Everyone loves Pollyanna
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Everyone loves Pollyanna |
| Original title | Pollyanna |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1960 |
| length | 134 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | David Swift |
| script | David Swift |
| production | Walt Disney |
| music | Paul Smith |
| camera | Russell Harlan |
| cut | Frank Gross |
| occupation | |
| |
Everyone loves Pollyanna ( ) is an American film from 1960. It is based on the 1913 novel Pollyanna by Eleanor Hodgman Porter .
plot
The orphan Pollyanna is taken into the care of his aunt Polly Harrington. This lives in a stately villa, whereas Pollyanna is used to the conditions of a missionary life in the British West Indies. Although her new home has many unused guest rooms, Pollyanna is housed in a stuffy attic room. Her aunt justifies this by saying that she is not used to the noise of children in the house, but Pollyanna is only happy about the fact that she has her own room.
Harrington, Pollyanna's new hometown, was named after her grandfather, which the aunt used as an opportunity to teach her that she had to provide a role model. Gradually, Pollyanna gets to know Harrington and its residents better: first of all, the domestic servant Nancy, who is now also Pollyanna's nanny. She has a relationship with George. However, Aunt Polly gives her the choice of quitting the job or giving up the relationship. Pollyanna covers Nancy, who continues to meet with George in secret. Furthermore, Dr. Edmont Chilton, a Baltimore doctor visiting Harrington after five years of absence. Apparently he and Aunt Polly were once a couple. However, Pollyanna's attempt at mediation fails due to old disagreements regarding false charity, of which he accuses Polly.
Orphan boy Jimmy Bean is an avid tree climber. He and Pollyanna go on little adventures together and make the acquaintance of Mr. Pendergast, a grumpy, reclusive old man. Pollyanna discovers the light reflections produced by prisms in his home.
While distributing food, Pollyanna meets bedridden Mrs. Snow. She has already adjusted herself completely to dying, but with the help of the prisms and the "glad game" Pollyanna brings her a little joy into life. The "glad game" was invented by Pollyanna's father when she wanted a doll and instead was sent a pair of crutches to the mission. It is to find something to be happy about in everything.
The Reverend makes a big impression on Pollyanna at his Sunday sermon. As arranged to meet Aunt Polly, he intimidates the community and raises his voice in such a way that the chandelier shakes.
In addition, a conflict is smoldering in Harrington, the solution of which seems impossible at first sight: due to a burst water pipe in the children's home founded by Grandfather Harrington, the good company of the town meets at Aunt Polly's. Dr. Chilton's uncle is vehemently in favor of the Harrington House being torn down and a new children's home built to suit the changed circumstances. But none of the others present dares to oppose Polly Harrington's wishes, also because the Harringtonian companies are very influential in the city. The idea of holding a charity bazaar for the new children's home comes up, and Pollyanna is also involved in the preparations. She points out to Mr. Pendergast that he can sell the prisms there as a "rainbow maker", and she tries to convince Mrs. Snow to quilt a blanket. However, this ends in a big argument, so that Pollyanna announces that she will no longer visit Mrs. Snow.
When the aunt is informed of Pollyanna's involvement, she forbids her to do so. The house staff takes this as an opportunity to bake cakes for the bazaar from their own supplies. The Harringtons also own the local newspaper, so they don't advertise the bazaar. Dr. Chilton tries to convince Polly, but this ends in an argument, and Polly shows him the door, whereupon he says in her face: "You can give everything but love." Polly later cries alone in her bedroom while her cook says that she has no feelings. When Dr. Chilton and the other bazaar organizers have given up hope that Polly Harrington owns the whole town, Pollyanna points out that no one can own the church. But the Reverend does not consent.
Since she is supposed to deliver a letter from her aunt with suggestions for the upcoming sermon to the Reverend, Pollyanna interrupts the latter in his preparations for the sermon. The two start talking, and Pollyanna reports that the Reverend reminds her of her father, who was often sad because he felt he could not get through to his congregation. The Reverend asks Pollyanna if her father solved this problem and she shows him her locket that once belonged to her father. The dictum on it helped him because he then began to see the good in people and found 800 passages in the Bible where God wanted to convey something happy to people. On the medallion is the following quote, allegedly from Abraham Lincoln: "When you look for the bad in mankind expecting to find it, you surely will." In his next sermon he announced that from now on he would only read happy passages from the Bible and apologized to his congregation for the four wasted years in which he was not their friend. After all, he points them all out to the charity bazaar, which he is one hundred percent behind, and jokingly threatens to revert to his old fashion next week if they fail to appear. The community applauds.
The bazaar begins, the servants secretly take the cakes out of the house, when Jimmy Bean rings the doorbell and asks Polly to let Pollyanna go to the bazaar. However, she refuses this request, whereupon Jimmy climbs into the tree in front of Pollyanna's room. The tree serves as an escape route, and the two enjoy themselves at the event. Mr. Pederngast sells rainbow makers, and Mrs. Snow delivers the quilt too. She also ensures that Pollyanna's big dream of a doll is fulfilled. Almost the entire population came to the festival, even the Reverend.
Pollyanna performs with a girls' choir and they sing America the Beautiful wrapped in an American flag . When trying to get back into the house over the tree, Pollyanna loses her footing and falls to the ground. At first it looks as if her legs remain paralyzed, about which her aunt is deeply saddened and why she doubts the grace of God, who should never have sent Pollyanna to Harrington. The Reverend contradicts her and says that Pollyanna has performed a miracle in the city, that people are smiling at each other again and that you have to thank God on your knees that Pollyanna was sent here.
She is lying down in her bed, Dr. Chilton told her that an operation would be needed so she could walk again. To cheer her up, Nancy starts the "glad game", but Pollyanna just wants to be left alone. About their shared concern for Pollyanna, Polly and Dr. Chilton together. Then all of a sudden the townspeople come with gifts to wish Pollyanna luck for the operation, and they have a lot of good news in store: Nancy and George are engaged but want to wait for the wedding because Pollyanna is supposed to be her flower girl. Jimmy Bean has been adopted by Mr. Pendergast, and even Mrs. Snow is beaming, wishing Pollyanna a speedy recovery. When Pollyanna leaves Harrington on the train to go to Baltimore for her surgery, she sees that the town's nameplate has been added “The Glad Town”.
Reviews
Variety wrote that the film was rambling and the directing seemed uncertain at times, but that the lead actress' play made up for it. The Catholic News Service called the film "heartwarming," but noted that it might be too lengthy for the younger ones and too cheesy for the older ones. The Catholic film service called All Love Pollyanna a "brilliantly made, perhaps all too lovable film fairy tale with good actors."
Awards
Pollyanna actress Hayley Mills won the Juvenile Award at the 1961 Academy Awards . In the same year she was nominated for the British Academy Film Award for Best Actress .
Web links
- All love Pollyanna in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Detailed information about the film on Turner Classic Movies (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Pollyana ( Memento from November 27, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) . In: Variety , December 31, 1959.
- ↑ Cf. Pollyanna on old.usccb.org ( Memento from September 8, 2006 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Everyone loves Pollyanna. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .