A Tearjerker

[Flopper]

A tearjerker - a sentimental story, movie, or song, calculated to evoke sadness or sympathy.

Over the years there have been many, novels, movies, and plays that have evoked many a tear, but there is one, a very short story and film that is one of the best. It is a story by O'Henry, a man whose life was marked by repeated human tragedies. If you are as old as I am, you probably know the name of this story otherwise take a look and see what you think.

 

[percysunshine]

Old Yeller was one.

 

[Flopper]

Old Yeller was one.

Yes, Old Yeller certainly is a tearjerker. I saw this with my girlfriend and she couldn't stop crying.

Have you ever read or watched The Last Leaf? I'm a real softy when it comes to sacrifice for the one you love, be it man or beast.

 

[mamooth]

I hadn't seen that video before, but I was familiar with the story, so I knew how it ended.

I've always been partial to this one. Oscar Wilde, The Happy Prince.

 

[lg325]

I read the last leaf and saw a video of it. I am a redneck country boy and it gets my eyes misty as well. O' Henry was a masterful writer.

 

[Flopper]

I hadn't seen that video before, but I was familiar with the story, so I knew how it ended.

I've always been partial to this one. Oscar Wilde, The Happy Prince.

Never seen it.

I hadn't seen that video before, but I was familiar with the story, so I knew how it ended.

I've always been partial to this one. Oscar Wilde, The Happy Prince.

Sounds interesting. The only thing I have seen by Oscar Wilde is The Importance of Being Earnest and The Picture of Dorian Gray

 

[Flopper]

I read the last leaf and saw a video of it. I am a redneck country boy and it gets my eyes misty as well. O' Henry was a masterful writer.

O'Henry, William Sidney Porter's life was filled with tragedies. His mother died when he was young and he and his father had to moved in with his grandmother. Throughout his life, Porter suffered from debilitating Asthma. His first wife, who suffered from Tuberculosis died following the death of both of their children. He married again and became an Alcoholic after his second wife left and their first child died. Porter remained a heavy drinker, and by 1908, his health markedly deteriorating affected his writing and he died in1910. Despite all the tragedies in his life, his writings were mostly upbeat and almost always leaving his reader with a smile on their face.

The Last Leaf was an exception which O'Henry though was not very good. Yet after it's first publication, it was reprinted in over hundred publicans and has been adapted to 12 films. Probably the best being O. Henry's Full House, a 1952 anthology film of O Henry short stories, consisting of five films, each based on an O. Henry short story. The movie, which is linked below featured a star studded cast including Fred Allen, Anne Baxter, Jeanne Crain, Farley Granger, Charles Laughton, Oscar Levant, Marilyn Monroe, Jean Peters, Dale Robertson, David Wayne, Jeanne Crain, Richard Widmark and narrated by
John Steinbeck, one of the few times he every appeared on film.