The Gift of the Magi

I'm not sure what is worse, the acting, the screen writing or the mess they made of a great story. IT'S A BIG WASTE OF $16.00The story was completly ruinned the setting was to be a small flat in NY's village the appartment in this movie looked like a victorian place. Thsy dresses well and the entire feel was wrong including an added twist of a grandmother telling hea child the story with some stupid put on twang. The whole production was really a waste. I guess the producer paid for the awards it won.IF YOU REALLY WANT TO SEE A GREAT VERSION OF THIS BELOVED STORY BUY O'HENRY'S FULL HOUSE BY CIMINA CLASSICS I BOUGHT MINE ON AMAZON, IT'S LESS EXPENSIVE AND YOU GET 4 O'HENRY STORIES WITH A CAST OF GREAT OLD TIME MOVIE STARS. Just a wounderful collection of stories. I was so happy to find it, I lost a VCR copy I taped from TV years ago.It was never showen again.You won't go wrong.

Liked the bits of original dialogue. Saw "O'Henry's Full House" couple of weeks ago on Uverse free movies (was a TCM classic). 5 O'Henry short stories done in 1952, I think. Anyway, the performance of The Gift.... was wonderful and a lot for this one to live up to. But since I couldn't access the older rendition, this one served well enough to show my 8yr old granddaughter, even though I had to rent it.

Several things are terrribly wrong with this video:1) It seems that they were trying to create a faithful rendition of the story in video format by scripting it word-for-word from the original story. While reading O. Henry's exact words may be enjoyable, phrases like "imputation of parsimony," "mendicancy squad," "meretricious ornamentation," etc. do not transfer well at all to film. A more professional screenplay adaptation is necessary for the story to translate into something that makes sense for a video audience.2) While the cast was attractive and fit the parts visually, the acting style seemed very amateur and much more reminiscent of a small town theater company as another reviwer noted. It was too over the top for the subtlety that video can capture. It simply didn't seem genuine. This can partly be blamed on the use of O. Henry's exact words, rather than properly adapting it for film.3) The camera angles, lighting, and audio recordings are all poor in comparison with today's production standards. Although Amazon's editorial review lists several awards dated 2002 for this film, it looks like it was shot in the late 80's or early 90's...very low budget. The cost of the DVD should be reflected in the quality of the video. It's definitely not a collector's item that would cause one to overlook dated production values. This DVD is far too expensive for the product delivered.When I purchased this, I was remembering a made-for-tv version (more of an "inspired-by" rendition) that I viewed when I was very young. I thought I was purchasing the one I remembered. Unfortunately, I was incorrect. After a bit of research, I discovered that the version I remembered is called "The Gift of Love" starring Marie Osmond and Timothy Bottoms, also available through Amazon on DVD. I realize that Marie Osmond is not an academy award winning actress. But I found a clip of her version on YouTube, and it has much more character and appeal than this version by Scott Mansfield. The story is still set in the appropriate time period, but the screen adaptation is far more engaging, and the production is far more professional than the version I purchased.My recommendation? If you want an exact rendition of the book, and you're not concerned with a quality video production, buy this version. If you can settle for an "inspired by" version of O. Henry's story and want a DVD that is far more engaging to watch, buy "The Gift Of Love" instead.

I anxiously awaited the holiday season to show the video to students. Today I read O. Henry's short story, "The Gift of the Magi" to them and then put in the video. The story describes Jim and Della as almost destitute and describes their coats as old and the house as near shabby. The video portrays a couple that live in a very nice place with nice looking coats on the coat tree. The narrator (Della as Grandmother) tells her grandaughter how poor she and grandfather were then, but the flashbacks show a couple who look anything but impoverished. The couple's sacrifices to please the other were diminished when they were portrayed as capable of laughing it off and heading out to the store again! Too bad. I doubt I'll ever watch/show the video again--better to let the reader use the author's well chosen words to create his/her own image. I'm very disappointed. O. Henry deserves an apology! A video librarian is quoted on the case as saying the "video remains true to the short story...". She must not have read the same short story I read!

It is framed by having an older person telling a child the story. I don't understand why anyone would stage it that way. It is not the same story and it ends up being kind of sappy and hokey.

Movie did not match the picture representation. My wife had seen the movie that matched, this movie was not even close feel very ripped off.

The film opens with a grandmother, a granddaughter, and emotive acting in an attic. "The Gift of the Magi" is then a flashback told by the grandmother and acted out by a stilted couple consisting of an insecure wife and cajoling husband.

This isn't very good. On the up side, it gives students an opportunity to contrast the film to reading the story. Even my most reluctant readers preferred reading it.

What a waste of money this version was. My wife has been searching this movie out for a long time. There are several versions, but the one she remembers isn't available. This show was about 30 minutes long tops! Couldn't wait to eject it out of my house!