Here's something to be glad about: one of Disney's most beloved family classics receives the deluxe treatment in this extras-laden two-disc set. Based on the book by Eleanor H. Parker, Pollyanna is a timeless portrait of turn-of-the-century small-town America. Hayley Mills earned a special Academy Award for her disarming performance as a recently orphaned girl sent to live with her Aunt Polly (Jane Wyman), a stern, patrician woman who has the cowed townspeople under her thumb. The spirited and optimistic Pollyanna, though, melts hearts like no one since Shirley Temple. Her "glad game" transforms the lives of a self-pitying hypochondriac (the wonderful Agnes Moorehead), the town recluse (Adolphe Menjou), the chandelier-rattling preacher (Karl Malden), and eventually, Aunt Polly herself. Mills and director David Swift provide warm commentary on disc one, which also features a Mickey Mouse cartoon, The Nifty Nineties. Disc two contains segments about the making of the film, as well as Walt Disney's folksy introduction for the film's television broadcast. Highly recommended. (K. Lee Benson)
Pollyanna
Walt Disney, 2 discs, 134 min., G, DVD: $29.99 Volume 17, Issue 4
Pollyanna
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