POLLYANNA: 55th Anniversary Blu-ray (Walt Disney 1960) Disney Club Exclusive
Ever since I
first saw David Swift’s Pollyanna
(1960) I have been under the spell of Miss Haley Mills; a supremely precocious
child prodigy immaculately groomed by Walt Disney to have an enduring place in
our collective childhood memories as the perfect little sugar plum darling we
would all like to adopt in a heartbeat. Haley, the daughter of accomplished
British actor, John Mills is undeniably a breath of fresh air in this Eleanor
Porter-inspired drama; void of guile or saccharine and gushing charm. From the
moment she disembarks the train in Harrington, the town named after her
ancestral clan and presently presided over by her pert Aunt Polly, Haley’s
blonde moppet just seems genuine and thoughtful and barely able to contain her
zest for life under a preposterously ugly vintage frock that would have better
to remain happily buried inside her late father’s missionary barrel. In a word,
Haley Mills is delicious; like a cute freckle on the nose of life’s complexion
or a tiny cinder in the apple of its eye. I’m paraphrasing lyrics to the
occasion of William Wyler’s Funny Girl (1968),
but they are equally as pertinent to Ms. Mills herein and her delicately astute
handling of what could have so easily devolved into a cloying portrait, mired
in waxworks treacle. But this Pollyanna Whittier endures because of Mills
genteel sincerity; imbued with magnanimity well beyond her years and grafted
like sage to a sapling.
The film’s
ultimate success isn’t all Haley Mills, though she occupies a sizable chunk of
exaltation in this review. Doing a movie ‘in period’ – the recreation of any
other time out of our own – is an exercise in ambitious film-making. Over the
years, many have tried. Few have succeeded. During Hollywood’s golden age, the
studios have had their favorite moments in history to emulate; the Roman/Pagan
period, the fictionalized old west and never-waning affinity for an idealized
England before, during, and, after the Great War; a Latin America, with
perpetually swarthy men and lusty senoritas. Arguably, however, Hollywood’s
greatest romance of celluloid remained turn-of-the-‘last’-century Americana; a
courtly élan of corseted manners and cinched mannerisms, when ladies in
crinolines and garters did their high-stepping to a waltz while their menfolk
took pride in their handle-bar moustaches and baller-brim hats. Ah me, the
gaiety of the gay nineties!
1900 was
perhaps a period unlike any other; the gentry cultured and still clinging to
their quaint social graces and customs from the late 1890s, yet ever so
cautiously advancing with an air of anticipation into the roar of the 20th
century – an era soon to rock and transform their rural homespun iconography in
unexpected and not altogether meaningful ways. This affinity for mid-western
prudery was wildly popular with movie audiences throughout the mid-1940s,
perhaps because it did more than rekindle its nostalgia; it also invoked
high-minded morality that, with the outbreak of WWII, must have seemed as
ancient a ghost flower as brilliantine and dime cigars. Indeed, Fox made a
cottage industry out of musicals set in the afterglow of 1900, while MGM had
one of its biggest moneymakers in Meet
Me In St. Louis (1944); arguably the movies’ greatest example of wide-eyed
optimism that turn-of-the-century America once so resplendently and unabashedly
seemed to represent.
Two great joys
exemplified this period: people-watching and reading. Of these, the latter
proved a marvelous retreat from reality. Women primarily indulged in lurid
melodramas steeped in great tear-jerking tragedy. One of the most popular books
was Eleanor Porter’s Pollyanna,
first published in 1913. Yet even by 1959, the year Walt Disney undertook to transform
Porter’s prosaic novel into his memorable classic starring Hayley Mills, the
term ‘Pollyanna’ had acquired a
sickly pall; odd since Porter’s heroine is neither perfect nor indelible as a
goody two-shoes; but a probing and inquisitive child who, through her own blind
faith in humanity, manages to impact and soften the hearts, as well as the more
rigid social mores of the adult world around her.
The project
had great appeal for Walt, who had been a teenager during this time; also, for
director, David Swift who, as a mid-westerner, was also fairly assured of his
understanding of the material. Swift, who had worked at the studio as an
in-betweener in the animation department at the tender age of fifteen before
the war, had returned to Hollywood as a television director. Evidently, Walt
liked what he saw, affording Swift the opportunity to direct his first major
movie. At one million dollars, Pollyanna
was an impressively mounted production; no less so in its hand-picked
roster of exemplary character actors to bring the story to life. These included
Jane Wyman, Donald Crisp, Adolphe Menjou, Agnes Moorhead and Karl Malden, as
well as relative newcomers, Richard Egan and Nancy Olsen. Walt also found bits
for his time-honored contract players, Kevin Corcoran and Reta Shaw. But the
part of the pint-sized moppet, Pollyanna Whittier proved a real challenge to
cast. Reportedly, Swift interviewed more than 300 children, disheartened by his
seemingly fruitless Scarlet O’Hara-esque search for ‘the girl’ until he was
informed by his wife of a young child featured in a little-seen British movie; Tiger Bay (1959).
The child
turned out to be Hayley Mills. After screening rushes from Tiger Bay, Walt concurred with Swift’s ecstatic overtures. They had
found their Pollyanna. Haley was overjoyed;
even more overwhelmed by the experience of arriving in America for the first time
and being regally attended by cast and crew in Disney’s monumental undertaking.
It’s enough to turn any girl’s head – even one as leveled and properly screwed
on as Haley’s. After the first day’s shoot Hayley was pulled aside by her
father and criticized for being “a great
white cabbage” – in other words, ‘no
good’; an admonishment that stuck and provided her with a renewed sense of
direction and perspective that better informed the development of her character.
Indeed, Walt would spend considerable time and money lovingly molding a career
for Hayley Mills in his subsequent and memorable family classics; The Parent Trap (1961), The Moon-Spinners (1964) and That Darn Cat (1965). In viewing Pollyanna today, one is immediately struck
by the unassuming tenderness Haley Mills brings to the part – an exceptional
interpretation of Porter’s incessantly congenial heroine, reconstituted as a
credible little girl.
Pollyanna is a meticulous recreation of vintage Americana.
David Swift was born in 1919 - thus missing the turn of the last century by
almost 20 years. But he had done a great deal of research in preparing the
film, ably assisted by Disney alumni, Ward Kimball, who provided Swift with a
vintage book, ‘Among the Folks in
History’. Swift’s screenplay essentially borrows the best of Porter’s novel
to follow eight individual narrative threads to their penultimate and
interwoven climax. Used to working with single-camera setups at a very fast
pace, Swift entrenched himself in recreating artist, Dale Hennessey’s
storyboards on film. But his tenure in television practically ensured that the
million dollar Pollyanna would come
in on time and under budget. A good portion of the movie was shot in Santa Rosa,
California, taking advantage of local ladies auxiliaries and vintage car clubs
to add an air of authenticity and grandeur to the set pieces. In absence of
vintage Victorian bric a brac, Swift also shot around existing structures,
including the old bale mill and Mableton Mansion, augmented with an exceptional
matte painting by Peter Ellenshaw. This matte extended the stately manor house
by two floors. Swift also interjected a bit of froth into the 4th of July
bazaar sequence, a bit of artistic license gleaned from his own fond memories
of the Shrine picnics from his youth.
Employing
town’s folk as extras, Swift was amazed when many came already dressed in
period clothes – not costumes designed by Walter Plunkett - but bodices and
bonnets lovingly preserved and taken out of mothballs especially for the
occasion. Famed costume designer, Walter Plunkett did, in fact, create a
gorgeous ensemble of vintage clothing for the principle cast. A cultured and
compassionate man who positively adored this period, Plunkett’s designs are one
of Pollyanna’s truly outstanding
achievements. Another is Paul J. Smith’s ebullient score – capturing the
effervescence, as well as the innocence of the time, while also interjecting
such vintage melodies as ‘When You And I
Were Young, Maggie’ and ‘I’ll Take
You Home Again Kathleen’. Two of Smith’s central themes were later
transformed into ‘songs’ for the
Pollyanna tie-in soundtrack album, much to Smith’s chagrin and with less than
perfect lyrics supplied by David Swift. Swift also fabricated the engraved
quotation in Pollyanna’s locket. The
quote ‘Look for the good in man and you
will surely find it’ is attributed in the film to Abraham Lincoln.
Apparently Disney PR never bothered to check if it was genuine because
immediately following the movie’s debut Swift was unnerved to discover hundreds
of duplicate souvenir lockets with the same quotation being sold inside
Disneyland’s various Main Street shops.
The main title
sequence impeccably sets the tone for the film; opening on the naked backside
of a small boy swinging out on a rope into a gulch where other boys are already
skinny-dipping. The camera pans upward to a wooden trestle. A vintage steam
locomotive passes. In reality, the gulch
had to be flooded daily and the train, imported expressly for the shoot. Afterward a picture postcard main title
sequence ensues, some of it shot on location, the rest cobbled together from
freestanding outdoor sets on the old Universal backlot, seen in countless
movies and TV shows before and since (everything from Stanley Kramer’s Inherit the Wind to episodes of Murder She Wrote). We follow the orphan,
Jimmie Bean (Kevin Corcoran) as he rambunctiously chases after a metal hoop
with a wooden paddle through the various country byways, startling a flock of
sheep, apparently just as frightened of him as he was of them (one falls to the
ground in camera while attempting to get out of Corcoran’s way). Jimmie is
chided by the Station Master (Charles Seel) for getting too close to an
oncoming train. Now, we are introduced to gangly Pollyanna Whittier (Hayley
Mills), disembarking from the platform; the orphaned daughter of missionaries,
brought to the small town of Harrington by a wealthy aunt, Polly (Jane Wyman).
Having come
from the beleaguered West Indies, Pollyanna is spellbound by the vintage
opulence that now surrounds her. She is also ill-equipped to face the middle-brow
prudery of the locals. Nevertheless, Pollyanna is collected by her aunt’s
social secretary, Nancy Furman (Nancy Olsen) who attempts to gently ward off
romantic advances from her beau, George Dodds (James Drury). Nancy is also
rather appalled at her first sight of Dr. Edmund Chilton (Richard Egan),
brought back to Harrington by the town’s mayor, Karl Warren (Donald Crisp) to
take charge of the deplorable town orphanage. Edmund was Aunt Polly’s romantic
suitor in another life. It could have gone well for them, but instead Edmund
left town leaving Polly humiliated and heart sore. In the meantime, Pollyanna
meets her first resident of Harrington; the rather pert and stuffy Mrs. Amelia
Tarbell (Anne Seymour) who informs the girl that her first order of business
should be silent gratitude for having been rescued from the orphanage by her
aunt.
Arriving at
Aunt Polly’s palatial Victorian estate, Pollyanna inadvertently says the wrong
things in front of Reverend Paul Ford (Karl Malden), whom Polly is instructing
on how to conduct Sunday service; chiefly by suggesting that her aunt must be
very glad she is so very rich. The perpetually scowled upstairs maid, Angelica
(Mary Grace Canfield) shows Pollyanna to her room; a modest and cluttered
dormer far removed from the rest of the household. Despite being relegated to
the attic, Pollyanna remains effervescent and cheerful. She also takes a bird’s
eye notice of Nancy and George locked in a rather passionate embrace. Later
that evening, Pollyanna attempts to ingratiate herself to her aunt. But Polly
is aloof and distant, conducting the household as though it were a regimented
convent.
The Harrington
wealth controls the town, something many of its residents quietly resent,
though no one is particularly willing to stand up to Aunt Polly for fear her
monies will be withdrawn from circulation and thus ruin the town’s prospects
for the future. Mayor Warren organizes a meeting in Polly’s parlor to address
concerns about the derelict orphanage. Polly opposes any new construction,
leading Dr. Chilton to side with the residents who plan to stage a lavish 4th
of July bazaar to raise the necessary funds themselves. If only Reverend Ford
would join their cause, Edmund is certain the town could break free from their
dependence on the Harrington legacy. In the meantime, Pollyanna befriends
Jimmie Bean. He introduces her to the simple pleasures of meandering down by
the lake, but also warns of the vial Mr. Pendergast (Adolphe Menjou); a hermit
who keeps children as prisoners locked in his basement…so the rumor goes. When
Pollyanna and Jimmie venture toward the seemingly abandoned ruins of
Pendergast’s home, the old man makes his presence known.
Jimmie is
terrified. But Pollyanna stands her ground and challenges Pendergast as a
miserable – but harmless – coot. Pendergast is intrigued by Pollyanna’s
audacity, moreover impressed with her joy over observing the refracted natural
light filtering through glass prisms from his chandelier. These create rainbow
effects throughout the living room. They also give Pendergast an idea on how to
capitalize on the effect at the bazaar. Pollyanna also challenges the
curmudgeonly Mrs. Snow (Agnes Moorehead), an aged hypochondriac whose daughter,
Mildred (Jenny Egan) is Nancy’s best friend, but is being deprived her own
opportunities to enjoy life because she is constantly attending her bed-ridden
mother. Pollyanna urges Mrs. Snow to reexamine her self-imposed illness,
eventually convincing her to abandon such paranoia and venture back into the
springtime of her middle-age life.
Next Pollyanna
confronts Reverend Ford during his practice run of another hellfire and
brimstone sermon. She reveals to him the inscription on the locket given by her
late father; that a man of God must look for the goodness in mankind if he is
to discover it. The simplicity of this notion humbles Ford, who realizes how he
has been manipulated by Polly Harrington to espouse her own edicts, using the
church’s pulpit as her soap box. ‘Nobody
owns a church,’ Ford nobly insists. As the date for the fundraiser nears,
Polly forbids her niece to attend. But Pollyanna has promised to come and sing
‘America the Beautiful’ as part of
the festivities. Jimmie climbs the towering tree outside Pollyanna’s attic
window and encourages her to follow him to ground level. Defying her aunt’s
wishes, Pollyanna attends the bazaar and is a sensation no less, returning hours
later with a doll won in a gaming venue. Unfortunately, the doll slips from
Pollyanna’s grasp as she shimmies up the tree. In reaching for it, Pollyanna
loses her footing and plunges to the ground, damaging her spine in the fall.
Attended by
Dr. Chilton, the prognosis is grave. Pollyanna may never walk again. The news
is devastating to Pollyanna who, for the first time, loses her ability to see
anything positive from her predicament. The crippling of her emotional outlook
brings the whole of Harrington to Aunt Polly’s front door; each with their pledge
of hope, faith and resolve in the little girl’s ability to get well. Dr.
Chilton alerts Pollyanna of a new surgery that may restore her health, carrying
her against her wishes downstairs where everyone has gathered to offer their
sincere wishes for her wellness. Realizing how much she has meant to these
townsfolk, but moreover just how much each and every one of them means to her,
Pollyanna vows a full recovery. In the final moments, Aunt Polly accompanies
her niece on a train bound for the hospital, the car pulling away from the
station, revealing a new placard attached to the town’s name, identifying
Harrington as ‘the glad town’.
At its core, Pollyanna is sentimental tripe,
majestically carried off with such gravitas and showmanship one can easily
forgive its more obvious tugging at our heartstrings. The cast is superb.
Moreover, they are authentic. It is this quality that shines through and rises
above the treacle. Hayley Mills deserves most of the credit here. She’s
perfectly cast and joyously revealing in unexpected ways that make Pollyanna
Whittier real rather than a doe-eyed tot from a prosaic novel. Much later,
Mills would recall the enormity and meticulous art direction of the sets
recreated on the back lot, also inside sound stages at the Disney Studios,
particularly Aunt Polly’s Victorian manor that Mills delighted in exploring
between takes.
Despite the
immensity of its craftsmanship and charm, Pollyanna
was not the mega-hit Walt Disney had hoped. Glowing critical accolades aside,
the movie did only modest business at the box office – respectably profitable,
though hardly a box office dynamo. It’s a shame, really, because Pollyanna represents something of the
beginning of the end in Disney’s glamorous foray into live action features.
Although Walt would continue to make movies apart from his animation empire –
most notably, Mary Poppins (1964),
the studio gradually began to dilute its commitment on these subsequent
projects (particularly after the financial debacle of The Happiest Millionaire 1967 – a movie that, like Pollyanna, was sumptuously mounted with
an all-star cast). Haley Mills would score again, in The Parent Trap (1961) but gradually her popularity too began to
wane, especially as she grew into adulthood.
Viewed today, Pollyanna retains its air of infectious
optimism despite changing tastes and times. The film was always ‘in period’, hence it hasn’t dated all
that much in the last 50 plus years. Today, the moniker ‘family film’ gets bandied about; frequently ascribed to movies that
really only appeal to the very young but can easily put their parents to sleep.
Pollyanna is the exception. It
treats both the young and the young in heart with great respect and affection.
As such, it remains a treasure trove of beloved bygone memories like a living
catalog of snapshots taken by Currier and Ives and lovingly preserved in an
upstairs’ steamer trunk, waiting to be rediscovered. Hollywood in general, and
the Disney Studios in particular, don’t make movies like this anymore and this
is a shame. Pollyanna is sentimental. But its sweetness
remains a confection lighter and more affecting than most any ‘family’ film made
over the last forty years. Is Pollyanna a
great film? Let us be so bold as to suggest it aspires to greatness and
achieves a level of understanding that continues to faintly flicker as warmth
in our collective hearts.
How perfectly
lovely to see David Swift’s masterpiece resurrected on Disney Blu-ray, even if
it is as an exclusive via their ‘movie
club’ instead of a mass marketed general release. Some may recall, Pollyanna was advertised almost a year
and a half ago as a November 2012 hi-def release, along with the virtually
charm free, Babes in Toyland. While ‘Babes’
did arrive on schedule, Pollyanna virtually
disappeared from all trade ads shortly thereafter, leaving fans disheartened. After
all, there wasn’t much ‘glad’ to be
had in Disney’s now defunct Vault Disney DVD release from 2000; a sorely
mangled affair, but especially curious, since restoration expert, Scott McQueen
had supervised an extremely arduous restoration of Pollyanna’s badly faded Eastman color negative. Alas, the image harvest presented on DVD
belied McQueen’s efforts; the image marginally to grossly soft and occasionally
even out of focus; Peter Ellenshaw’s sumptuous matte work sticking out like the
proverbial sore thumb, and, with colors that were fairly anemic. Flesh tones were
particularly regrettable, registering pasty pink. Virtually all of the dense
green foliage of those once regal exteriors looked ruddy brown. Worse; there
was considerable dirt and scratches still imbedded in the transfer, as well as
a barrage of digital anomalies that really betrayed Russell Harlan’s gorgeous
cinematography. Yuck!
I was left
scratching my head, as I am certain was Mr. McQueen. This was a decidedly awful
effort (if the word ‘effort’ can even be ascribed). With the 2012 mislaid Blu-ray
announcement about Pollyanna’s big
reissue it seemed the film would remain one of Disney’s most treasured catalog
titles trapped in studio-sanctioned purgatory.
Mercifully, nothing could be further from the truth. Prepare to be
dazzled by Pollyanna on Blu-ray.
Here, at long last we are afforded the opportunity to bask in the richness of
Carroll
Clark and Robert Clatworthy’s meticulous production design; a veritable feast
for the eyes.
Are there
issues with this hi-def remaster? The short answer is ‘yes’ but most are forgivable.
Flesh tones remain a concern; having veered from piggy pink on the DVD
to a more earthy orange on this Blu-ray. All in all, this is an improvement.
One can believe the ‘look’ of flesh as
indigenous to a vintage sepia postcard. While the DVD favored a queer bluish
tint to the interiors, this Blu-ray offers a panacea of eye-popping and mostly
vibrant colors. The grass and trees are green again and Pollyanna’s once
bilious greenish-blue eyes have been brought into check as that smashing set of
sapphire orbs they always were.
Age-related
artifacts are still present but nowhere near to the degree as previously
mentioned. In fact, there are only one or two very brief instances where they marginally
distract. Contrast, in spots, seems just a tad boosted; again, not to
aggressive levels. The image is tighter, crisper and void of the
digitally-related artifacts previously noted on the DVD. Fine detail on the
Blu-ray is solidly represented throughout – no edge effects or clumpiness that
plagued the DVD. Better still, Peter Ellenshaw’s matte paintings seamlessly
blend into the live-action artifice once more. This is a magnificent visual
presentation and one surely not to disappoint. So indulge and enjoy. Equally,
prepare to bask in this beautiful new 5.1 DTS audio remix, exceptional in its
overall clarity, particularly where Paul Smith’s romanticized score is
concerned. It hasn’t sounded this robust in years.
Extras are the
real disappointment herein. Virtually all of the padding that accompanied the
defunct ‘Vault Disney’ DVD has been
dropped for this Blu-ray reissue. So, NO charming audio commentary from Hayley
Mills and David Swift; NO featurettes dedicated to the making of the movie and
Scott McQueen’s restoration efforts. No musical jukebox with rarities. No short
subjects to replicate the opening night debut of ‘going to the movies’. Nothing!
Nada! Zippo! Gone! I could crucify Disney Inc. for these glaring omissions. But
actually, I am so readily pleased with the quality of this 1080p transfer, I’ll
simply hold my tongue, hang on to my old 2-disc DVD for the extras, while
smiling at the resplendent visuals represented on this new Blu-ray. From a pure
presentation perspective, Pollyanna
on Blu-ray comes very highly recommended! Buy with confidence. Treasure it
forever. Dirty little secret: you don’t
have to be a Disney Club member to gain access to this exclusive. Independent sellers on Amazon.com are awaiting your
order now!
FILM RATING (out of 5 – 5 being the best)
4
VIDEO/AUDIO
4.5
EXTRAS
0
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