The Miracle

1912 Directed by Cherry Kearton

About The Miracle

Sister Megildis is left in charge of a statue of the Virgin. An evil minstrel's music and a knight draw her out of the convent. The statue comes to life and takes her place. Megildis goes through the world and comes back on Christmas Eve with her baby, who is dead. The living Madonna returns to the altar, and Megildis is forgiven.

Cast & crew

More about The Miracle

Michel Carré directed the film version of Karl Vollmöller's wordless play, which Max Reinhardt had staged. Joseph Menchen, an American with his office in London, produced it and released it in Britain. Engelbert Humperdinck wrote the music, as he had for the play. It was filmed in Austria and hand-coloured in France by a process like Pathéchrome. The British length was 7,000 feet. The world premiere was at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, on 21 December 1912. Maria Carmi plays the Madonna. Florence Winston plays Megildis. Ernst Matray is the minstrel. Douglas Payne is the knight.

Themes

  • A nun who leaves with a knight
  • The statue that takes her place
  • Christmas Eve and a dead child
  • Megildis
  • Madonna
  • convent
  • minstrel
  • Christmas Eve
  • hand colouring
  • Covent Garden

Background

The film opened in London in December 1912 as a coloured, scored version of Reinhardt and Vollmöller's mime, with an international cast and an American producer working out of London.

Making

Menchen shot the convent scenes at the parish church of Perchtoldsdorf and at Burg Kreuzenstein, then sent the negative to France for hand colouring. Humperdinck's score was played at the Covent Garden opening.

Look

The convent scenes were filmed at Perchtoldsdorf and Burg Kreuzenstein. The print was hand-coloured in France.

Technique

The release print was hand-coloured in France by a process similar to Pathéchrome, and the Covent Garden premiere was given with Humperdinck's music.

Music

Engelbert Humperdinck wrote the score, the same composer as for the stage Miracle.

Preservation

A hand-coloured print was made for the 1912 release. Boston censors cut several hundred feet from the American showing.

Notes

  • Cherry Kearton and Ernst Lubitsch are sometimes named in the credits. The production record gives Michel Carré as director and does not include them.
  • Other roles: Ernst Benzinger as the Robber Count, Joseph Klein as the King, Theodore Rocholl as the King's Son, Agathe Barcesque as the Abbess.
  • The first act is titled Temptation. It includes the healing of a lame man, the minstrel, the knight, a night of kneeling, and the flight.
  • The second act is Forgiveness, set on Christmas Eve, when the image goes back to the altar.
  • The world premiere of Menchen's Lyricscope play, with Humperdinck's score, chorus, sound effects, and live actors around the screen, was at Covent Garden. It toured Britain until Easter 1913.

Scenes

  • The statue of the Virgin steps down and takes Megildis's place in the convent.
  • Megildis returns on Christmas Eve with her dead baby, and the Madonna goes back to the altar.

Influenced by

  • Karl Vollmöller's play Das Mirakel, staged by Max Reinhardt