A hard decision to make

[mrsl]

This morning I had a hard decision to make. I had to choose to either be a sensible, mature adult and watch the Lone Wolf movies on TCM, which I would normally do, because I do like them, especially uncut and commercial free, or throw all caution to the wind and revisit my childhood and watch Pollyanna (which I have never seen) with commercials. Well I decided on fun and frolic. I watched Pollyanna even though as a child, Hayley Mills made me want to smash her into a fence, but the serenity of Jane Wyman, even as the villainness she was in this, made it worth the sacrifice.

The funny thing about it is, I'm expecting fun and jokes as in most live action Disney films, and I get a poor little orphan girl being shoved up into an attic hide-a-way and treated like she has a disease. The only reason she gets new clothes is to save face for her nasty aunt. But. . . Pollyanna overcomes it all and spreads joy and kindness throughout the town.

I'm halfway kidding. It's a good movie for kids, if only they had the sense to watch it nowadays - ha-ha-ha . . . dream on gramma.

If you have kids in the 7 to 9 ages, and they're not yet entirely engulfed in the 'I know more than you' attitude, the whole family might enjoy a couple of hours of pure entertainment.

Anne

[Sue Sue Applegate]

Dear mrsl,
I loved Pollyanna when I saw it the very first time, and even on subsequent visits, and I can remember how cranky Agnes Moorehead is, and how Hayley just charms everybody.

The part of the movie, though, that sticks with me through thick and thin,
is the happiness of the Rainbow Makers.

When my son was little, he loved that part, too. I even had some crystal prisms for him to play with.

And I loved how everyone underestimated the power of one little girl.

[MissGoddess]

I have always been charmed by this film. All those wonderful character actors and actresses and Hayley Mills is my favoite child actress, along with Natalie Wood.

The production values are really quite fine, all the Victorian details in the houses are a treat to look at and that special Technicolor just cannot be replicated in any modern motion picture.

I also have a mini-crush on Richard Egan.

[jdb1]

Anne, I think Disney did a pretty credible job of translating the book "Pollyanna" into a movie. The book belongs to a genre popular at the end of the 19th and start of the 20th century - the plucky little orphan girl who eventually finds a place for herself even though she has lost her family. "Anne of Green Gables" and "A Little Princess" are probably the best known of this kind, but there were dozens. The books are not all sugar and cream - these little girls have a hard time of it and use their wits. If anything, the Disney movie probably makes things a bit easier for Pollyanna than what she goes through in the book. My local library had dozens of such books, and I must have read them all.

I think when I saw this movie as a girl I was enchanted by it, and thought Hayley Mills was great (she's just a few years older than I). I still like it, having seen it recently. I especially like Adolph Menjou in this, and I've never lost my crush on Moochie Corcoran. When this movie was made there wasn't much for us young girls that showed us as smart and capable; we were still being relegated to second and third supporting roles. It's the positive, can-do attitude of this little girl I like the best.

[Moraldo Rubini]

The production values are really quite fine, all the Victorian details in the houses are a treat to look at and that special Technicolor just cannot be replicated in any modern motion picture.

Is it possible that Pollyanna was in Technicolor? This Disney pic was released in 1960 and Technicolor stopped mainstream production in 1954. I think that's when the last 3-strip process was used. And dye transfers came in to mixed results since then. Didn't Disney have their own color processing? Buena Color or something?

[pktrekgirl]

I've not seen this film...but I do like Hayley Mills. I'm not usually a big fan of child stars...but as child stars go, I think she is great.

I've not seen a ton of her films...but the ones I've seen I've quite liked.