Full of Life (1956)

Director:

Richard Quine

Writers:

John Fante (novel)
John Fante (screenplay)

Release Date:

10 June 1957 (Sweden)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Plot:

Writer Nick and his wife Emily are expecting their first child. When a necessary home repair proves too costly to afford...

Plot Keywords:

Father Son Relationship | Stonemason | Dictation | Housewife | Drunk Scene

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Judy Holliday	...	Emily Rocco
Richard Conte	...	Nick Rocco
Salvatore Baccaloni	...	Papa Vittorio Rocco
Esther Minciotti	...	Mama Pauletta Rocco
Joe De Santis	...	Father Gondolfo
Silvio Minciotti	...	Joe Muto
Penny Santon	...	Carla Rocco
Arthur Lovejoy	...	Mr. Jameson
Eleanor Audley	...	Mrs. Jameson
Trudy Marshall	...	Nora Gregory
Walter Conrad	...	John Gregory
Sam Gilman	...	Dr. Atchison

Runtime:

91 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Italian

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Approved | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

Salvatore Baccaloni's American film debut.

Quite possibly the worst movie I have ever seen...

After enjoying the incomparable Judy Holliday in the musical classic "Bells are Ringing", I was looking forward to seeing her talents in "Full of Life" - a movie that TV Guide gave 3 stars out of 4 and called a "comedy".

This is quite possibly the worst movie I have ever seen. It was painful to sit through. It's not a comedy by any stretch of the imagination. There are only a few (that's exactly three) mild chuckles in the entire film.

The incredible comic genius of Judy Holliday is completely wasted here. Approaching her 9th month of pregnancy, she respectively smokes, lifts heavy objects, drinks, and flies in an airplane. The Italian relatives in this film are nothing but stereotypes.

The only possibly redeeming value that this movie has (and this is quite a stretch and does not really redeem the movie nor make it any more worth watching) is the slightly advanced thinking in the script that makes Judy's character a scientist (not "just a housewife") and that includes a respectful examination of the meaning that religion has in a marriage. These ideas are quite advanced for a movie from 1956 that claims to be a comedy.

I admit that sometimes one's mood while watching a movie can affect one's opinion of that movie. I accept that "Toy Story 2" (which I also rated as "poor") may not have been as bad as I said it was, considering that I was in a very bad mood while watching it and didn't really want to be there.

That being said, I could win $10,000,000 in the lottery, be jumping for joy, and "Full of Life" would still be a stinker.