The Miracle of the Bells

If you get a chance check out the post I left on Helen Burgess's page on this site. Helen Burgess was a young contract player for Paramount who made four films. One of them was Cecil B. DeMille's The Plainsman where she played the second lead female role as Louisa Frederici Cody under Gary Cooper, Jean Arthur, and James Ellison. She died of pneumonia at the age of 19 as the film was being released. This would have been a breakout role for her and she might have had a long screen career.

I'm sure that the creators of this film had Helen Burgess in mind when they made it. It's good in spots, I like the performances of Fred MacMurray, Alida Valli, Lee J. Cobb and Philip Ahn which another reviewer very correctly singled out.

I guess since Bing Crosby made such a hit as a priest Frank Sinatra had to try it. He lays one big omelet as Father Paul. He had to wait until Meet Danny Wilson for a part he could carry on acting as well as singing.

This film was also made in the days of John L. Lewis as head of the United Mine Workers. One of the big issues for that union was the pollution that caused the premature deaths of a lot of their members and families. In that sense Miracle of the Bells was a very socially relevant movie for its time and even today.

Maltin's "guide", which should be called a "MIS-Guide", oh so generously bestows this film with a whopping star and a half. The truth is this is a fine piece of film-making, a tad unwieldy at times and perhaps 20 minutes overlong, but made with a high level of care and craft. There are many moving, poignant scenes, particularly one set early on at Christmas time. MacMurray and Valli unexpectedly run into each other and proceed to share a relaxed and blissfully unrehearsed Christmas Eve dinner at a Chinese restaurant that they have all to themselves (not unlike in the more recent A Christmas Story). The chemistry between the two and the restaurant's benevolent Asian owner is nearly heavenly.

The film has that irresistible Citizen Kane-ish structure where a character is gradually revealed and only truly understood AFTER their death. It also is refreshing in its positive depiction of religion and the important role it plays in so many people's lives. And it does so without insulting those in the audience who may not happen to be a member of that faith (Catholicism) or suggest that because they are not, that they're going to hell. If only more of today's film-makers had such courage and insight.

Performance-wise I was most impressed with Fred MacMurray who clearly invested a lot emotionally in his character. Valli is fine as the angelic aspiring actress and Lee J. Cobb is commanding as always as a studio mogul with more integrity than one might expect. Frank Sinatra as a devout small town priest? He's not bad but he hadn't yet been influenced by Montgomery Clift's method acting style in From Here To Eternity, and he comes across as a mite green for the part.

Quality work. Maltin's off by a star or two once again.

Looking back to favorite movies, I never realized what a fan I was of Fred MacMurray. This is another film of his I liked alot. Comedy, action, or drama, Fred gets the job done.

It gets 'laid on' pretty thick in this drama, schmaultzy comes to mind, but it's one to see. There were a string of 'miracle' movies made around this time, but 'Miracle of the Bells' lets you decide for yourself about this miracle, and there is more than just the obvious one.

You will get to see a movie in a movie, the reformation of MacMurray's publicist character, and even Frank Sinatra as a priest. I can think of worse ways to spend a lazy afternoon. See it if you can....

What a sweet and well-meaning movie this is. It's about love and respect for family and background and wanting to make a lasting mark on the shifting sands of our world.

The movie is not perfect, of course, it could have been shorter and not suffered much for it. The points seem belabored during the last half hour. Fred MacMurray saying "baby" all the time to Olga, the female lead was a little off-putting. Not so much for the word itself, it just seemed un-natural to hear him say it.

All that said, I will reiterate that this is a sweet movie. There is a great Christmas scene that will forever make me think of this as a "Christmas Movie". Philip Ahn as the Chinese retaurateur was a beam of light and gentleness in this movie. His role was a stand-out.

Frank Sinatra was to have better roles in later years and his acting technique would develop. He is slightly lost in the role here. But that is no big sleight in this movie.

Recommended. Religious but not preachy, sweet but not sickly sweet. A nice movie for cold Christmas eves.

I discovered this movie about ten years ago, on TV. The next day, a co-worker asked if I had watched it; I said yes, and we both agreed we had been moved by it. For my co-worker, this was not surprising; she was a Catholic. But for me, a Jewish semi-secular humanist, it was odd to admit I had felt something close to faith because of a late-40s studio picture. The message of "The Miracle of the Bells" is that regardless of one's faith, there is the possibility of hope. The goodness that exists in human beings is not brought out by rigid observance to rules, but by acts of kindness and understanding. I don't want to say how this comes about or whether there really is a miracle in the Biblical sense. That is for viewers to find out. But the film brings tears to my eyes. Alida Valli is amazing-watch her face, her eyes, especially in the sequences where she plays Joan of Arc-she seems lit from within by faith. I love the scene in the Chinese restaurant, a scene of friendship and love. I wish this movie, like its heroine, was more well-known. I try to help it along by mentioning it whenever I can as one of those little gems, a quiet picture that may make you think, a nice example of Hollywood fantasy films of the 1940s, and a movie that will help you feel better if you feel down.I know I just rented it for that reason.