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.
