  pocketful of miracles is a 1961 american comedy film starring bette davis and glenn ford, and directed by frank capra. the screenplay by hal kanter and harry tugend is based on the screenplay lady for a day by robert riskin, which was adapted from the damon runyon short story "madame la gimp". the film proved to be the final project for both capra and veteran actor thomas mitchell but also featured the film debut of ann-margret. supporting player peter falk was nominated for an academy award but george chakiris won that year for west side story. capra said that falk's performance was a bright spot in this "miserable film." the 1989 film miracles starring jackie chan and anita mui is based on pocketful of miracles. ==plot== dave the dude (glenn ford) is a successful, very superstitious new york city gangster who buys apples from street peddler apple annie (bette davis) to bring him good luck. on the eve of a very important meeting, he finds annie terribly upset. annie, it turns out, has a daughter named louise (ann-margret), who was sent to a school in europe as a child, but is now a grown woman. louise believes her mother to be wealthy socialite mrs. e. worthington manville, and she is bringing her aristocratic fiancÃ© carlos and his father, count alfonso romero (arthur o'connell), to meet her. annie has been pretending that she resides in a luxurious hotel (writing her letters on stolen hotel stationery) and has louise's letters mailed there, then intercepted by a friend and handed over to her. dave's good-hearted girlfriend queenie martin (hope lange) persuades him to help annie continue her charade. queenie takes on the task of transforming the derelict into a dowager. dave arranges for cultured pool hustler "judge" henry g. blake (thomas mitchell) to pose as annie's husband. he installs her in an out-of-town friend's suite in the hotel, complete with hudgins ([[edward everett hor
1960s_comedy_films 1961_films American_comedy_films English-language_films Film_remakes Films_based_on_short_fiction Films_directed_by_Frank_Capra Films_featuring_a_Best_Musical_or_Comedy_Actor_Golden_Globe_winning_performance Films_set_in_New_York_City United_Artists_films