''The Miracle'' is a 1959 film directed by

Irving Rapper Irving Rapper (16 January 1898 – 20 December 1999) was a British-born American film director. Biography Born to a Jewish family

Carroll Baker Carroll Baker (born May 28, 1931) is an American former actress. After studying under Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio, Baker began performing on Broadway in 1954. From there, she was recruited by director Elia Kazan to play the lead in t ...

and

Roger Moore Sir Roger George Moore (14 October 192723 May 2017) was an English actor. He was the third actor to portray fictional British secret agent James Bond in the Eon Productions film series, playing the character in seven feature films between 1 ...

. It is a

remake A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the sam ...

of the 1912 hand-colored, black-and-white film '' The Miracle'', which was in turn a production of the 1911 pantomime play, '' The Miracle'', written by Karl Vollmöller and directed by

Max Reinhardt Max Reinhardt (; born Maximilian Goldmann; 9 September 1873 – 30 October 1943) was an Austrian-born theatre and film director, intendant, and theatrical producer. With his innovative stage productions, he is regarded as one of the most pr ...

. The 1959 film version for Warner Bros. was shot in

Technirama __NOTOC__ Technirama is a screen process that has been used by some film production houses as an alternative to CinemaScope. It was first used in 1957 but fell into disuse in the mid-1960s. The process was invented by Technicolor and is an anamor ...

and

Technicolor Technicolor is a series of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes, the first version dating back to 1916, and followed by improved versions over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black and white films ...

, with an original score by

Elmer Bernstein Elmer Bernstein ( '; April 4, 1922August 18, 2004) was an American composer and conductor. In a career that spanned over five decades, he composed "some of the most recognizable and memorable themes in Hollywood history", including over 150 origi ...

. The film was shot in the Los Angeles area, the Gypsy camp sequence was shot in the

Santa Susana Mountains The Santa Susana Mountains are a transverse range of mountains in Southern California, north of the city of Los Angeles, in the United States. The range runs east-west, separating the San Fernando and Simi valleys on its south from the Santa C ...

around

Calabasas, California Calabasas (from Spanish ''calabazas'' " gourds") is a city in the southwestern region of the San Fernando Valley, between the foothills of the Santa Monica and Santa Susanna mountains.Carroll Baker Carroll Baker (born May 28, 1931) is an American former actress. After studying under Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio, Baker began performing on Broadway in 1954. From there, she was recruited by director Elia Kazan to play the lead in t ...

), a postulant at the convent of Miraflores in Salamanca, Spain, is an orphan taken in by the sisters there. She enjoys the convent life, despite being a handful for her superiors. She sings worldly love songs to the other postulants and reads secular stories and plays such as ''

Romeo and Juliet ''Romeo and Juliet'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetime and, along with ''Ham ...

''. Still, she has a lively devotion to Christ and to His Blessed Mother. A statue of the Virgin Mary, in fact, is held in high regard by Teresa as she goes about her duties. When the British march through the town on their way to battle Napoleon, Teresa is drawn to a handsome captain (

) she sees while he waters his horse. After the victory at the

Battle of Salamanca The Battle of Salamanca (in French and Spanish known as the Battle of Arapiles) on 22July 1812 was a battle in which an Anglo-Portuguese army under the Earl of Wellington defeated Marshal Auguste Marmont's French forces at Arapiles, so ...

the British regiment limps back to the convent which the Mother Superior offers as a hospital for the wounded. Here Teresa learns more about the young captain who had attracted her interest. He is Michael Stuart, he finds Teresa fascinating, and before long he and Teresa find themselves falling in love. Recovered, the soldiers march out of the convent grounds to be

billet A billet is a living-quarters to which a soldier is assigned to sleep. Historically, a billet was a private dwelling that was required to accept the soldier. Soldiers are generally billeted in barracks or garrisons when not on combat duty, alth ...

ed in the nearby town of Miraflores. The seventeen-year-old Teresa is filled with desire for Michael and begins to question her calling. Returning to duty, Michael asks Teresa to marry him; she hesitates, but runs after him. They kiss and Michael proposes that they meet at the town's inn if she wants to leave the religious life and marry him. Teresa is in a quandary. In the chapel she begs for guidance. When no tangible sign is forthcoming she strips off her postulant's habit, wraps a cloak about herself and dashes off into the night to meet with Michael in the town. At this point the miracle occurs. The cherished statue of the

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...

comes to life, dons the discarded habit, and secretly takes Teresa's place at the convent. A thunderstorm roars up as the statue of the Holy Mother steps off its pedestal, but it is the last rain the people of the valley will see for several years. A period of drought begins in the surrounding countryside, seriously damaging the local crops. (The townspeople are convinced that the beneficent intercession of the Virgin Mary has caused the area to flourish, and their belief seems to contain an element of truth for the drought beginning with the disappearance of the Blessed Mother's statue.) The French return to the town and ravage the people. Teresa is nearly raped by a French sergeant, but is saved by a band of gypsies. One of them is a handsome young man for whom the French have offered a reward, calling him Guido the Gypsy (

Vittorio Gassman Vittorio Gassman (; born Gassmann; 1 September 1922 – 29 June 2000), popularly known as , was an Italian actor, director and screenwriter. He is considered one of the greatest Italian actors, whose career includes both important productions ...

). He is the gypsies' leader. He has Michael's watch, which he gives Teresa when she reacts to the tune that plays when the case is opened (Michael had shown her the watch before.). Guido's brother, Carlito ( Carlos Rivas), had remarked that he took it from a dead Englishman. Hearing this Teresa is aghast. When the gypsy named Flaco (

Walter Slezak Walter Slezak (; 3 May 1902 – 21 April 1983) was an Austrian-born film and stage actor active between 1922 and 1976. He mainly appeared in German films before migrating to the United States in 1930 and performing in numerous Hollywood producti ...

) mentions that he had seen the girl at the convent, he laughingly says, "A Christian gypsy - that's a joke." As the other gypsies also laugh, Teresa, now angry with God, denounces Christianity as a lie that deceives its believers. To make her point she rips off a necklace with a crucifix and throws it to the ground, screaming that she is no

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι� ...

. What Teresa doesn't know is that Michael has been captured and taken to a prison camp. After some time he escapes and returns to the convent to take Teresa with him to England to marry her. He's too late, the Mother Superior informs him, "Teresa is now the Bride of Christ," meaning that she has taken her final vows and is now a fully professed nun. Michael pushes past her only to find "Teresa" in full habit - actually the Virgin Mary impersonating her - in a procession singing "Ave Regina Coelarum" ("Hail, Queen of Heaven"). Disillusioned, he leaves to return to duty. Meanwhile, Teresa, believing Michael dead, falls in love with Guido. The resentful Carlitos, is eaten up by envy and jealousy. On the eve of their wedding, Guido is betrayed to the French by Carlitos. A detachment of soldiers sweeps the gypsy camp pushing Carlitos before them to show them the way. The soldiers shoot a number of men, including Guido. After the French captain tosses a bag of gold to Carlitos, he is in turn shot to death by La Roca, the two men's mother (

Katina Paxinou Katina Paxinou ( gr, Κατίνα Παξινού; 17 December 1900– 22 February 1973) was a Greek film and stage actress. She started her stage career in Greece in 1928 and was one of the founding members of the National Theatre of Greece in ...

) for betraying his brother. In agony La Roca turns on the despondent Teresa as the cause of this disaster and banishes her from the camp. Flaco decides to act as Teresa's protector as they begin to wander Spain together. Coming to Madrid, Teresa flirts with Cordoba (

Gustavo Rojo Gustavo Rojo Pinto (5 September 1923 – 22 April 2017) was a Uruguayan-Mexican actor. Life and career Gustavo Rojo was born on 5 September 1923 on a German ship in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. His mother was the prominent Spanish auth ...

), a bullfighter while being pursued by the wealthy Count Casimir (

Dennis King Dennis King (born Dennis Pratt, 2 November 1897 – 21 May 1971) was an English actor and singer. Early years Born on 2 November 1897 in Coventry, Warwickshire, or Birmingham, England, King was the son of John and Elizabeth King Pratt. He ...

) who finances her career as a singer. The bullfighter is gored in the bullring while smiling at her, deepening Teresa's belief that she the cause of his death as, she believes, she was for Michael and the two gypsy brothers, "I'm bad luck to anyone who shows me any kindness or affection," as she once told Flaco. She also abandons the portrait Casimir had commissioned from "my friend,

Goya Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (; ; 30 March 174616 April 1828) was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker. He is considered the most important Spanish artist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. His paintings, drawings, and e ...

," leaving him in despair when he discovers her sudden departure. During the next four years Teresa travels the Continent becoming a celebrated singer. In Belgium on a concert tour, a special ball is being prepared for the British officers stationed there before they again meet the armies of Napoleon, now escaped from Elba. In her carriage, Teresa catches sight of a British colonel - it is Michael. The two lovers attend the ball. On the terrace Teresa asks Michael why, after his escape, he did not come back for her. But he did, Michael tells her. In fact he is surprised to see her, considering that he had seen her in nun's habit after taking final vows. She persuades him that he must have hallucinated this while he was lying ill at the prison camp. Michael agrees. At the same time he does recall that the statue of the Virgin Mary had disappeared. This news distresses Teresa even more; because she had so loved the statue. Just then word comes to Colonel Stuart that Michael's uncle, the Duke of Wellington, has called all officers to join their ranks. The ball had been allowed to go on as a ruse to fool all the spies infesting Belgium (this is an actual historical event). Michael asks Teresa to pray for him. Teresa has now come to a crossroad. Because she believes herself cursed she is terrified that Michael will die in battle for having loved her. She goes to a church to pray. There she makes her peace with God, asking Him to keep Michael safe so that he may return to his own people, and not to her. Leaving word with the parish priest, she decides to return to the convent and leaves with Flaco in a coach. The next day, Michael leads the cavalry charge that finally breaks the ranks of Napoleon's soldiers. A cannonball explodes near him. Wellington sees Michael fall from his horse. Bodies litter the field but Michael comes to his senses. Picking up his helmet, he sees where shrapnel has torn a slice across it. It appears that Michael has been saved through divine intervention. Michael returns to Teresa's flat. She has sent the priest to tell him of her decision and to deliver a letter to him in which Teresa begs Michael not to follow her. She must return to her true vocation. In anguish Michael asks the priest for his spiritual guidance, knowing that he must respect Teresa's choice and do what is right by letting her go. Back in Salamanca Teresa finds the region suffering a drought "for four years now," as a woman tells her - ever since the statue of the Virgin Mary disappeared. Bidding farewell to Flaco, Teresa enters the chapel she'd left so long ago and prays. Weeping, she prostrates herself on the floor as the Blessed Virgin enters, pauses to bless her, and then returns to the pedestal that had been for so long vacant. When she looks up, Teresa finds the statue returned to its pedestal and gazes on it in awe. Immediately, a thunderstorm erupts, the drought is over. The joyous people of the town come to the chapel of the convent, including Flaco. As the nuns assemble for prayer, they are struck with the realization that the statue of the Virgin Mary is back in its place and Teresa is kneeling in front of it, properly habited, firmly in prayer. Everyone is struck by what is considered the miraculous reappearance of the statue and join in singing

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

's beautiful motet, Ave verum corpus.

Cast

as Teresa *

as Michael *

as Flaco *

as Guido *

as La Roca *

as Casimir *

as Cordoba *

Isobel Elsom Isobel Elsom (born Isabelle Reed; 16 March 1893 – 12 January 1981) was an English film, theatre, and television actress. She was often cast as aristocrats or upper-class women. Early years Born in Chesterton, Cambridge, Elsom attend ...

as Mother Superior * Carlos Rivas as Carlitos *

Torin Thatcher Torin Herbert Erskine Thatcher (15 January 1905 – 4 March 1981) was a British actor who was noted for his flashy portrayals of screen villains. Personal life Thatcher was born in Bombay, British India, to British parents, Torin James Blair T ...

as Duke of Wellington *

Lester Matthews Arthur Lester Matthews (6 June 1900 – 5 June 1975) was an English actor. In his career, the handsome Englishman made more than 180 appearances in film and on television. He was erroneously credited in later years as Les Matthews. Matthews pla ...

as Capt. Boulting * Daria Massey as Gata *

Norma Varden Norma Varden Shackleton (20 January 1898 – 19 January 1989), known professionally as Norma Varden, was an English-American actress with a long film career. Life and career Early life Born in London, the daughter of a retired sea captain ...

as Mrs. MacGregor *

Philo McCullough Philo McCullough (June 16, 1893 – June 5, 1981) was an American actor. He appeared in more than 250 films between 1914 and 1969. He was born in San Bernardino, California, and died in Burbank, California. McCullough's film debut came in 1 ...

as Officer

Production

Development

The movie was based on a play of the same name produced by

, who staged it successfully in London in 1911. In 1912 Reinhardt sold the world-wide film rights to

Joseph Menchen Joseph L. Menchen (1 April 1878 − 4 October 1940) was an American inventor, self-made businessman, film producer, screenwriter and literary agent. Menchen was born on 1 April 1878 in Illinois. In 1895, Menchen was a theatre electrician in Ka ...

, who produced the first authorised film of '' The Miracle'' in December 1912. Menchen sold the US, Canadian and all-Americas film rights to A. H. Woods for $25,000, who showed the film in New York City in 1913. A 1924 Reinhardt co-production with Morris Gest in New York starring

Lady Diana Cooper Diana, Viscountess Norwich (née Lady Diana Olivia Winifred Maud Manners; 29 August 1892 – 16 June 1986) was an English actress and aristocrat who was a well-known social figure in London and Paris. As a young woman, she moved in a celebrat ...

aroused interest in a re-make by Metro-Goldwyn Pictures with Menchen's involvement. However, Woods sold his rights to

First National Pictures First National Pictures was an American motion picture production and distribution company. It was founded in 1917 as First National Exhibitors' Circuit, Inc., an association of independent theatre owners in the United States, and became the count ...

, whose ownership was established in a judgement of the

New York Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the State of New York is the trial-level court of general jurisdiction in the New York State Unified Court System. (Its Appellate Division is also the highest intermediate appellate court.) It is vested with unlimited civ ...

in ''First National Pictures, Inc. and Woods v. Metro-Goldwyn Pictures & Menchen et al.'', October 1927. Warner Bros. acquired a majority interest in First National in 1928, and along with it the film rights to ''The Miracle''. Various scripts were written over the intervening years by , Wolfgang Reinhardt, and James Hilton, among others. The film was scheduled for filming in 1942, and was to have been presented in a four-hour version produced by Wolfgang Reinhardt, son of

. However, the project was shelved until 1958, when a script from Frank Butler was announced as film-able. The movie was to be shot in the

Cinemiracle Cinemiracle was a widescreen cinema format competing with Cinerama developed in the 1950s. It was ultimately unsuccessful, with only a single film produced and released in the format. Like Cinerama it used 3 cameras to capture a 2.59:1 image. Cine ...

process in association with National Theatres, but this did not happen. While the original play and film had been set in

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

times, this version was set during the

Napoleonic era The Napoleonic era is a period in the history of France and Europe. It is generally classified as including the fourth and final stage of the French Revolution, the first being the National Assembly, the second being the Legislativ ...

in Spain – its climax involved the

Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo (at that time in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium). A French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by two of the armies of the Sevent ...

, with

making a cameo appearance as

Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of 19th-century Britain, serving twice as prime minister of ...

(Napoleon is never seen in the film).

Casting

Following her success in ''Baby Doll'', Carroll Baker turned down parts in ''

God's Little Acre ''God's Little Acre'' is a 1933 novel by Erskine Caldwell about a dysfunctional farming family in Georgia obsessed with sex and wealth. The novel's sexual themes were so controversial that the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice asked a ...

'' and '' Too Much, Too Soon''. Warner Bros put her under suspension for refusing the latter; she agreed to play ''The Miracle'' for the studio, in part because the role was "sympathetic" and similar to a "feminine

Faust Faust is the protagonist of a classic German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust ( 1480–1540). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a pact with the Devil at a crossroa ...

". It is possible that Carroll Baker was selected to star in the production as a way for Warner Brothers to make peace with the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

in the United States and "rehabilitate" her reputation in the eyes of the Church. The

Legion of Decency The National Legion of Decency, also known as the Catholic Legion of Decency, was a Catholic group founded in 1934 by Archbishop of Cincinnati, John T. McNicholas, as an organization dedicated to identifying objectionable content in motion pictu ...

, a Catholic film review board, had denounced Baker's suggestive performance in ''

Baby Doll ''Baby Doll'' is a 1956 American dramatic black comedy film directed by Elia Kazan, and starring Carroll Baker, Karl Malden, and Eli Wallach. It was produced by Kazan and Tennessee Williams, and adapted by Williams from his own one-act play ...

'' four years earlier, placing that film on its "Condemned" list. Such a drastic classification had seldom been given to any domestic releases due to the strict enforcement of the

Motion Picture Production Code The Motion Picture Production Code was a set of industry guidelines for the self-censorship of content that was applied to most motion pictures released by major studios in the United States from 1934 to 1968. It is also popularly known as the ...

in the film industry.

Francis Cardinal Spellman Francis Joseph Spellman (May 4, 1889 – December 2, 1967) was an American bishop and cardinal of the Catholic Church. From 1939 until his death in 1967, he served as the sixth Archbishop of New York; he had previously served as an auxiliary ...

, then archbishop of New York, had even gone so far as to threaten

excommunication Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to end or at least regulate the communion of a member of a congregation with other members of the religious institution who are in normal communion with each other. The purpose ...

to any Catholic going to see ''Baby Doll''. The film's poor box office reflected the Catholic boycott. Roger Moore was signed by Warner Bros to a long-term contract.

Shooting

Filming took place between July and November 1958 in part on location at the

. "Our director was a humorless jerk," recalled Baker later. "Roger

oore Oore is a village in Tori Parish, Pärnu County in southwestern Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finla ...

took so much abuse from Irving Rapper that I was appalled, but he took it like a man and went on to do a very professional job." Rapper later said the "main trouble" on the film "was casting. The girl who played the nun

aker Aker may refer to: Places * Aker, Norway, a geographic area in Oslo and a former municipality in Norway * Vestre Aker, a district of Oslo within former Aker municipality * Nordre Aker, a district of Oslo within former Aker municipality * Aker Br ...

was thrust on me without a test. I was furious. I was floored. The whole thing was unspeakably bad because of her. I didn't even talk to her." "I was difficult," admitted Baker. "I always wanted things my way. I wanted things to be artistically wonderful, and when I worked with a bad director when I did with ''The Miracle'', I was jumping all over him and saying, "No, you can't do that" and "No, you're not going to have me do this." I was very difficult. He worked with Bette Davis and she was difficult, so I guess the studio thought he would be able to handle me. Obviously I was more difficult than Bette Davis." It was Katrina Paxinou's first film in Hollywood since appearing in ''For Whom the Bell Tolls'' 15 years earlier. "All the people I know are gone," she said during filming. "Where are they? The whole personality of Hollywood has changed. It's not colourful anymore; it's a dull neutral."

Reception

Not presented as a pantomime but as a regular epic, the 1959 film was panned by critics, and had the misfortune to be released to theatres the same week as MGM's widescreen remake of ''Ben-Hur'' starring

Charlton Heston Charlton Heston (born John Charles Carter; October 4, 1923April 5, 2008) was an American actor and political activist. As a Hollywood star, he appeared in almost 100 films over the course of 60 years. He played Moses in the epic film ''The Ten ...

– one of the most successful

epic film Epic films are a style of filmmaking with large-scale, sweeping scope, and spectacle. The usage of the term has shifted over time, sometimes designating a film genre and at other times simply synonymous with big-budget filmmaking. Like epics in ...

s of all time. Even worse, Warner Bros. had earlier that same year released '' The Nun's Story'', a film starring

Audrey Hepburn Audrey Hepburn (born Audrey Kathleen Ruston; 4 May 1929 – 20 January 1993) was a British actress and humanitarian. Recognised as both a film and fashion icon, she was ranked by the American Film Institute as the third-greatest female screen ...

in which the main character was also a nun having doubts about her vocation, as in ''The Miracle''. ''The Nun's Story'' had been a commercial and critical smash hit, gaining several

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology) ...

nominations. Both that film and ''The Miracle'' were produced by

Henry Blanke Henry Blanke (December 30, 1901 – May 28, 1981) was a German-born film producer who also worked as an assistant director, supervisor, writer, and production manager. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture for '' The Nun’s Sto ...

, and most likely, one drew unfavorable comparisons with the other. It was not released in Great Britain until December 26, 1960, accompanied by a large advertising campaign for its ABC circuit release. Carroll Baker claims the film made money at the box office but says she disliked it so much she bought out her contract with Warner Bros. This cost her a considerable amount of money and she later wrote that she regretted the decision.

Home video

The film, which was originally shot in wide screen

and

and projected with a 2.35:1 aspect ratio was issued on videocassette in a cropped 4 x 3 Pan and Scan transfer in 1997, appearing on DVD in a Korean subtitled version. Warner Archive have been intending to release a restored 2.35:1 wide screen DVD transfer of the film for some time, but their plans have been delayed due to technical problems with the original film elements.

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Miracle, The American films based on plays 1959 films 1959 drama films Sound film remakes of silent films Warner Bros. films Films scored by Elmer Bernstein Films directed by Irving Rapper Portrayals of the Virgin Mary in film 1950s English-language films