O. Henry's Full House is an anthology of 20 minute short stories presented by author John Steinbeck. Steinbeck does an excellent job as a curator/presenter of O. Henry's works giving us some brief background on O. Henry's life as well as context to the stories. The stories themselves are somewhat more mixed, but are a good selection that gives us an impression of O. Henry's writing style. In typical O. Henry style, most of the stories have a build up to some type of twist ending. Sometimes the twist works, other times it comes off as hokey. The stories are a diverse collection with some humorous ones (The Cop and the Anthem, The Ransom of Red Chief) and more serious minded ones (The Clarion Call, The Last Leaf) and the movie caps off with arguably the most endearing O. Henry story The Gift of the Magi. Even if these stories come off as slightly dated or hamfisted in their execution, it's important to remember that these were the stories that popularized many of those tricks and tropes that we often gloss over. The Ransom of Red Chief for example has been utilized as the basis for numerous Disney comedies, Ruthless People, and even endearing franchise Home Alone.
O. Henry's Full House is an uneven but respectful exploration of an author's work. While the stories aren't all on the same level, the good is REALLY good, and even the lesser stories are still interesting in how they've shaped future stories to come. I highly recommend this film to anyone even remotely interested in the history of these stories and storytelling tropes.
O. Henry's Full House is an uneven but respectful exploration of an author's work. While the stories aren't all on the same level, the good is REALLY good, and even the lesser stories are still interesting in how they've shaped future stories to come. I highly recommend this film to anyone even remotely interested in the history of these stories and storytelling tropes.