Trivia / Pocketful of Miracles

• Box Office Bomb: Budget, $2.9 million. Box office, $2.5 million.
• Creator Backlash: Frank Capra was disappointed with the final result, calling it a "miserable film". He was more than happy with Peter Falk's performance though, referring to it as "the one bright spark".
• Hostility on the Set: From the beginning, Bette Davis clashed with Glenn Ford, who had demanded Hope Lange, his girlfriend at the time, be given the dressing room adjacent to his, one that had been assigned to Davis. Davis graciously insisted any dressing room she was given would be adequate, noting "Dressing rooms have never been responsible for the success of a film." Despite her effort to avoid an unpleasant situation, Davis was given the room Lange had wanted, and from then on Ford began treating her like a supporting player. In an interview, he suggested he was so grateful to Davis for the support she had given him during the filming of A Stolen Life, he had insisted she be cast as Apple Annie in order to revive her sagging career, a condescending remark Davis never forgot or forgave. She wrote in her autobiography, "Who is that son of a bitch that he should say he helped me have a comeback! That shitheel wouldn't have helped me out of a sewer!"
  • Because of Ford's involvement with the financing of the film, Frank Capra refused to intervene in any of the disagreements between the two stars, but he suffered blinding and frequently incapacitating headaches as a result of the stress. He wrote in his autobiography that the production was "shaped in the fires of discord and filmed in an atmosphere of pain, strain, and loathing."
• Money, Dear Boy: Bette Davis was not keen on the idea of having to play an old hag, but she was keen on the idea of a one hundred thousand dollar payday. She hadn't had a lead role since Storm Center in 1956.
• The Other Marty: Thomas Mitchell replaced Jack Oakie, whose scenes had to be re-shot after he fell ill.
• Real-Life Relative: Glenn Ford's son Peter played the elevator operator.
• Self-Remake: A remake of Capra's 1933 film Lady for a Day.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Jean Arthur and Katharine Hepburn turned down the role of Apple Annie.
  • Frank Capra originally cast Frank Sinatra as Dave the Dude, but the actor walked out due to disagreements about the script. Kirk Douglas, Jackie Gleason, Dean Martin, and Steve McQueen (actor) rejected the role.
  • Burl Ives, Charles Laughton, Fredric March, and Edward G. Robinson were considered for Henry G. Blake.

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