Well, it’s December, so it’s time to dig into some Christmas movies! Of course, I recommend you get out several boxes of Kleenex for this one, the 1957 movie All Mine To Give, starring Glynis Johns and Cameron Mitchell.
We find Robert Eunson (Cameron Mitchell) and his wife Mamie (Glynis Johns) arriving in America, planning to stay in the town of Eureka, Wisconsin with Mamie’s uncle. They arrive, only to find that her uncle perished in a fire, along with his house. They decide to stay, but with Mamie pregnant, Robert starts working on trying to rebuild the house. Everybody from town decides to pitch in and help, allowing the house to be finished sooner. After she delivers their firstborn, Robbie, father Robert goes to work in a logging camp. Over time, she gives birth to two more sons and three more daughters. At this point, I really don’t dare say much more about the plot.
As I said at the start, I very much recommend a good supply of Kleenex for this one. The first time I saw this movie, I had a VERY hard time with the last half hour (I think), mostly because I spent most of it crying, and trying to pause it for a few minutes, hoping to give myself time to stop, only to resume again when I resumed. I really can’t say why without spoiling the movie, so you’ll have to watch it to see (and of course, this is the part of the movie that takes place at Christmastime, too). I would recommend parents of young children to NOT watch it with their kids, as the subject matter may bother them (of course, it’s still your own choice, but I just recommend watching it without them first before you make your decision).
There are some things worth noting here. I don’t know how many recognize actress Glynis Johns by name, but I can guarantee most have seen her as suffragette Mrs. Banks in the Walt Disney movie Mary Poppins, made nearly seven years later. And speaking of Mary Poppins, one of her co-stars from that movie, Reta Shaw (Mrs. Brill, the cook) appears here as Mrs. Runyon, one of the town’s richest residents (and a rather arrogant pain in the rear, too, so it is enjoyable seeing the various members of the Eunson family tell her off). And keep an eye out, too, for Alan Hale, Jr., best known for playing the Skipper on the classic sitcom Gilligan’s Island, as Tom Cullen, the head of the logging camp that Robert works at.
This is a movie I very much recommend if you get the chance to see it, but I would definitely say don’t go into it with it without a good supply of Kleenex (I know I keep saying this, but it is still very much a good idea for this movie). This movie is available on DVD from Warner Archive Collection.
Film Length: 1 hour, 42 minutes
My Rating: 9/10
Thoughts From The Music(al) Man 