Favorite movies that have had an impact on me - #102 - Pocketful of Miracles (1961) - Superstitious bootlegger Dave the Dude (Glenn Ford) won't make a move without the good luck apples he gets from street person Apple Annie (Bette Davis). But Annie has gone off the rails — her young daughter Louise (Ann-Margret, in her debut role), who has been educated abroad, is engaged and coming to the U.S. to meet her mother for the first time. And Louise thinks her mother is a socialite, Mrs. E. Worthington Manville. The Dude can't do business without Annie, and Annie can'r sell apples when she's on a bender. The Dude's girlfriend Queenie (Hope Lange) tries to fix up Annie while his right-hand man Joy Boy (Peter Falk) tries to salvage his business — and steals the movie. It's all very silly and sentimental and lots of fun. Fun fact: Director Frank Capra had filmed the story once before, as Lady for a Day, in 1933.
Dave the Dude (Glenn Ford) and Joy Boy (Peter Falk) pick up one of Annie's (Bette Davis) apples
Annie tries to pick up her letter from Louise at a fancy hotel
Queenie's nightclub act
Hope Lange as Queenie
Peter Falk as Joy Boy
The dude still needs Annie's apples
Ann-Margret as Louise
Holiday connection: Louise's visit takes place during the Christmas season.
Favorite movies that have had an impact on me - #42 - Wings of Desire (1987) - A beautiful, emotional film. In Wim Wenders's Wings of Desire angels Damiel (Bruno Ganz) and Cassiel (Otto Sander) listen to, and try to comfort the unhappy inhabitants of West Berlin. Damiel begins to tire of eternity and wants to taste, feel, touch — he also falls in love with a lonely trapeze artist, Marion (Solveig Dommartin) who. A film of visual and romantic beauty, Wings of Desire also features Peter Falk in an amusing supporting role.
Like many, I grew up with Columbo, the rumpled, supposedly forgetful, always sly and wise television detective. My dad loved Peter Falk and the show and the rest of the family grew to look forward to watching him too. But Falk was much more than his cigar-smoking, just rolled out of bed looking, basset hound owning, Old Hollywood star arresting, character. I haven't seen any of these in ages, but I can still remember enjoying watching him chase down murderers Roddy MacDowall, Leonard Nimoy, Louis Jourdan, Ray Milland, William Shatner, best buddy John Cassavetes, and frequent co-star Patrick McGoohan.
Everyone knows about his glass eye, lost in a childhood bout with cancer. And that he appeared in quite a few of Cassavetes's films, including Husbands, Mikey and Nicky, and A Woman Under the Influence.
But many of his other roles in films have resonated as much, if not more, than these classic roles for me:
He is wonderful as the wise grandfather who narrates The Princess Bride.
He is an absolute angel in Wim Wenders's beautiful Wings of Desire. "I can't see you, but I know you're here."
Falk apparently suffered from dementia in recent years, which adds a sad note of irony to his iconic character, the memory-challenged Columbo. Falk himself was always memorable and delightful to watch.
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