O. Henry's Full House

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O. Henry's Full House

1952

1h 57m

Drama

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5 Reviews

68%

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250+ Ratings

Soapy (Charles Laughton) believes that getting arrested and thrown into a warm jail cell is the best solution to being homeless in cold weather. Fugitives Sam (Fred Allen) and Bill kidnap a child to raise $2,000 for a new scam, and Della and Jim seek to buy each other Christmas gifts on a tight budget. This anthology of five short stories by author O. Henry includes The Cop and the Anthem, The Clarion Call, The Last Leaf, The Ransom of Red Chief and The Gift of the Magi.

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Mike Massie

Gone With The Twins

Jan 3, 2026

8/10

Each tale is brief and to the point; this vignette arrangement is the perfect way for O. Henry’s works to come to life, revealing their poignant messages without being stretched thin for the sake of individual, feature-length designs.

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Manny Farber

The Nation

Jan 7, 2021

O. Henry's Full House offers four meager, tired short stories filled with tenderness for the hapless, and worked cut by a few dozen proficient but overconfident artists.

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Michael E. Grost

Classic Film and Television

Sep 30, 2014

Henry Hathaway's segment is a fun mix of historical and crime film.

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Jeffrey M. Anderson

Combustible Celluloid

Jan 3, 2008

The unquestionable pinnacle is Howard Hawks' energetic "The Ransom of Red Chief."

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Ken Hanke

Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

Feb 7, 2007

4/5

As with all such films, the interest level is entirely dependent on the individual stories -- and four of the five are very good indeed

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steve d

@RT35616104 Jan 8, 2023

None of the stories really work for me.

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deke p

@RT96675217 Feb 9, 2022

Very interesting, as is O'HENRY. This movie is 5 different of his short stories. Highly recommend. And esp if you don't want to watch the whole thing at once, just watch each story. ALL STAR cast. Saw on the MOVIES channel, 2.8.22 note to self, pay closer attention to the first 2 stories again.

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Dec 23, 2018

Terrific writing and plots, great actors.

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Dec 16, 2017

Good collection of tales given the star treatment. Part of my Monroe collection. Blink and you'll miss her appearance. The Last Leaf and Gift of the Magi very touching and beautifully played. wonderful performances from the character actors like Gregory Ratoff and Kathleen Freeman. The only dud for me is Clarion Call with the giggling Widmark psychopath. Charles Laughton, very entertaining as the hobo.

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ashley h

@ashleyhobgood87 Aug 27, 2017

O. Henry's Full House is a decent film. It is about five different stories of five people in New York. Charles Laughton and Anne Baxter give good performances. The screenplay is a little slow in places. Henry Hathaway did an alright job directing this movie. I liked this motion picture because of the humor and drama.

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Dec 3, 2016

Fun to see O. Henry come to life. Oscar Levant and Fred Allen. Marilyn Monroe, Charles Laughton

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Henry Hathaway

Director

Howard Hawks

Director

Henry King

Director

Henry Koster

Director

Jean Negulesco

Director

Fred Allen

Sam "Slick" Brown

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Synopsis

Soapy (Charles Laughton) believes that getting arrested and thrown into a warm jail cell is the best solution to being homeless in cold weather. Fugitives Sam (Fred Allen) and Bill kidnap a child to raise $2,000 for a new scam, and Della and Jim seek to buy each other Christmas gifts on a tight budget. This anthology of five short stories by author O. Henry includes The Cop and the Anthem, The Clarion Call, The Last Leaf, The Ransom of Red Chief and The Gift of the Magi.

Director: Henry Hathaway, Howard Hawks, Henry King, Henry Koster, Jean Negulesco
Producer: André Hakim
Screenwriter: Lamar Trotti, Richard L. Breen, Ivan Goff, Ben Roberts
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Production Co: Twentieth Century Fox
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Sep 18, 1952, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 18, 2012
Runtime: 1h 57m

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