Pocketful of Miracles (1961)

This film is probably best known as Frank Capra's last, not for reasons of health so much as interpersonal frustration on set and dissatisfaction with the end product. It also might mark the first use on screen of the criminal slang term "godfather."

In the early '30s, mobster Dave the Dude (Glenn Ford) practically has the run of New York City, and he credits his success to the lucky apples he buys regularly from an old peddler, "Apple" Annie (Bette Davis). Annie learns that her daughter, Louise (Ann-Margret in her Golden Globe-winning screen debut), who hasn't seen her since infancy but has corresponded with her regularly by mail, is about to visit, because Louise is engaged to the son (Peter Mann) of a Spanish count (Arthur O'Connell). This causes Annie a lot of stress, because she's been lying about her financial situation and even her name all along. Dave thinks it's not his problem, until his on-and-off fiancée, Queenie (Hope Lange), points out what it could mean for his luck. Since Dave has a big deal with Public Enemy #1 (Sheldon Leonard) in the making, he will reluctantly pour his ill-gotten resources into passing Annie off as an aristocrat for the duration of the visit.

The In-Laws (1979)

For a picture I'd barely heard of, this was apparently pretty influential. It got a remake, it inspired Marlon Brando to work with writer Andrew Bergman, it appeared among Premiere's 50 favorite comedies, and someone on a forum I attend linked to a clip of the "serpentine" scene. That scene alone didn't make me want to watch, but there was enough popularity to give it a try.

Oddly enough, the main characters, who are not in-laws until the end, become a type you can't easily designate with one hyphenated term: fathers of the spouses. The bride's dad, Sheldon (Alan Arkin), is a New York dentist. The groom's dad, Vince (Peter Falk), does secretive work that requires frequent travel. They've barely met before Vince desperately requests Sheldon's naive help in picking up a hidden package. Soon the truth emerges: Vince works for the CIA, but what he's doing right now isn't exactly government sanctioned. Or safe even for an unwitting aid.

Murder by Death (1976)

I swear I didn't mean to rent two Peter Falk flicks in a row. Ironically, the point was to see something rather unlike the first. Certainly the genre is different, and Falk is no worse suited to comedy. I still knew this to be a gamble, partly because Neil Simon wrote it.

Eccentric millionaire Lionel Twain (Truman Capote, the only time he acted without narrating or playing himself) summons ten humans and a terrier, all famous detectives or their companions, to his secluded mansion for "dinner and a murder." There is no dead body when they arrive, but the atmosphere is deliberately creepy, and they narrowly evade several traps. The blind butler (Alec Guinness) notes his employer's macabre sense of humor but appears unaware of any actual danger. At dinner, Twain announces that someone will be murdered in an hour and that the victim and culprit are both at the table; whoever correctly solves the mystery gets a million bucks. He leaves the room, and the guests are reluctant to split up....