As I was perusing a list of films that contain portrayals of Joan of
Arc, I ran across a film called The Miracle of the Bells. Released in
1948, the film sounds interesting for its somewhat atypical incorporation of
Joan, which is mainly why I might try watching it. The film stars Frank
Sinatra, Fred MacMurray, and Alida Valli, yet it was not hugely popular at the
time with critics or viewers nor has it gained much more of an audience over
the years. The film is actually not a
movie of Joan of Arc; Joan is integrated into the film by means of Valli, whose
character is a struggling actress who “miraculously” is able to win a role as
Joan in a major production. Therefore, it is one of those movies in which Hollywood
portrays Hollywood and there is a fictitious film encapsulated in a real film
(if also fiction). In some ways, Olga’s life (Valli’s character) reflects Joan’s
though. Olga arrives in Hollywood from Coaltown, Pennsylvania, which could be
compared to Joan’s arrival in Chinon from her small-town life in Domremy,
although Joan’s childhood obviously did not have an industrial setting as Olga’s
did. However, generally, the plot perhaps attempts to connect the “nobody to
somebody” theme through both Olga and Joan.
Additionally, Olga dies of tuberculosis a day after her moment of triumph-
finishing the film. Joan also died fairly quickly after her ultimate moment of
success- crowning the King of France at Reims. Finally, Olga is able to leave a
lasting legacy via the finished film, although her friend, who is a press agent
at the studio, has to fight for the release of the film and it happens through a
miracle (the ringing of church bells in favor of it for three days straight). Comparatively,
Joan left a lasting legacy as well, which ironically is demonstrated by this one
of a wealth of interpretations of her, and her own friends, family, and
associates had to somewhat battle for Joan’s legacy during the Retrial so as to
reestablish her reputation against the Rouen trials. Altogether, it appears the
film interprets Joan through the depiction of poverty, a “rags to riches” tale,
Hollywood success, the intervention of the miraculous or divine, and Olga’s
ultimate unfortunate fate. In essence, the film sounds like it filters Joan
through Olga for its own purposes, which again demonstrates that Joan’s story
has been reinvented, molded, stretched, and condensed in various forms for
culturally relevant impacts. My questions: Would Joan see herself in Olga at
all? Would Joan generally see herself in or identify with any of the culturally shaped portrayals of her? Can Joan be viewed as a "Hollywood" tale in her own time?
Sources: http://www.nytimes.com/movies/movie/32826/The-Miracle-of-the-Bells/overview
http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/83566/The-Miracle-of-the-Bells/full-synopsis.html
http://www.stjoan-center.com/
Thanks for sharing this! I found this interesting in your link: "Bill rushes to see Father Paul, who has already deduced that the statues moved because the weight of the crowd caused the pillars on which the statues were mounted to shift slightly. Although Father Paul is reluctant to describe the movement as a miracle, Bill convinces him to tell the people of Coaltown that divine intervention played some part in the event." A common theme in movies about religion/middle ages is the contrived aspect of miracles. For instance, in the CBS miniseries about Joan (anyone want to blog on this?), they run out of holy oil at the coronation and Yolande of Aragon mixes up some more!
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