The best-known adaptation of the stories of O. Henry is a 1952 film titled O. Henry's Full House, released by Twentieth Century Fox. Cast and production were first-rate. John Steinbeck introduced the five stories: "The Cop and the Anthem," screenplay by Lamar Trotti, directed by Henry Koster, starring Charles Laughton, David Wayne, and Marilyn Monroe; "The Clarion Call," screenplay by Richard Breen, directed by Henry Hathaway; starring Dale Robertson and Richard Widmark; "The Last Leaf," screenplay by Ivan Coff and Ben Roberts, directed by Jean Negulesco, starring Anne Baxter, Jean Peters, and Gregory Ratoff; "The Ransom of Red Chief," screenplay by Nunnally Johnson, directed by Howard Hawks, starring Fred Allen and Oscar Levant; and "The Gift of the Magi," screenplay by Walter Bullock, directed by Henry King, starring Jeanne Crain and Farley Granger.

Hollywood has also extensively used the O. Henry character The Cisco Kid in twenty-three films &mdash...