The Last Leaf"
Directed by Jean Negulescu, from a screenplay by Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts, it stars Anne Baxter, Jean Peters, and Gregory Ratoff. The story is set in Greenwich Village during the depths of winter. A poor old painter saves the life of a young woman, dying of pneumonia, by giving her the will to live. From her bed the patient can see an ivy vine through the window gradually losing its leaves in the intense cold. She has taken it into her head that she will die when the vine loses its last leaf. Seemingly, the last leaf never falls, and the young woman survives. In reality, the vine lost all its leaves during the cold night. The leaf she thought she had seen was just the image of a leaf painted on the wall with perfect realism, by the old artist, who died of exposure in the cold shortly after finishing the painted leaf.
"The Ransom of Red Chief"
Directed by Howard Hawks, from a screenplay by Nunnally Johnson, rewritten by Ben Hecht and Charles Lederer (none of whom were credited), it stars Fred Allen, Oscar Levant, Lee Aaker, Irving Bacon, and Kathleen Freeman. Two con men kidnap a child in order to collect a substantial ransom, but the child proves to be too much for them.
"The Gift of the Magi"
Directed by Henry King, from a screenplay by Walter Bullock and Philip Dunne (who was uncredited), it stars Jeanne Crain and Farley Granger. On Christmas Eve, with little money, Della sells her hair to buy her husband Jim a watch fob. Jim has sold his watch to buy her a pair of ornamental combs. When they exchange these now useless gifts, they realize how deep their love is for one another.