Alicia I love this movie so much

MoPoshy Absolutely brilliant

Hattie I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

Jenni Devyn Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

Petri Pelkonen This movie, originally a Broadway play, tells a story of a man, who runs an unsuccessful Miami Hotel.This man, Tony Manetta, is constantly broke, therefore he has a hard time taking care of his 12-year old son.But those two have an undying love for each other, and he doesn't want to let go of him.A Hole in the Head (1959) is directed by the legendary Frank Capra.It's written by Arnold Schulman.The lead, Tony Manetta, is played by Frank Sinatra.Edward G. Robinson is terrific as his brother Mario.Eleanor Parker is very good as Eloise Rogers.Carolyn Jones is wonderful as Shirl.Thelma Ritter is fantastic as Sophie Manetta.Keenan Wynn does a great job playing Jerry Marks, a character based on Walt Disney.Dub Taylor is great as Fred.The kid, Alvin "Ally" Manetta is played by Eddie Hodges, and he does the job very well.Frank Capra certainly came up with better than this in his career, but this still isn't a bad movie.I don't think Frank Capra was able to make a bad movie.There was something enjoyable in this movie, like the song High Hopes.So even at his worst, Capra was quite good.

thinker1691 Frank Capra has left his indelible mark on many memorable films and this is one of them. The movie is called " A Hole in the Head ' and is a complete triumph for young Frank Sinatra. He plays Tony Manetta a Florida hotel owner with big dreams. Unfortunately, those dreams require large investments of capital and this is one element Tony does not possess. However, he is blessed with several options which promise to alleviate the major element in his life. His one major assesses is his son Allie (sincerely played by Eddie Hodges) who loves him, believes in his father and his scheme. Then there is his brother Mario (Edward G. Robinson) an old fashion businessman who calls his brother a bum as he a girl-chasing widower and dreamer. Thelma Ritter plays Sophie his wife and loves Allie. Eleanor Parker plays Eloise Rogers a lonely widow who is chosen as a match for Tony and his son. Years ago Tony befriended an army buddy named Jerry Marks (Keenan Wynn) who has returned to Florida a rich and successful entrepreneur and seems to be just the kind of guy Tony is seeking. The story is touching with odd characters and with hit songs like " High Hopes " adds to the memorable film which is considered a Family Classic. Recommended. ****

info-12561 this movie is clearly a forgotten classic film with a great cast. Primarily shot on location with some scenes obviously shot on sound stages in Los Angeles. Over all a great movie. Gloria Estefan's Cardozo Hotel was used at Sinatra's Garden of Eden. That hotel was also used in There's Something About Mary. The Fountainebleu also provided a great location shot in 2 scenes. I did notice in one beach scene that was to take place in Miami Beach, in the background was Catalina Island, which is in Los Angeles. There is also a tribute web-site for this movie that features original memorabilia like lobby cards, still shots, information about the Broadway play and other cool things.

bkoganbing A Hole in the Head is based on a Broadway play that ran for 156 performances during the 1956 season by Arnold Schulman. So popular and enduring has it proved that a full musical version was done on Broadway in 1968-1969 that starred Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme in the parts done here by Frank Sinatra and Eleanor Parker. High Hopes didn't make it to Broadway, but the song I've Got To Be Me was introduced there by Steve Lawrence and made popular by fellow Rat Packer Sammy Davis, Jr.In Frank Capra's autobiography he says that Schulman was not happy with the change of characters from Jews to Italians, but Capra brought him around to his point of view on this and other things. The ending in the film version is not as upbeat as in the original play.Capra had heard a lot of stories about how disagreeable Sinatra could be to work with, but he says that Sinatra was nothing, but cooperative during the entire work. His biggest difficulty was the fact that Sinatra likes to do things in one take because he becomes bored with repeated efforts. Whereas Edward G. Robinson likes to go over things repeatedly until it was perfect. Capra did work out a compromise where Robinson did his rehearsing, but without Sinatra.The story is about a widower who owns a ramshackle motel in a not popular area of Miami Beach and he's got money problems. Sinatra as the widower also has a son, Eddie Hodges and they are devoted to each other. Edward G. Robinson and Thelma Ritter are his brother and sister-in-law who are visiting from New York and Sinatra is hoping for a touch from him. Robinson's bailed him out a few times and he puts a lot of conditions on future help. Like maybe a remarriage for instance and Ritter tries to hook him up with an old friend, Eleanor Parker. They actually hit it off. But there's still a whole lot of complications.High Hopes which is sung by Sinatra and Eddie Hodges sold a few platters for Frank back in 1959 and won the Oscar for best movie song. Sinatra also sings All My Tomorrows over the opening credits and that song did not catch on at first. Later in the mid Sixties, Sinatra recorded it again this time for his own Reprise label, before it had been done for Capitol as had High Hopes and this time it became a minor hit for him. It's quite a poignant ballad.Keenan Wynn has a small, but important part as a real estate kingpin promoter who came down with Sinatra to Miami Beach, but made a big success. Sinatra also tries to hit him up with not so good results. Funny thing is that his big idea was a Walt Disney like park for Florida and life imitated art there, though the park got located in the Orlando area.Frank Sinatra is not as noble as some of Capra's populist heroes, but he's also down to earth and likable. It's one of his best screen performances in one of his best films.Though I have to say with that red hair Eddie Hodges looked a whole lot more like Eleanor Parker's son than Frank's.