Pollyanna (1960)

Both Hollister & O'Toole agree that Pollyanna is timeless, filled with lessons that are relevant today (community is larger than any one individual). Then there is the Lincoln Quote about looking for the good in someone that turned out to not be from Lincoln at all.And, can we discuss the rich collection of actors brought together, each with an character trait that, when brought all together, make up all of us as individuals?Check out our podcast review.http://www.screenthoughts.net/pollyanna-review/

I watched this as part of my ongoing Oscar marathon, since it landed child actress Hayley Mills in her U.S. debut (and only second official role) an "Outstanding Juvenile Performance" Honorary Award; incidentally, it was the last time such recognition was bestowed by the Academy and in all, there had been 11 such occasions and 12 recipients – oddly enough, in only a handful of cases (as here) were specific movies cited, namely Margaret O'Brien for MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS (1944), Ivan Jandl for THE SEARCH (1948) and the Jon Whiteley-Vincent Winter team in the recently-viewed THE KIDNAPPERS (1953)! Anyway, this is among the better regarded (getting a ***1/2 rating from Leonard Maltin!) and more prestigious of the Walt Disney live-action productions (based a much-filmed children's literary classic – including an anime series from the mid-1980s I recall being shown on Italian TV in my childhood days! – and featuring a splendid cast) and obviously made an international star of Sir John Mills' elder 14-year old daughter (who had already impressed audiences opposite her father in the acclaimed British thriller TIGER BAY {1959}). The expected double dollops of Disney mawkishness and corny Americana are here, to be sure, but thankfully kept largely at bay by first-time writer/director Swift (whose own career was pretty short-lived!) for the overly generous 134-minute duration: there is only one brief song interlude (sung by Mills, of course) and a lengthier dance number at an all-important bazaar sequence. The film has been issued as a 2-Disc "Vault Edition" DVD, but I only acquired the main feature from ulterior sources.All that remains for me now is to talk about the stellar cast: Mills herself (a very pleasing and natural performance as the titular orphan girl who literally enlivens the fabric of the morose town she visits), Jane Wyman (her embittered matriarchal aunt), Richard Egan (the rebellious doctor and prodigal son of the community who is in love with the latter), Karl Malden (the hellfire-and-brimstone preacher who eventually softens his Bible-thumping grip on the townspeople), Nancy Olson (Wyman's liberal maid and Pollyanna's confidante), Adolphe Menjou (his last film role, as the proverbial hermetical town ogre with a heart of gold), Agnes Moorehead (an inveterate hypochondriac and the feminine counterpart of the latter), Donald Crisp (Egan's uncle and the ineffectual mayor), Kevin Corcoran (a freespirited orphan who befriends Pollyanna and is ultimately adopted by Menjou), Edward Platt (the typical henpecked husband who gradually finds his spine) and Ian Wolfe (an elderly citizen).It is worth noting that, apart from setting off Mills on a brief run of Disney movies – THE PARENT TRAP (1961; a dual role), IN SEARCH OF THE CASTAWAYS (1962; one of the studio's best efforts), SUMMER MAGIC (1963), THE MOON SPINNERS (1964) and THAT DARN CAT! (1965) – it also meant a follow-up for Corcoran to TOBY TYLER (1960; his most notable 'vehicle' among a handful of other Disney films). Apart from several members of the cast being themselves past Oscar winners (Wyman, Malden and Crisp) and nominees (Olson, Menjou and Moorehead), most also ended up doing stints in long-running TV series: Mills in THE FLAME TREES OF THIKA (1981), Wyman in FALCON CREST (1981-90), Egan in CAPITOL (1983-87), Malden in THE STREETS OF SAN FRANCISCO (1972-77), Moorehead in BEWITCHED (1964-72), etc.

This Disney movie charms me now as much as it did...when I watched it -- Sunday Nights (in two parts surely) on "The Wonderful World of Disney" - on TV years ago!Read the other reviews to get details. It's a fine family movie, but unless you "need" some gratuitous scenes, the story will reach anyone!"Pollyanna" is a fine adaptation of "Pollyanna" the novel, a huge 1913 bestseller. This film represents...Walt Disney at his best...with quality actors (wow...just put the top 10 actors' names into IMDb and see how IMPRESSIVE each actor is!!!) The story's essence is captured well in a quality script...and a believable young "Pollyanna" in Hayley Mills. (Note...her father was a great actor also - Sir John Mills.) Am GLAD that Hayley Mills got a special child's Oscar. She deserved it.So Pollyanna wins over her town...and young "tween" Hayley Mills tames Aunt Polly (Jane Wyman), as well as Karl Malden, Adolphe Menjou, Donald Crisp, and many, many other fine actors.

It's a film that brings you into the setting with the players. It's fun being in the kitchen with the irascible cook, both before and after her transformation. Didn't you enjoy running around with Nancy as she sneaks her kisses with her handsome beau - James Drury (sigh). What a relief when Pollyanna relieves the tension (just by being a natural girl behind the palm, etc.) at the town meeting and other occasions when Auntie is being her typical unbendable stick in the mud. Pollyanna's eye popping reaction to the brimstone sermon helps out there as well. Now for something really different ... Somehow, thought of "The Strange Love of Martha Ivers" - the situation in reverse. In "Ivers," the niece goes the other way with an arbitrary aunt - very much the other way. She makes the very worst of the situation. Pollyanna's way is much more powerful. Both positive and negative attitudes are contagious. There is a draw in both cases. In Pollyanna, you are drawn up, and people come back for that.