A Hole in the Head

This was a good movie. Frank Sinatra and Edward G. Robinson are good in this but I love the young boy's performance. He was just great in this. This movie introduced "High Hopes" or "the ant song" which is great! This is a great movie with a good ending! Anyone would enjoy this!

source: A Hole in the Head

A Hole in the Head

Frank Sinatra shows once again how great a actor he was in his portrayal of a 41 year old widower who never grew up. His love for his son and his son's love for him show how no matter how desperate a situation becomes, the 2 can never be separated. Great supporting roles of Edward G. Robinson as the brother who has all the money but not the love from his own son that his brother has and Thelma Ritter as the caring and sensitive sister-in-law who just wants her nephew to be happy.

I dug this film out of my vaults today and I believe this film is a loosely based bio on the real life of comedian Jack E. Leonard back in the 20s and 30s. Tony, played by Frank Sinatra, seems to be a very hard luck widower who always gambles his life away. He has a 12year-old boy who is a strong asset to him. But when Tony loses everything and tries to get his brother, Mario, played by Edward G. Robinson, to stake him and lets them bring up his son, it doesn't work out. His son loves him and doesn't want to live with anyone else but him. The highlights of this good comedy, directed by famous Frank Capra, is the song Sinatra sings "High Hopes" with his little boy. Good acting and fine performances by Sinatra. Eleanor Parker plays the love interest. But, who plays the son, Ally? I couldn't find his billing. 7/10

Maybe it's me but I think this movie, Frank Capra's second-to-last, has aged really well. It seems very relevant today. Frank Sinatra is very convincing in the lead role as Tony Manetta, a ne'er-do-well struggling to keep his head above water, but the key character in the film is Edward G. Robinson's Mario, Tony's uptight, shopkeeping brother, who's come down to Miami to bail him out, but not without conditions. While Tony will always be Tony, it's Mario who will have to learn to appreciate him. There is great supporting work all around, by Thelma Ritter, Eleanor Parker, Eddie Hodges (unfairly buried in the credits), Carolyn Jones (remember The Munsters?), and my personal favorite, Keenan Wynn, as an old buddy of Tony's who knows him too well to be conned by him. Features the famous song "High Hopes", sung by Frank and Eddie.

I was in the mood for Frank and this was my pick. I have seen this before, twice through the years. It was one of the earliest classic films I saw and one that got me into watching movies from this era (and before) so I have a particular fondness for it. Ahh, Frank Capra, a legend, the man who brought us It's A Wonderful Life, turns in his second to last big screen directing job. Then there's the Frank I wanted to see -- Sinatra. He turns in a fine performance as a single dad looking to make it big in Miami so he can take care of his son instead of being the bum he is. Edward G. Robinson also stars, not exactly someone you'd picture as Sinatra's brother, but suspend belief for a moment and enjoy his work! Not the best Capra or Sinatra but it's fun, and has the Oscar winning best song for 1959 -- High Hopes. Definitely a worthwhile picture. --A Kat Pirate Screener

There's a deep sadness involved in this film as it is absolutely a waste of everyone involved. Frank Capra is clearly at the shallow end of the pool here and his, excellent, cast can do nothing but flounder in it. Laughs are few and laboured and the whole, overlong, film runs out of steam about 30 minutes before it officially ends...by which time...it just doesn't matter who ends up with whom. One of those glossy, empty films of the late 50s where studio control has taken a hike and over the hill and irrelevant big name directors of the past struggle. This is a misfire, pure and simple and as artificial a product as anything turned out in this time period. Thelma Ritter, you tried so hard to breathe life into it. Carolyn Jones you were a magnetic and highly individual actress who simply just didn't get the respect or the roles you deserved. Sinatra, you try hard here, it has to be said. And you can be charming. But this material was beneath you.

This was a good movie. Frank Sinatra and Edward G. Robinson are good in this but I love the young boy's performance. He was just great in this. This movie introduced "High Hopes" or "the ant song" which is great! This is a great movie with a good ending! Anyone would enjoy this!

Adaptation of Arnold Schulman's play about feckless Miami Beach widower with a young son who needs a fast loan to save his ramshackle hotel, considering the idea of marrying into money with a shy (but beautiful) young widow. Slick, but not very moving comedy-drama won an Oscar for the memorable tune "High Hopes", but--with Frank Sinatra, Edward G. Robinson, and Eleanor Parker in the cast--it should have been much better. The youngster is played by sharp, yet Hollywood-smart Eddie Hodges, who is decent with the kind of lines concocted for him. Frank Capra directed, weakly. Some good scenes, but it runs too long and has too few jokes. **1/2 from ****