The Gift (1979 TV Movie) User Reviews

Some very good acting for a small payoff at the end.

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 25 October 2020]

"The Gift" is a made for television movie I found on YouTube. And, after watching it, I am left thinking that the film was okay...it had some really nice acting...but not much more.

The story is set during the early 1950s when the US was still at war in Korea. Pete (Gary Frank) is home on leave from the navy for Christmas and hopes to spend some time with his girlfriend and his family. But there are problems with both....the girlfriend has a new boyfriend and Pete's father (Glenn Ford) is a drunk who never really talks to his family. The dad avoids his feelings and his closest connections are to the other drunks down at the local hangouts. How all this works out through the course of the story is the apparent point of the film.

As I mentioned above, the acting is quite good. But the story is hindered by the general lack of likability of the characters and I felt curiously uninvolved as a result. Well made....jut not all that compelling.

The Devlins of Brooklyn

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 9 February 2021]

The Gift is a film set in the 50s in Brooklyn just as the Korean War is going. The reference is to 1952-53 because father and son Glenn Ford and Gary Frank discuss the recent presidential election where Frank expresses surprise that his father voted for Ike. Quite a few Democrats did even in Democratic Brooklyn.

But politic isn't all that divides the father and son. Ford is a man with one leg and it wasn't a war injury that did it. He drinks a lot and just won't talk about his feelings. Frank who is on leave from the navy would like to get closer to his father, but Ford is stoic and proud and puts up an emotional barrier.

Julie Harris plays the mother and referee between the two. Later on its revealed the reason for the amputation and that is what really rocks Frank's world. No wonder Ford is such a bitter man.

The Gift reconstructs 50s Brooklyn that I remember as a kid. There's a nice soundtrack of period music that's part of The Gift. There's also a good performance by an as yet unknown Kevin Bacon as a younger and stupider son of Ford and Harris.

What is The Gift? All I'll say is that if you treasure it forever it will keep on giving.

Solid acting in above average TV flick

[adrianovasconcelos · 7/10 · 14 June 2022]

Director Don Taylor should be given credit for keeping a rather uneventful flick interesting. To that end, he relies on some very solid acting from Julie Harris, in a small but eye-catching and sensitive part; the ever reliable Glenn Ford in the sunset of his career; and a highly naturalistic performance from Gary Frank.

The Irish brogue and sharp dialogue help, as does the typical TV photography of the 1970s, everything done with unassuming intelligence.

In the end, family amounts to the loftiest value of all, and Navy soldier Frank's short Xmas visit ultimately yields him gifts in terms of family relations that remind one how precious loved ones really are, their moods and unpleasant personal traits notwithstanding.

Interesting that Frank's other Xmas gift was to call it a day with his cheating girlfriend: self-respect is as important as family.

A couple of minuses: the photos showing Ford's soccer prowess are unconvincing because it looks like his face was grafted onto some player's body and the "gift" that his right leg was is tough to imagine, because all you see is him heading the ball.

Those minor letdowns aside, I found THE GIFT eminently watchable.

Tender war time holiday drama with moving performances.

[mark.waltz · 6/10 · 26 December 2022]

The legendary Glenn Ford and Julie Harris are quite touching in this slice of life drama, playing the parents of Gary Frank, a soldier in the Korean War, home on leave, trying to reconnect with an old girlfriend who has moved on with another man and trying to reconcile old issues with his father who has become embittered because of a sudden injury that has taken away his ability to do the things that he's used to doing. Frank and Ford don't have a bad relationship. They just don't have a relationship at all, and when Frank confronts his father over not being honest with him about what happened, the steps are taken for them to become closer. Harris, playing the highly understanding mother, does all she can to bring about a reconciliation with him, and it's ultimately her gift at the end of the film which is the subject of the title.

A particularly memorable scene has Ford sitting in silent fury as old friends play slides of him in his better days playing soccer a sport he can no longer partake in, finally erupting when he's had enough. The film successfully depicts the early 50's, with cultural references and music from that time. And transports the viewer back to a much simpler era that in retrospect probably wasn't much simpler. Frank manages to hold his own up against the two legendary actors, and spends quite a bit of the first half acting drunk as his character deals with changes in his home community that are Beyond his control, but the plot surrounding his ex-girlfriend is quickly resolved and moves on to the more important plot concerning his relationship with his father which is the heart and soul of the story. It's a well-written, simple tale, not exactly a shattering, but definitely a nice holiday distraction.

Very well done.

[peterg-pg-199-910996 · 10/10 · 30 October 2021]

A simple story. Yes, sentimental but not so much as has been produced in more recent times from American studios, where sex and sentimentality is routinely shoved in your face. Both of the main male actors were very good with Glenn Ford playing out of character and with an excellent Irish accent.