The Miracle of the Bells
1948 | 120m | English
Popularity: 1 (history)
| Director: | Irving Pichel |
|---|---|
| Writer: | Russell Janney, Ben Hecht, Quentin Reynolds |
| Staring: |
| The body of a young actress is brought to her home town by the man who loved her. He knows that she wanted all the church bells to ring for three days after she was buried, but is told that this will cost a lot of money. The checks that he writes to the various churches all bounce, but it is the weekend and, in desperation, he prays that a miracle will happen before the banks reopen. It does, but not in the way he hoped. | |
| Release Date: | Mar 27, 1948 |
|---|---|
| Director: | Irving Pichel |
| Writer: | Russell Janney, Ben Hecht, Quentin Reynolds |
| Genres: | Drama |
| Keywords | black and white, church bells |
| Production Companies | RKO Radio Pictures, Jesse L. Lasky Productions |
| Box Office |
Revenue: $2,100,000
Budget: $2,000,000 |
| Updates |
Updated: Feb 02, 2025 (Update) Entered: Apr 20, 2024 |
| Name | Character |
|---|---|
| Fred MacMurray | William 'Bill' Dunnigan |
| Alida Valli | Olga Treskovna |
| Frank Sinatra | Father Paul |
| Lee J. Cobb | Marcus Harris |
| Harold Vermilyea | Nick Orloff |
| Charles Meredith | Father Spinsky |
| James Nolan | Tod Jones |
| Veronica Pataky | Anna Klovna |
| Philip Ahn | Ming Gow |
| Frank Ferguson | Dolan |
| Frank Wilcox | Dr. Jennings |
| Dorothy Sebastian | Miss Katie Orwin (uncredited) |
| Robert Bacon | Soldier in 'Joan of Arc' |
| Walter Bacon | Townsman |
| Sam Bagley | Crew Member |
| Brooks Benedict | Drunken Man |
| Oliver Blake | Slenka |
| Eddie Borden | Crew Member |
| Chet Brandenburg | Crew Member |
| Steve Carruthers | Worshiper |
| George Cathrey | Reporter |
| George Chandler | Max |
| Noble 'Kid' Chissell | Worshiper |
| Bill Clauson | Bellringer's Son |
| Mabel Colcord | Parishioner Witnessing Miracle |
| Roger Creed | Soldier in 'Joan of Arc' |
| Paul Cristo | Soldier in 'Joan of Arc' |
| Roy Darmour | Reporter |
| Ned Davenport | Priest in 'Joan of Arc' |
| Bert Davidson | Bob Briggs |
| James Dime | Miner |
| Al Eben | Miner |
| Herbert Evans | Nobleman in 'Joan of Arc' |
| Franklyn Farnum | Worshiper |
| Jack Gargan | Assistant Director |
| Robert Haines | Radio Listener |
| Jimmie Horan | Actor in Movie |
| Perry Ivins | Druggist |
| Dorothy Neumann | Miss Millhouser |
| Frank Pharr | Bellringer |
| Michael Raffetto | Harold Tanby, Harris' Assistant |
| Syd Saylor | Freddy Evans, the Pianist |
| Tom Stevenson | Milton Wild |
| Ray Teal | Koslick, Miner |
| Charles Wagenheim | Mr. Kummer |
| Max Wagner | Baggage Man |
| Regina Wallace | Martha |
| Billy Wayne | Tommy Elmore |
| Ian Wolfe | Grave Digger |
| Jean Spangler | Woman in Church |
| Name | Job |
|---|---|
| Karl Herlinger | Makeup Artist |
| Fred Fleck | Production Manager |
| Ralph Wildman | Grip |
| Charles Burke | Camera Operator |
| Russell Janney | Novel |
| DeWitt Bodeen | Additional Dialogue |
| Robert De Grasse | Director of Photography |
| Elmo Williams | Editor |
| Ralph Berger | Art Direction |
| Harley Miller | Set Decoration |
| Darrell Silvera | Set Decoration |
| Gordon Bau | Makeup Supervisor |
| Harry D'Arcy | Assistant Director |
| Philip Mitchell | Sound |
| Clem Portman | Sound |
| Russell A. Cully | Special Effects |
| Clifford Stine | Special Effects |
| Rod Tolmie | Still Photographer |
| Julia Marcia Davies | Script Supervisor |
| Joan Davis | Script Supervisor |
| Charles O'Curran | Choreographer |
| Annabell Levy | Hairstylist |
| Irving Pichel | Director |
| Ben Hecht | Screenplay |
| Quentin Reynolds | Screenplay |
| Leigh Harline | Original Music Composer |
| Albert S. D'Agostino | Art Direction |
| Renié | Costume Design |
| C. Bakaleinikoff | Music Director |
| Jule Styne | Songs |
| Sammy Cahn | Lyricist |
| Name | Title |
|---|---|
| Jesse Lasky Jr. | Producer |
| Walter MacEwen | Producer |
| Organization | Category | Person |
|---|
Popularity History
| Year | Month | Avg | Max | Min |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 2 |
| 2024 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 4 |
| 2024 | 6 | 6 | 10 | 1 |
| 2024 | 7 | 6 | 11 | 2 |
| 2024 | 8 | 5 | 10 | 2 |
| 2024 | 9 | 3 | 5 | 2 |
| 2024 | 10 | 5 | 9 | 2 |
| 2024 | 11 | 3 | 9 | 1 |
| 2024 | 12 | 4 | 11 | 2 |
| 2025 | 1 | 4 | 11 | 2 |
| 2025 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 1 |
| 2025 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 1 |
| 2025 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| 2025 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| 2025 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 2025 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2025 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Trending Position
This is actually quite an uplifting tale of an actress (Alida Valli) who wants to be buried back in her home town. Snag is, her one and only film is considered a bit of a stinker by the producer (Lee J. Cobb) and so when she dies the day after it's completion, a well-meaning Hollywood press man (Fre ... d MacMurray) has to resort to creating a bit of a public interest storm to facilitate her last wish. To that end, he manages to convince local priest (Frank Sinatra) to let the body lie in his church and for the bells to ring for three days... It's told cleverly, partially using flashback, in a gently paced manner that does demonstrate some of the finer aspects of humanity countered by some of the less kind ones. Unfortunately, it does tend to over-correlate the better aspects of the story with the church a bit too much; not exactly a religious white-wash, but certainly a little naively simplistic when it comes to the characteristics of the benign journalist against the evil, malevolent producer. On the face of it, it is quite a fun film with a good performance from MacMurray and a slightly implausibly saintly Sinatra; but just a touch too sugary for me...