La donna del miracolo

Stanwyck's performance in this early Capra film is underplayed, believable and quite charming. One can see how, from even this early stage, she was a performer of unique talents, perfectly suited for the new technology of sound. Her acting style is timeless, quite different from the histrionic style of the early talkies. Capra and Stanwyck took a story which could have been a ludicrously overplayed melodrama of the early 30's, and turned it into something quite captivating. Clever bits of exposition and some snappy dialogue round out this entertaining early entry in the Capra canon.

A preacher is tired of not getting through to his parishioners, and they are tired of him. When he is asked to leave and tries to make his final sermon, he falls ill and is unable to. Daughter Barbara Stanwyck gets behind the pulpit and tells the church they never appreciated her father and tells them off. An out-of-towner, who's a chiseler of some kind and who was passing through, was in the church and heard her. He persuades her to preach. ('Cause she has the talent for it, he says. And, that'll show these people.)

She becomes a faith healer, spouting the words and claiming to heal people, of whom this guy pays to act sick and volunteer to "be cured." Enter David Manners, who really is blind and who stands up out of pure devotion to God and the Word. He doesn't get cured but only gets closer to Babs.

But that's not what's center stage, as director Frank Capra throws at us a very personal film about faith and our relationship with God. Stanwyck tires of the scam and the plot plays out like something out of today's films, very dramatically and with a Judgment Day touch to it.

I was very impressed with everything about this movie, with Stanwyck as usual, with Manners who is probably given his best movie role here, and with the whole presentation and treatment of the subject matter which doesn't talk down to the viewer and take lightly of the situations. The viewer is immersed in her world completely.

Kudos to Frank Capra, who probably made his most adult film here, with the exception of The Bitter Tea of General Yen, also with Stanwyck. Miss this and you miss Capra and Stanwyck at their best.

Barbra Stanwyck plays a phony evangelist named Florence 'Faith' Fallon. She's sick of preaching the Gospel and "curing" supposedly ill people (they're workers for her), but her unscrupulous boss (Sam Hardy) convinces her to keep on doing it. Then she meets a kind, blind man (David Manners) and falls in love. He loves her too and wants to be with her. But her manager won't let her go....

Still strong drama was (surprisingly) a bomb in its day. It's now considered one of the best movies of the 1930s. Stanwyck is just superb--you feel her pain over lying to people for money and her love for Manners. Even Manners (usually pretty bad) is very good. He's tall, very handsome and totally believable. You're really rooting for him and Stanwyck.

Sadly, this film is still very up to the minute. There are plenty of fake evangelists still at work taking money from good, religious people. It's kind of sad that a movie over 70 years old still mirrors problems that we have today.

Well worth seeing--maybe Manners best performance.

Clearheaded, consistently entertaining indictment of shear-the-sheep religion, from an unsuccessful Broadway play that starred Alice Brady, this quick-moving melodrama benefits from a terse Robert Riskin screenplay where every line counts, atmospheric Joseph Walker photography, and some very fine acting. Capra, as usual, makes his points quickly, finds humor where there's humor to be found (note the drunken party greeter repeatedly falling out of his chair), and gives even the minor characters distinctive personalities. Best of all is a blazing Barbara Stanwyck, who has a stunning first scene and doesn't let up from there, and the camera loves her. As the blind vet who adores her, David Manners plays blind very well, is un-self-consciously handsome, and minimizes the annoyingly angelic aspects of his character. It's over in an hour and a half, meaning it makes the same points as "Elmer Gantry" in about half the time, right down to the similar finale.

This was indeed a strange curio from the early 1930s. This film was inspired by Aimee Semple McPherson's traveling evangelistic crusades of the 1920s. At first, Aimee (just like Barbara in the film) seemed sincere and over time, the attraction of fame and riches turned this "crusade" into a sleazy business. While not as cynical and amazing to watch as the later and very similar movie, ELMER GANTRY, this film is very daring to take on the topic of fraudulent faith healers. Given that this is one of Barbara Stanwyck's earliest films, she does an amazing job. The script is engaging as well and Frank Capra shows us that he's an excellent director with great things ahead in his career.

Fascinating throughout and well worth watching.