Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

Instant Favorite.

It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

"Beware of false prophets which will come to you in sheep's clothing… 'The Miracle Woman' is offered as a rebuke to anyone who, under the cloak of Religion, seeks to sell for gold, God's choicest gift to humanity - FAITH," introduces this grand collaboration between director Frank Capra and Barbara Stanwyck (as Florence "Faith" Fallon). A pastor's daughter, Ms. Stanwyck opens the drama by taking her recently deceased father's congregation to task for causing his death. Among the worshipers is sleazy Sam Hardy (as Bob Hornsby). Impressed by Stanwyck's Biblical knowledge and preaching skills, Mr. Hardy offers to become her manager...Stanwyck hears Hardy pontificate, "Religion is like everything else - great if you can sell it, no good if you can give it away." She becomes a successful Christian evangelist, delivering fiery sermons to her tabernacle flock and hosting a successful radio show. The money rolls in, but sister Stanwyck is filled with isolation and guilt. Meanwhile, suicidal songwriter David Manners (as John Carson) decides not to jump out of his window when he hears Stanwyck on the radio. Also a blind ventriloquist, Mr. Manners endeavors to meet Stanwyck. She mistakes him for one of her shills, and predicts God will cure his blindness. Eventually, he heals hers...This should have been Stanwyck's first "Best Actress" notice. The "Academy Awards" were later kind, and the "New York Film Critics" joined them in recognizing her work in "Double Indemnity" (1944). However, in hindsight, "The Miracle Woman" is undeniably award-worthy. Also notable is fine work from Mr. Capra, who worked wonders with Stanwyck and co-star Manners, perfectly cast as the blind ventriloquist, along with skilled photography by Joseph Walker, and obviously strong supporting roles. The film feels like a Bob Dylan or Pete Seeger song come to life; like those, the story fascinates with a timeless relevance.********* The Miracle Woman (7/20/31) Frank Capra ~ Barbara Stanwyck, David Manners, Sam Hardy, Beryl Mercer

Barbara Stanwyck is "The Miracle Woman" in this 1931 film directed by Frank Capra and also starring David Manners.Stanwyck plays Florence Fallon, the daughter of a religious leader who becomes angry and bitter toward her father's congregation when he is ousted and later dies. She is approached by a promoter who launches her on a preaching career with an audience loaded with shills, while he collects money for an alleged tabernacle and makes payoffs.Meanwhile, a blind composer (David Manners) is saved from suicide by one of Sister Fallon's radio broadcasts and becomes devoted to her. The two fall in love, and Florence, who has never been happy being a fraud from the beginning, becomes less and less enchanted with the business she's in.The character of Florence Fallon was inspired, as was Sharon Falconer in Elmer Gantry, by the real-life miracle woman, Aimee Semple McPherson, a popular evangelist. She founded the Foursquare Church, still in existence today, and had hundreds and hundreds of healings credited to her. Barbara Stanwyck, about 24 years old here, gives a passionate performance as a conflicted woman, and handsome David Manners does a nice job as her blind beau.Very absorbing early Capra, quite different from what he would do in the future. In fact, if you're not a Capra fan, you might like this film of his best of all.

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 another example of why the Hays Code was put in as anti-religious movies were on the increase, along with everything else you see and hear in films today. Here we see a minister and followers (both mainstream and charismatic) made to look stupid and corrupt. Over 70 years later, Hollywood still thinks that's the only kind worth showing on screen. (Do you see good ones, like Billy Graham, ever on film?)Supposedly, this story was based on a real-life female preacher named Aimee Semple McPherson. In the film, we first see a man who dies while writing his last sermon. He had been booted out of his church because he was too old and they wanted a younger man. The daughter (Semple, played by Barbara Stanwyck) goes up to the pulpit, starts to read the partial sermon, then tells what happened to her father and tells off the congregation, calling them all kinds of names. That part, frankly, was very dramatic and interesting to watch.But then the film starts to get carried away with its agenda of a fake evangelist. A huckster, who happened by when Florence "Faith" Falon (Stanwyck), talks the bitter woman into getting back at people by using her biblical knowledge to be an evangelist, earn a lot of money and bilk the public with fake healing and the like. She does just that.She gives sermons at her "Faith Temple" that are so New Age and unlike anything you would really hear - whether she was faking it or not - that it's an insult for anyone who knows what sermons sound like. They also make the people in the audience so corny and so unlike anyone that would attend a service that it, too, is ludicrous.Only non-church goers would believe the stuff in this movie.Note: before the film began, a disclaimer was put on screen with a quote from the book of Matthew warning people to beware of "false prophets." Well, I agree, false prophets have always been with all and always will be, but I also warn people to be aware of false propaganda they see in movies! Like those false teachers, don't believe everything you see on screen.