The Miracle Woman

I can't believe I've never seen this film before. After all does a Christmas pass without "It's a Wonderful Life"? Could anyone over forty possibly not be exposed to Mr Deeds, It Happened One Night. Meet John Doe or Mr Smith Goes to Washington (especially around American elections)? Yet in my 57 years I have never seen this Capra film until TCM aired it today.

Hallelujah! This is like discovering Beethoven's 10th. I could not take my eyes off this movie for one second. From the very first scene when Stanwyck enters to deliver her father's final sermon and her first, the story grabs you by the throat and won't let go. This movie has all the essential Capra elements: the innocent among the villains and cynics who've lost their innocence; the crowd being swayed by sham theatrics; the hard-boiled woman revealing the heart of gold; and most of all, the sheer unpredictability of his vision and the compelling logic of his moral universe. And how he makes you care for those innocents and even the cynics caught up in riptides of life.

He had such a great hand in directing his actors too. especially the women. Is it possible that Barbra Stanwyck has looked more beautiful or sexy? It doesn't hurt of course that he had a great actress and a stunning women to work with. Her work is truly fine here.

Our villain here (Sam Hardy) does a lovely job of making us care about his hapless victims too. His touch is just restrained enough for us to believe one could fall for his temptations and evil enough to be afraid of. And he's balanced by oddly convincing hero, blind composer David Manners who makes a great innocent as well as not a bad ventriloquist.

This is definitely a must see for any Capra fan!