Product Details

• Actors: Fred MacMurray, Alida Valli, Frank Sinatra, Lee J. Cobb, Harold Vermilyea
• Directors: Irving Pichel
• Writers: Ben Hecht, DeWitt Bodeen, Quentin Reynolds, Russell Janney
• Producers: Jesse L. Lasky, Walter MacEwen
• Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Republic Pictures
• VHS Release Date: September 23, 2003
• Run Time: 120 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6302842018
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #60,888 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

The Miracle of the Bells (B&W) [VHS] [VHS Tape] (1948) Fred MacMurray; Ben Hecht

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Miracle of the Bells, January 16, 2000

By 

Greg Grimes (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Miracle of the Bells (B&W) [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Undoubtedly one the finest performances by Fred MacMurry and Frank Sinatra, not to mention the superior supporting cast, Lee J. Cobb for starters. But because Sinatra isn't singing the "experts"; Maltin, Siskel, Ebert and Shalate overlook his REAL acting abiltiy. Sinatra is as pure a thespian as Olivier in this role as a priest (not even a church hymn from Frank's lips is hummed). Maltin's above review includes "ludicrous" plot-I'm sure the movie GHOST is on Leonard's his TOP 100 list. Trust no critic: see the this inspirational movie at once.

20 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars like molasses, a little slow but very sweet, June 2, 2004

By 

Alejandra Vernon "artist & illustrator" (Long Beach, California) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Miracle of the Bells [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Based on Russell Janey's novel, the Ben Hecht/Quentin Reynolds script for this film is sometimes sappy and often uneven, but it's also a nice sentimental story, told in flashback, by William Dunnigan (played in a somber manner by Fred McMurray), a press agent who was never a very happy guy, and is burying the woman he loved (but was never able to tell her so).
The real reason to watch this film is to see Alida Valli play Joan of Arc, in a "film within a film" segment. She is luminous and incredibly beautiful, and would have made a terrific Joan. Coincidentally, the lavish "Joan of Arc" production starring Ingrid Bergman was released the same year as this film.

Another reason to view "The Miracle of the Bells" is to see Frank Sinatra, skinny as a rail, in the unlikely part of a soft spoken priest; this was five years before his success in "From Here to Eternity", and he is surprisingly good, but far from great. He sings "Ever Homeward", a cappella, as he sits among the grave stones; there's a lot of gloomy aspects to the film, one of them being that the setting is a poor coal mining town...though it all has a nice pay-off.
Lee J. Cobb is Marcus Harris, the film producer making "Joan of Arc", and he has the humorous moment in the film with his "I won't stand for any press agent miracles !" rant, which was funny enough to make me laugh out loud, a rarity for me.
Some might say it's improbable that headlines of "Nation Mourns For Movie Star" could ever happen, especially when the "movie star" is unknown, but seeing how today's media obsesses about inconsequential stories, and runs with them for days (nay, weeks !) on end, on a slow news cycle, anything could happen.
Total running time is 120 minutes.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Why Isn't This Movie on DVD?, October 6, 2005

A Kid's Review

This review is from: The Miracle of the Bells (B&W) [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I watched The Miracle of the Bells for the first time this past December 2004 and I liked it. It is a sad movie but there are some very hartwarming moments in this that make it highly enjoyable! It is about a young woman on the verge of becoming a big movie star who dies and the man who loved her brings her back to be buried in her hometown. The movie stars Alida Valli as the actress and Fred MacMurray as her friend and they were both very good and the movie also stars Frank Sinatra as a young Catholic priest and I have read reviews saying that they just couldn't buy him playing a priest, I guess because of his bad boy Rat Pack image but I thought he was very good and I was able to forget about his later Rat Pack image and I just enjoyed his acting in this movie. Though this movie is thought of by many as a Christmas movie I feel that it can be watched anytime of the year, I mean just because it's set in winter and there is a miracle doesn't mean that you can only watch it during the Christmas holidays and also I wish that this movie would be put on DVD!