Fifty Years of Film in 50 Weeks, #31: Miracolo a Milano (Miracle in Milan), 1951

"I've got five fingers on my hand and so does he. Do we have to know one another or each other's names to be brothers? No!"

Miracolo a Milano, 1951

Director: Vittorio De Sica
Writers: Caesare Zavattini, Vittorio De Sica, Suso Cecchi
Cinematographer: G. R. Aldo
Producer: Vittorio De Sica for Cinecittà Studios (Rome, Italy)
Starring: Francesco Golisano, Emma Gramatica, Paolo Stoppa, Guglielmo Barnabò, Brunella Bovo, Arturo Bragaglia, Erminio Spalla, 

Why I chose it
When looking at various "best of 1951" lists, this film showed up on one of them and I jumped at the chance to view my first-ever Italian film for this series, and from renowned director De Sica, no less. Easy choice.

'No-spoiler' plot overview 
An abandoned baby is found by an old woman in her garden in the outskirts of Milan, and she raises the boy until her death. The school-aged child, Totò, (Gianni Branduani) is deposited in an orphanage just to be released alone into the big city on his 18th birthday. Completely unaware of how to make a living, yet convinced of the goodness of everyone he meets, Totò (now Francesco Golisano) meets up with a homeless man on the street who leads him to his shantytown on the edge of the city where the indigent live. Using his natural leadership abilities and aided by a magical dove gifted to him by the spirit of his dead mother, he helps spruce up the property and grants the wishes of everyone around him, including a young woman, Edvige (Brunella Bovo), who has caught his fancy. With his new superpowers, he takes on the cause to keep his "village" from being decimated by Milan real estate developers who covet the property since oil was discovered there.

Production Background
Actor turned filmmaker De Sica was in the midst of a fruitful collaboration with writer Zavattini, a partnership that produced the tragic classics of Italian neorealism: The Bicycle Thieves and Umberto D. The characteristics of that movement included highlighting the disparity between rich and poor in the still recovering post-War era, with location shoots and non-professional actors. Miracolo a Milano, falling between those two classics, was a bit of an oddity, as it was a comic fantasy about the poor in post-War Milan. Yet, it was filmed in and around Milan, showcasing the city's most famous landmarks as well as the wasteland around the train station.

Vittorio De Sica

De Sica himself acknowledged the inevitable comparisons with his other films in an essay on the Criterion website (link at bottom of this post): "...What decided and won me over to the idea imagined by Zavattini was, as always, the humanity of the central figure who, beneath his present disguises, is again closely related to the characters of the worker and child in Bicycle Thieves." He went on to say that viewers must not strain to insert too many deep interpretations or symbolism into the happenings: "Miracle in Milan, despite certain realistic overtones capable of varied, even antithetical, interpretations on the social level, is simply a fairy story and only intended as such." A critical success at its release, the film won the Grand Prize at the Cannes film festival.

The film inspired a new generation of filmmakers. Liv Ullman was quoted in Forbes magazine in 2000: "I saw it when I was a child, and somehow it almost changed my life. I wanted to be part of the world, part of doing something in the world--it made me want to be a good person."

Some other notable film-related events in 1951 (from Filmsite.org):

• Legendary film critic and theorist Andre Bazin established the influential French film journal Cahiers du Cinéma (literally 'cinema notebooks'), arguably the most influential film magazine in film history. Future filmmakers and critics, such as Jean-Luc Godard, Eric Rohmer, Francois Truffaut, Claude Chabrol, and Jacques Rivette contributed to the publication, advocating the auteur theory and proposing the use of more individualistic styles. 
• Aging motion picture mogul-executive Louis B. Mayer was forced to resign in 1951 after 27 years as the head of MGM Studios that he had founded. Mayer's resignation, pushed by parent company Loew's, followed continued disagreements with his eventual successor Dore Schary over cost-cutting and the issue of creating socially-relevant pictures. 
• MGM's Technicolored film remake of the Kern-Hammerstein musical play Show Boat - the most financially successful of three film versions, premiered at the Egyptian Theater in Los Angeles in July and went into wide release in September. It starred Howard Keel, Ava Gardner, and Kathryn Grayson.
• The first of many 1950s Cold War-inspired science-fiction films, Robert E. Wise's allegorical The Day the Earth Stood Still, was released, featuring the most famous phrase in sci-fi history -- "Gort, Klaatu barada niktu" -- as well as stunning, state-of-the-art visual effects and a Bernard Herrmann score. The classic cult film featured the first modern robot, the silver giant Gort.

My Random Observations

• There's a famous line from my favorite screwball comedy, My Man Godfrey, in which the lead character, Godfrey, says "The only difference between a derelict and a man is a job." I couldn't help thinking of this while watching Miracolo a Milano, as a key theme is the kinship of all humanity regardless of wealth or circumstance. The movie shows how the residents of the shantytown build up their community to resemble a normal town, and then bicker over small slights or succumb to greed - just the same as a moneyed society might. There's also the line quoted at the beginning of this post where real estate mogul Mobbi (Guglielmo Barnabò) says because all of them share the same anatomical parts, they're brothers. This sentiment gives hope to the residents of the shantytown. Of course reality intrudes to keep the poor down while maintaining the wealthy in charge. Whether De Sica intended this theme to be taken as irony or philosophy can be argued; its poignancy in this film cannot.
  

Wealthy real estate developer Signor Mobbi surveys the 
residents of the Milan shantytown.

Mobbi in his palatial office, furnished with a Renaissance-style
statue, welcomes the shantytown delegation, only to send them
away empty-handed later.

• On the subject of other films, it appears that De Sica and Zavattini know their silent clowns; the trope of the lovable tramp, of which there are many here, was perfected in the art of Charlie Chaplin. And Buster Keaton was evoked late in the film when a platoon of black uniform-clad cops descend en masse upon the shantytown in numbers rivalling the group in Keaton's brilliant short Cops.



Shantytown residents cluster to stay warm in the
rare spots that the sun pokes through the clouds in winter.






Lucky resident wins a "whole chicken" and eats with
relish. While this was real food, this scene reminded me of
the Little Tramp eating his shoe in The Gold Rush.






Massive numbers of cops descend on the shantytown.



• Be prepared for a genre-bending ride with this film. Despite the down to earth depiction of poverty, the script did not wallow in pathos. The first half of the film was tongue-in-cheek funny. Despite the obvious sadness of a little boy, orphaned, walking alone behind the casket of his dead mother, humor intrudes when a disheveled man pops into the scene and joins the boy, appearing to sob as if the dead person is dear to him, too. We see that, in reality, the man is trying to evade a couple of cops on the street corner, and makes a beeline from the bier as soon as the cops lose sight of him. A second example is the way in which Toto's mother greets a large leak from the wash machine on the floor. Instead of being angry, she's delighted that a miniature river criss-crosses her kitchen, and proceeds to decorate the site with scale model houses and trees, as Toto looks on in amazement and pleasure.

A river of spilled wash water is decorated with miniature
buildings, people and trees.

• Then in the second half of the film the genre morphs into a supernatural fable, where spirits come down from the sky and doves fulfill every wish and people joyride on broomsticks.

The ghost of Totò's dead mother (Emma Gramatica)
cvisits him in his time of need.

A statue of a beautiful woman comes to life in the center
of the shantytown, fulfilling the fantasy of many a resident.

Totò and Edvige take a joyride above the Duomo, and wave
to their friends to do the same.

• Whether the actors were professional or locals recruited from the streets of Milan, the faces were astounding throughout. It looked like little to no make-up was used, and cinematographer G.R. Aldo accentuated the features for stunning visual interest.

A group of shantytown residents consider what life would 
be like if they suddenly became rich. Interesting here is Jerome
Johnson, an African-American actor who was present in many 
scenes but did not receive an on-screen credit.

Where to Watch
It's currently available for streaming on Amazon, and it's free with ads on IMDb-TV. It's also on DVD, although most commercially available DVDs appear to be formatted for the European region.

Further Reading
For the director's perspective in his own words, read this essay. And for a contemporaneous U.S. view of the film, read NY Times' Bosley Crowther's review here.

Five Favorite films from the Fabulous Fifties!

The 1950s was a fertile decade in Hollywood--despite the blacklist and anti-Communist hysteria--with pictures made to wow audiences to lure them away from their TV sets and back into cinemas. Some movies seemed to underscore the dominant image of a cohesive American family, while others exposed the deep troubles beneath. Societal troubles were often thematic in the best French and Italian films of the decade as well.

In honor of National Classic Movie Day, I'm delighted to share five 1950s films I recommend be on the watchlist of any film fan. I've decided to include one film from each of five genres: Western, the musical, film noir, melodrama, and suspense. Check out all the posts compiled by Rick at the Classic Film & TV Cafe, and create your own personal 1950s watch list!

Western: 3:10 to Yuma (D. Delmer Daves, 1957)
Here's a gripping character-driven Western playing out a tense drama between two flawed men: Dan Evans (Van Heflin) and Ben Wade (Glenn Ford); the latter is a charming outlaw on the run from a stagecoach hold-up and murder who gets caught and is given to Dan to escort him to the titular train to Yuma (site of the state prison) over a few hours. It's not a particularly realistic or overly violent Western (those would become more the fashion in the 1960s). And it's not meant to be. Instead it's a piece of visual and storytelling art that imbues every stylized scene with tension. The high-contrast black and white cinematography by Charles Lawton Jr. is stunning. As the plot revolves around a drought in Arizona, you'll want to have a tall glass of water nearby as you watch, as the dry harsh beauty of the landscape is almost overwhelming.

I love that the characters (at least the main male ones) are three dimensional and underplayed. Glenn Ford apparently was cast originally as Dan Evans, but requested to take on the role of the villain here, and what a great choice. The economy of the script forces all the actors to do much with face and body to convey the struggles of will they face during the running time. The ending is so much more cathartic and satisfying as a result.

I love the composition of this shot.

This film also has that special something, which for me is the score. The song '3:10 to Yuma' is sung by Frankie Laine over the title credits, and the haunting theme repeats during the film in various arrangements--my favorite is the guitar, flute and violin trio.

If you've seen the 2007 remake with Christian Bale and Russell Crowe, expect a similar story, but resist the comparisons. The later film is a much more realistic Western and the vibe is different. Watch the original for a compelling cinema experience on its own.

Noir: Angel Face (D. Otto Preminger, 1953)

Robert Mitchum as Frank Jessup in Angel Face

It's a noir and it stars Robert Mitchum. Sold yet? He's the chump taken in by Jean Simmons' rich spoiled girl Diane Tremayne, who ratches up the concept of the 'femme fatale' several orders of magnitude. Her face is angelic but her soul is anything but. ('Kathy' in Out of the Past could take lessons in evil from Diane.) A dominant theme here is that all is not well in the great American family of the 1950s.

Diane turns on the charm to lure Frank Jessup (Mitchum), an ambulance driver, to ditch his earnest girlfriend (Mona Freeman) for her, and the problems (and body count) begin to mount.  It's a terrific thriller, as all along we think that Mitchum is somehow going to escape her clutches, but he keeps getting drawn back in. Mitchum is mesmerizing as usual, and Jean Simmons, the talented English actress who was still early in her career with roles such as Ophelia under her belt, commits fully to her psychopathic character. Herbert Marshall, a favorite of mine, is delightful as her deluded, indulgent father. By the end of this part psycho-thriller, part courtroom drama, you may never want to get into a convertible again.

Jean Simmons surveying the scene of the future crime(s).

Cary Grant being driven along the Riviera by
Grace Kelly

Suspense: To Catch a Thief (D. Alfred Hitchcock, 1955).
I'll admit that I watched this one for the first time ever last month. It's not the most acclaimed Hitchcock, and having been left cold by some of Grace Kelly's other performances, I had put off watching it. But it was free on Amazon Prime, and I decided to give it a whirl. And I loved it. It's not your typical Hitchcock film in that it's not scary in the slightest, and any minor suspenseful scenes hardly quicken the pulse. But it's a romp and a romantic fantasy that sweeps you away.

In case the color wasn't bright enough, a key
scene takes place in a flower market.

Former jewel thief/cat burglar John Robie (Cary Grant) has gone straight and is enjoying life in Southern France; due to a rash of thefts, he's pressured into cooperating with the local authorities to set a trap for the yet unknown serial burglar. Along the way he must work with visiting wealthy American widow Jessie Stevens (Jessie Royce Landis) and her beautiful but aloof daughter Frances (Kelly). The action hops along Hitchcock style with literal and figurative twists and turns until the puzzles are solved.

Arguably the best thing about the film was its location setting - the gorgeous coast of Southern France, in complete bloom with flowers everywhere. I don't think there is another film that can come close to being as colorful. And Grace Kelly seems to be at home in the locale--perhaps that is why I enjoy her so much here. (As everyone knows, she was soon to take up residence as the new Princess of Monaco the year after this film was released.). Just look at some more fabulous images:

Musical: Singin' in the Rain (D. Stanley Donen & Gene Kelly, 1953)

I was hoping to find a lesser-known musical to highlight here. But because I'm not a huge fan of musicals, even though I've enjoyed many during this decade, none did I enjoy nearly as much as this one. There's a reason that it tops the American Film Institute's best musical film of all time. So if you haven't seen it yet, what are you waiting for? With Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds, Donald O'Connor, and Jean Hagan, it's colorful, rollicking, hysterically funny...and those songs! The story revolves around a silent film star (Kelly) who must find a way to succeed during the conversion to sound films. Hollywood is thoroughly enjoying spoofing itself here while celebrating the wonder of a good movie.

Michel Hazanavicius's 2011 Oscar winner The Artist owes much in plot and characterization to this film. Yet I hope that no one ever attempts to remake this fabulous Hollywood love letter to the best of itself. Check out one of my favorite musical numbers "Good Mornin" with all three stars:

Melodrama: The Earrings of Madame De... (D. Max Ophuls,1953)
It's a French film by acclaimed director Max Ophuls, and like many French films of the era, it's filled with ambiguity in character and motivation, but it's so tightly drawn and elegant. I had the opportunity to see this on the big screen at the Harvard Film Archive last year and I've not been able to get it out of my mind since. The lead character, whose full name is never revealed, is portrayed by stunning Danielle Darrieux. She's partially content with her Parisian life at the end of the 19th century with wealthy husband Charles Boyer, but is rather bored and is seeking other company. When Boyer gifts her an exquisite pair of diamond earrings, they become a pawn multiple times in a series of deceits aimed to help conceal her infidelities.

Critic Roger Ebert wrote in the Chicago Sun-Times that the film is “one of the most mannered and contrived love movies ever filmed. It glitters and dazzles, and beneath the artifice it creates a heart, and breaks it.” Perhaps it's the 'manneredness' of the film that makes it such a pleasure for me. The camera is almost like a character the way it glides around the others in a film - as a viewer it's like being in a waltz with everyone on screen, even if the music grows continually darker and is played in a minor key.

I also particularly enjoyed Vittorio de Sica, the famed director who was also an actor, and just a year removed from his successful and acclaimed Bicycle Thieves, he is so charismatic here as one of Madame's lovers. 

Vittorio de Sica and Danielle Darrieux

So break out a bottle of Burgundy, dip into some fois gras, and treat yourself to the best of 1950's French filmmaking. And while you're indulging visit the Classic Film & TV Cafe for more great Fifties films.