Pollyanna (1960)

• Year: 1960
• Released: 19 May 1960
• Country: United States
• Adwords: 2 wins & 1 nomination
• IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054195/
• Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/pollyanna
• Available in: 720p, 1080p,
• Language: English
• MPA Rating: Approved
• Genre: Comedy, Drama, Family
• Runtime: 134 min
• Writer: Eleanor H. Porter, David Swift
• Director: David Swift
• Cast: Jane Wyman, Hayley Mills, Richard Egan
• Keywords: based on novel or book, small town, friends, orphan, early 1900s,

	7.4/10
	50% – Audience

Pollyanna Storyline

It’s the early twentieth century. Preteen Pollyanna Whittier (Hayley Mills) has led a simple life as part of a church family, her parents former missionaries, with her father now a minister. Following the deaths of her parents, Pollyanna is sent to live with her wealthy maternal spinster aunt, Polly Harrington (Jane Wyman), in the town of Harrington, founded by the Harrington family. Pollyanna had never met her aunt before arriving in Harrington. Polly feels an obligation to the family name, and as such controls almost every aspect of what happens in town, which she is able to do as a Harrington company has dealings with almost every other company and person in town, she not afraid to wield that clout if anyone goes against her, especially Mayor Karl Warren (Donald Crisp). In that control, she will not allow her personal assistant/one of her maids, Nancy Furman (Nancy Olson), to be seen in public with her beau, George Dodds (James Drury), as Polly believes such behavior is disrespectful to her as Nancy’s employer. Polly even controls the church as Reverend Paul Ford (Karl Malden) vets his sermons through her, they always, on Polly’s directive, of a fire and brimstone nature. She also took in Pollyanna solely out of obligation rather than out of kindness or love. The town orphanage, the building for which Polly’s father donated to the town, is in major disrepair. Polly would rather pay money out of her own pocket to make whatever band-aid repairs to the building than to embark on a community project to raise funds for a new orphanage solely as the building has the Harrington name. As opposed to Polly’s stern outlook, Pollyanna, based on the teachings of her father, tries to find the good in everything and everyone. These someones include perhaps the two most disliked people in town, recluse Mr. Pendergast (Adolphe Menjou), the town’s children believing he having other children who have trespassed on his property imprisoned in his basement, and disagreeable Mrs. Snow (Agnes Moorehead), who thinks more about dying than living. But the toughest nut for Pollyanna to crack may be her Aunt Polly, with her singular focus on control over the town to her standards and morals. Pollyanna may get some help in the matter of her aunt by Mayor Warren’s nephew, Dr. Edmond Chilton (Richard Egan), a former resident who now lives in Baltimore, who is back in town for the first time in five years on a vacation, and who was once Polly’s beau.

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Pollyanna Movie Reviews

Overlong and a little slow, with a jarring change of tone towards the end, but exquisitely filmed and well acted

Considering that Pollyanna was his debut, writer and director David Swift does a very good job here. Pollyanna does have its faults, but it is a solid adaptation of a charming book.

Where Pollyanna isn’t so strong is in the length and the pacing. At over 2 hours, the film is a little too long, while the film does move fairly slowly. My final flaw is that twenty minutes or so before the end, the tone changes and this change was somewhat jarring.

Nonetheless, Pollyanna is exquisitely filmed with stunning cinematography, costumes and scenery, and the music is lovely. The script is well written and the story still has its charm. The direction is as solid as the film itself, while the acting is very good. Hayley Mills gives a spirited performance in the title role, while Agnes Moorehead comes very close to stealing the film. Karl Malden, Jane Wyman and Adolphe Menjou also do great turns as the cheerless citizens whose lives are transformed by Pollyanna.

Overall, has its faults but it is a solid and charming film. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Hayley Mills: an “all-American” British girl-next-door

Despite a curious penchant for licking her lips, young Hayley Mills (in only her second film) is a pleasant and lovely presence on the screen. Playing an optimistic orphan who comes to stay with her rigid aunt, Mills really is Pollyanna–a cheerful sprite not above getting into some mild mischief. She matches wits wonderfully with curmudgeons like Agnes Moorehead (in a sparkling performance) and Jane Wyman (who takes a little too long to come around, but when she does–opening up the front doors of her home–it’s very rewarding). I tired soon of Karl Malden’s early blustering as the town preacher, but the rest of the supporting players are engaging and colorful. Too bad the ending doesn’t tell us if Pollyanna is going to be all right. Granted, it’s already a lengthy movie, but I would’ve liked to have seen her on crutches or something. As for Hayley Mills, she works her big blue eyes and cherubic face to good advantage. The Disney magic is firmly in place, yet with the wrong actress in the leading role, the film might never have been this moving. *** from ****

lost classic

The most important thing you need to remember before you watch, or re-watch, this wonderful film is that, in 1960, Disney was not the impersonal corporate behemoth you see today (owning about 1/3 of all US media) but rather the personal hobby of its creator, Walt Disney, who supervised every aspect of every project. Especially the ones he liked.

And he LOVED this one, and spared no expense to make it perfect. (Look for that phrase in the reviews of current movies — ‘spared no expense’ — and good luck trying to find it!) Mills steals every scene with a smile or a smirk or a glance. Makes Lindsay Lohan look like a wannabee. And every supporting character is cast by a major star from the period.

In many ways, a perfect film.