Comment

Jun 19, 2019Nursebob rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
Not quite the Disney treacle-fest one would expect thanks in large part to Mills’ believable moppet and those meticulous 1913 set designs (oh that train!), David Swift’s screen adaptation of Eleanor H. Porter’s novel offsets its many “fluffy bunny” moments—I can still taste that cloyingly sweet ending—with some good old-fashioned family entertainment brimming with inoffensive childhood mischief (Pollyanna climbs a tree!) and a generous dollop of patriotic Americana in the form of a town square celebration. Karl Malden also adds some needed gravitas as a socially inept fire-and-brimstone preacher who discovers a gentler way to save souls thanks to Pollyanna’s sage advice. And even though Santa Rosa, California and Disney’s Burbank studios do not exactly conjure up a convincing New England, "Pollyanna’s" rose-tinted joie de vivre still proves infectious to the point I actually found a tear in the corner of one eye. Damn you Walt Disney.