Little Tommy Francis Devlin accidentally hit baseball through the window of "Uncle" Joe Carmine, a beloved retailer in New York City's lower class. When the girl of the neighborhood girl Winnie Brady dies, Joe convinces Ryan's father to let him adopt her informally. Joe and Winnie live together with Tommy and his grandmother, Mrs. Devlin, and a dog that Winnie calls Muriel. Winnie is confined to a wheelchair, so Joe takes her to Dr. Thompson who says only Dr. Ferenc Waller, a recent European emigrant, can help her. Waller, however, will only work for a fee of $ 3,000, so Joe sells his store to enable the operation. Dr. Waller is affected by only a small change in her condition, and Winnie can't stand for more than a few moments. Meanwhile, Joe tries to sell fruit on the street corner, and one night during a storm he goes to buy Winnie a birthday cake. During his absence, a welfare investigator takes Winnie away and places her in an orphanage. Joe becomes a popular visitor to the orphanage, but the warden tells him that it is in Winnie's best interest to interrupt her visits so she can be adopted by another family. Hoping that Winnie will receive a family that can afford proper treatment, Joe tells her that he is bored, but that she is so haunted by her crying that she collapses on the street. Joe's illness can only be overcome if he regains his will to live and Father Ryan forcibly takes Winnie out of the orphanage. He is so scared that Joe might die so he goes to the room next to his bed and sings his favorite song "Santa Maria". Later, after Winnie has made full use of her legs, Joe buys a catering truck and takes the kids on a picnic.
2 Reviews
Neighborhood girl needs a home
jarrodmcdonald-114 January 2024
Warning: Spoilers
The story isn't so much about the city or its streets, though we do see a bunch of poor children playing baseball on a busy street in the beginning. They run off after one of them hits a ball through the window of a beloved grocer (Leo Carrillo). A crippled girl in a wheelchair (Edith Fellows) has been watching and knows who the culprit (Tommy Bond) is.
Since the girl has a special bond with the grocer and a local police officer, she tells the truth and gets the boy to take responsibility. However, the grocer, a stereotypical Italian who is kind to all his neighbors, overlooks the incident and everything is back to normal...except everything won't stay normal very long.
I say this because when Carrillo closes his shop and takes Fellows home, they discover her sick mother has just died in bed. There is no father in the picture, so Carrillo feels as if he should look after the girl. Another tenant (Mary Gordon) in the same building, who happens to be the mother of the boy who broke the window, will help.
From here the story develops into them all doing what is best for Fellows, while a welfare lady (Helen Jerome Eddy) starts nosing around. Columbia's efficient and highly melodramatic programmer is based on an earlier version called NO GREATER LOVE from 1932. Miss Eddy was in the original, though she played a different character. In that first version, the adoptive father figure was not an Italian grocer but a Jewish deli owner. In both films, the girl is Irish-American.
Since there was less censorship the first time, the story was able to play up ethnic prejudices in the neighborhood, and how certain folks objected to a Jewish man adopting an Irish orphan. But by 1938, with the production code in full force, these details are toned down, Carrillo is portraying a lovable Italian that everyone adores. Nobody, except for the child welfare worker, objects to his wanting to give Fellows a decent life.
The remake focuses instead on the economic troubles that plague Carrillo, since he sells his store to pay for an operation to help Fellows walk again. She has the surgery, but there is no instant cure. Thinking the surgery failed, Carrillo and Gordon try to lift the girl's spirits with a special birthday party. But even that happiness is short-lived when the welfare lady comes back to take Fellows to an orphans' asylum. Talk about drama!
The next part has Carrillo attempting to reverse the court order, by going before a judge. However, the magistrate will need time to consider all the facts before a decision can be rendered.
Despite the more histrionic moments of the narrative, there are plenty of pleasing moments. Carrillo is wonderful as a man who puts the concerns of a child above his own needs. There's a swell scene where he goes to visit Fellows at the asylum and entertains all the parentless kids. But, this joy and merriment is punctuated by a solemn turn of events, when Carrillo insists Fellows try to forget him, so she can be adopted by wealthier people who might provide what he cannot give her at this time.
Of course, the drama isn't over yet. When Carrillo returns home, he becomes sick after being caught in a storm. It is suggested he has pneumonia and is now dying. With the help of a priest (Frank Sheridan), Fellows is allowed to leave the asylum and visit Carrillo one last time. A wave of emotion overcomes her as she sees him suffering in bed. Without thinking, she gets up out of her wheelchair and walks over to him. Carrillo then rallies and decides he wants to live again.
I won't comment on the cornier aspects of this miracle scene, but it is a good way to facilitate a happy ending. The audience wouldn't want the old man to die, or the girl to be miserable and disabled the rest of her life. In some ways her suddenly walking again seems as if it was borrowed from POLLYANNA. But that's okay. Carrillo and Fellows do such a nice job with the material, it's still enjoyable to watch.
Since the girl has a special bond with the grocer and a local police officer, she tells the truth and gets the boy to take responsibility. However, the grocer, a stereotypical Italian who is kind to all his neighbors, overlooks the incident and everything is back to normal...except everything won't stay normal very long.
I say this because when Carrillo closes his shop and takes Fellows home, they discover her sick mother has just died in bed. There is no father in the picture, so Carrillo feels as if he should look after the girl. Another tenant (Mary Gordon) in the same building, who happens to be the mother of the boy who broke the window, will help.
From here the story develops into them all doing what is best for Fellows, while a welfare lady (Helen Jerome Eddy) starts nosing around. Columbia's efficient and highly melodramatic programmer is based on an earlier version called NO GREATER LOVE from 1932. Miss Eddy was in the original, though she played a different character. In that first version, the adoptive father figure was not an Italian grocer but a Jewish deli owner. In both films, the girl is Irish-American.
Since there was less censorship the first time, the story was able to play up ethnic prejudices in the neighborhood, and how certain folks objected to a Jewish man adopting an Irish orphan. But by 1938, with the production code in full force, these details are toned down, Carrillo is portraying a lovable Italian that everyone adores. Nobody, except for the child welfare worker, objects to his wanting to give Fellows a decent life.
The remake focuses instead on the economic troubles that plague Carrillo, since he sells his store to pay for an operation to help Fellows walk again. She has the surgery, but there is no instant cure. Thinking the surgery failed, Carrillo and Gordon try to lift the girl's spirits with a special birthday party. But even that happiness is short-lived when the welfare lady comes back to take Fellows to an orphans' asylum. Talk about drama!
The next part has Carrillo attempting to reverse the court order, by going before a judge. However, the magistrate will need time to consider all the facts before a decision can be rendered.
Despite the more histrionic moments of the narrative, there are plenty of pleasing moments. Carrillo is wonderful as a man who puts the concerns of a child above his own needs. There's a swell scene where he goes to visit Fellows at the asylum and entertains all the parentless kids. But, this joy and merriment is punctuated by a solemn turn of events, when Carrillo insists Fellows try to forget him, so she can be adopted by wealthier people who might provide what he cannot give her at this time.
Of course, the drama isn't over yet. When Carrillo returns home, he becomes sick after being caught in a storm. It is suggested he has pneumonia and is now dying. With the help of a priest (Frank Sheridan), Fellows is allowed to leave the asylum and visit Carrillo one last time. A wave of emotion overcomes her as she sees him suffering in bed. Without thinking, she gets up out of her wheelchair and walks over to him. Carrillo then rallies and decides he wants to live again.
I won't comment on the cornier aspects of this miracle scene, but it is a good way to facilitate a happy ending. The audience wouldn't want the old man to die, or the girl to be miserable and disabled the rest of her life. In some ways her suddenly walking again seems as if it was borrowed from POLLYANNA. But that's okay. Carrillo and Fellows do such a nice job with the material, it's still enjoyable to watch.
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