THE MIRACLE
US, 1959, 121 minutes, Colour.
Carroll Baker, Roger Moore, Walter Slezak, Vittorio Gassman, Katina Paxinou.
Directed by Irving Rapper.
The Miracle is a big religious melodrama, filmed in garish colour and Technirama in the late '50s. Originally it was a play by Karl Vollmoeller, produced on stage by the celebrated Max Reinhardt.
Director Irving Rapper (Now Voyage, Deception) said that he was unhappy that Carroll Baker was the star and had been imposed on the production by the producer. She had made a mark in Baby Doll and The Big Country. However, she is not persuasive in the central role of the novice who falls in love with the British Dragoon and escapes from the convent where the statue of the Madonna takes her place until she returns. She also experiences a range of lives in the Spain of the Napoleonic wars. Roger Moore is the dashing hero. The supporting cast, however, is where the strength of the acting is. There is a loud score by Elmer Bernstein and an atmosphere of Hollywood religiosity - thunder and lightning and religious choirs.
1. An entertaining piece of religious melodrama? As a religious film? As a romance?
2. The contribution of the colour photography, the atmosphere of 19th century Spain, the use of Technirama? The resounding score? The echoes of popular Spanish songs? The special effects - especially for the miracle itself and the accompanying meteorological furore?
3. Audience expectations of such religious films? Presuppositions about the Catholic church? 19th century Spain? Convents and vows? The nature of religious life? Devotion? How well did the film use conventions? Did it rely on stereotypes?
4. The title of the film and the focus on miracles and plausibility? The material of pious legend? The miracle presented credibly? Its contribution to the plot? The importance of Sister Teresa's dedication and the Madonna taking her place until she returned?
5. Carroll Baker's performance as Sister Teresa? Her place as a novice? Her background of being in the convent? Life in the village? Life in the convent? The devotion to the Madonna? Her encounters with Captain Stuart? His relationship to the Duke of Wellington? The background of the Napoleonic wars? The Sisters helping with the wounded? Her looking after Captain Stuart? The infatuation and falling in love? Her decision to leave the convent and follow him? Thunder and lightning and storms? Her not finding Michael? The encounter with the gypsy band? La Roca and her rescuing Teresa from the French troops and their drinking? The news of Michael's death? Teresa's marrying Guido? The angers and Guido's death? La Roca's shooting Carlitos? The friendship with Flacco the musician, her going to Madrid, Teresa becoming a celebrated singer, the encounter with Cordoba, Kasimir the rich aristocrat and her work on the stage? The affair with Cordoba and her telling him she did not love him? His death in the ring? The overall effect on Teresa and her sense of doom with those she encounters? Her popularity all over Europe? Her presence at Brussels, the Battle of Waterloo? The encounter with Michael, the news of the drought in her village, her repentance (how persuasive)? And her return to the convent? The Madonna's statue returned to its niche? The breaking of the drought ? and the return to normal life?
6. Roger Moore's portrait of Michael? The English officer, his presence in Spain, injury, his response to the nuns' care, to Teresa, his not knowing what had happened to Teresa? The later encounter? His telling her about her village? The separation?
7. The supporting cast? the gypsy band and the vitality and vigour of their life, the violence? La Roca and her angers? Her saving Teresa? The marriage to Guido? His regard for Teresa? The brothers' anger? The shootings? The gypsy musician?
8. Teresa's life as a celebrated star? in Madrid, the atmosphere of the bullfights, the stage, the salons of the wealthy? Her admirers young and old? Her fateful effect on them?
9. The sketch of the Napoleonic times, the invasions, the English battles ? even Waterloo?
10. The film's portrait of the Duke of Wellington and the historical circumstances of the time?
11. The piety in the legend of the Madonna taking Teresa's place? The portrait of the nuns in the convent and their way of life? The restoring of all things to order?
12. Audience enjoyment of this kind of religious legend? The overtones of popular piety and devotion, sentimentality?
