THE GIFT
US, 1979, 100 minutes, Colour.
Glenn Ford, Julie Harris, Gary Frank.
Directed by Don Taylor.
The Gift is a pleasing telemovie with a Christmas touch. It is set in 1951 and echoes the times, especially in the New York atmosphere, the Korean war, the songs of the time as well as the language and the interests. It is the story of Peter Devlin who is a sailor coming home to a poor working class family in New York at Christmas time. There is a confrontation with his father Billy, who has lost a leg, drinks and is very bitter. Glenn Ford is very good in this role and is supported by Julie Harris as his wife. There are some predictable encounters but the film has vigour and some deft touches. Direction is by Don Taylor who directed many telemovies as well as features e.g. At This Time, The Final Countdown. The screenplay is written by writer Pete Hamill from his own novel.
1. An entertaining and moving telemovie? The significance of the title and its highlighting of relationships within the Dev1in family? The Christmas touch?
2. The impact of the telemovie: brevity, swift delineation of character and situations? Commercial pauses within drama and interactions? The strength of this telemovie and its portrayal of characters and issues?
3. The colour photography, the re-creation of New York in the early '50s? The importance of sets and decor? The songs and their use throughout the film? Popular songs of the time - the lyrics corresponding to the drama of the film?
4. The basic story and audience identification with the characters: Peter and his return home, his absence after three months, his age, ambitions, love for Kathleen and his disappointment? The lack of communication with his father? His love for his mother? The relationship with his two brothers - and dissuading his brother from using a gun for robberies? The clash with Kathleen and her boyfriend at the party? His friends, drinking, singing? Trying to get a gun and throwing it away? The importance of the visit to his father at the factory, seeing his father's friends? His disappointment in relating to his father? The American Legion tribute and his discovery about his father's past? The final fight and the reconciliation with his fat-her? The gift of the Christmas tree? His return home with his father and his mother's satisfaction? The possibility of building a future?
6. Glenn Ford's portrait of Billy Dev1in - Irish New York, ageing and cantankerous, fearful of communicating with his son, ridiculing his ambitions to be an artist, his relationship with his wife, his work and his drinking, round the bars, Hail fellow well met? The importance of the American Legion honour and his enjoyment of it, the slides of his successful sports career and his breaking up the showing of the slides? The encounter with his son, the fight, the reconciliation? A good portrait of a man who loved his son but was unable to express it?
7. Julie Harris' sensitivity as Mrs Dev1in? Her support for her husband, love for her sons? Enjoyment of the American Legion night? The Christmas tree and the lack of money? Her putting up with her husband and making excuses, memories of the past? Her satisfaction at the end with the reconciliation of father and son?
8. The portrait of the younger brothers - their hopes, possibilities, doomed to stay within their own area, lack of support from their father, temptation to get a gun and rob?
9. Kathleen and her writing letters to Pete, her turning away from him, her new boyfriend and her disbelief? The anxiety of her mother? Peter's drinking and going to Kathleen's house? The fight at the party and Kathleen's discovery that her boyfriend had a gun?
10. The range of Pete's friends - the young men at the pool parlours, cafes? The girlfriend who invited him to the party? The strength of these minor characters indicating interrelationships and the way of life in that area of New York?
11. The focus on crises for Peter on his return home - his anticipated joy, his wanting to relate to his father more than anything else, the fight with Kathleen, his drinking, the gun and violence, the fight-t and his reconciliation?
12. How memorable a portrayal of an American family - how authentic the love and clashes? Audiences identifying with the characters-and the situations and understanding them?
