The Man Who Could Work Miracles
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Lothar Mendes
Roland Young
Ralph Richardson
Edward Chapman
Ernest Thesiger
Joan Gardner
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
In the starry heavens, the gods argue over the fate of the small planet known as Earth. As an experiment to test the human heart and spirit, they decide to give one human, picked at random, ultimate power. That night, George McWhirter Fotheringay, an obscure little clerk in a small English town, enters the neighborhood pub, The Long Dragon, where a discussion of miracles is taking place among the patrons. To prove that a miracle is contrary to the laws of nature, George orders a lamp to turn over. To his own astonishment, the lamp turns over on command and crashes to the floor. George is immediately thrown out of the pub, and returns home to amuse himself with his new "gift." The next day, George goes to his job at the drapery shop of Girgsby and Blott's, where he tells his fellow sales clerk, Maggie Hooper, of his newly found powers. To convince her of his sincerity, he heals Maggie's sprained arm and removes another clerk's freckles. At lunch, the clerks discuss George's gift for miracles, and Bill Stoker tell him that he should use it to make money, while Maggie insists that he seek religious guidance on the matter.
When the shop closes, George shocks his employer by cleaning up his department in a matter of seconds with his gift. As he wanders home, George is harassed by Constable P. C. Winch, whom he promptly wishes "to Hades." George then transports Winch from the netherworld to San Francisco, where the policeman soon finds himself under psychiatric observation. Later that night, George runs into Ada Price, a co-worker whom he loves. When Ada tells George that she could never return his love, he attempts to use his power to force her to love him. To his chagrin, George learns that his power cannot change the human heart.
The next day, George is ordered to meet with his boss, Girgsby, who offers him a partnership in exchange for exclusive use of his "miracles." The two then meet with Mr. Bamfylde, a banker, who warns George against freely giving his miracles to people, as human society is based on want. Confused, George visits Maggie at her home, and she once again tells him to visit the local Baptist minister, Mr. Maydig. Maydig sees George's gift as an opening to a "Golden Age," with "peace and plenty" for all. To begin this new era, Maydig asks George to turn Colonel Winstanley's alcohol to water, and his collection of military weapons into farm implements. The next day, the retired military officer has George summoned to his home by the police, where George tells him of Maydig's grand plan for a new world. Winstanley then meets with the local business leaders and decides that George must be assassinated. While George and Maydig walk in the country, Winstanley shoots George in the head, but George uses his gift to cure himself and disarm Winstanley.
Outraged, George decides to make himself ruler of the world, with Maydig and Bamfylde his counsellors, Winstanley his sergeant at arms, and Ada and Maggie as his "queens." He then orders all the leaders of the world to gather before him. George demands that they immediately change the world to one of his liking, or he will banish them all. When they ask for time to meet George's demand, he insists that they complete the task before sunrise and he stops the Earth's rotation, causing a global catastrophe. As he flies through space, George asks for one final miracle: the loss of his power and the return of the world to the way it was. Finding himself back outside the pub, George enters and tries to make the lamp turn itself. As the patrons laugh at his folly, George realizes that he has lost his powers for good. In the heavens, the gods decide to give man power, little by little, as he acquires the wisdom to use it wisely.
Director
Lothar Mendes
Cast
Roland Young
Ralph Richardson
Edward Chapman
Ernest Thesiger
Joan Gardner
Sophie Stewart
Robert Cochran
Lady Tree
Lawrence Hanray
George Zucco
Wally Lupino
Joan Hickson
Wally Patch
Mark Daly
George Sanders
Ivan Brandt
Torin Thatcher
Bruce Winston
Bernard Nedell
Crew
John Armstrong
Bernard Browne
Laurance Butler
Philip Charlot
Edward Cohen
David B. Cunyinghame
Maurice Forde
William Hornbeck
Alexander Korda
Vincent Korda
Ned Mann
Muir Mathieson
Harold Rosson
Michael Spolianski
A. W. Watkins
A. W. Watkins
Imlay Watts
H. G. Wells
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The opening title card reads "H. G. Wells' The Man Who Could Work Miracles." Wells's story was published in book form in 1936. Some contemporary sources list Gertrude Musgrove in the role of "Effie Brickman"; on the screen, Joan Hickson is listed as "Effie." According to Variety, the film was completed before Alexander Korda's production of Wells' Things to Come (see below), but was released eleven months later. Although credited on the screen as art director, A. W. Watkins usually worked as a sound recorder. According to modern sources, Lajos Biro was primarily responsible for the screenplay, and Robert Krasker was a camera operator on the film. Wells was kept away from the shooting, which was supposed to follow on the anticipated success of Things to Come. Upon release, The Man Who Could Work Miracles did not achieve notable success, but was more popular in America than in England.
Miscellaneous Notes
Released in United States 1936
Released in United States March 1985
Released in United States on Video August 31, 1988
Released in United States 1936
Released in United States March 1985 (Shown at FILMEX: Los Angeles International Film Exposition (The Fabulous Fifty-Hour Filmex Fantasy Marathon) March 14-31, 1985.)
Released in United States on Video August 31, 1988
