Miracle in Milan [Miracolo a Milano] **** (1951, Emma Gramatica, Francesco Golisano, Paolo Stoppa, Brunella Bovo, Guglielmo Barnabò) – Classic Movie Review 7711

Producer-director Vittorio De Sica’s warmhearted 1951 Italian classic Miracle in Milan [Miracolo a Milano] is a fairy tale about an angelic young orphan called Totò (Francesco Golisano) who arrives in a poor community outside Milan where he cheers up the inhabitants, helped by his magical old woman guardian, Lolotta (Emma Gramatica), who comes down from heaven.

Totò leaves his orphanage and finds himself with the other homeless people living in boxes and cement pipes on a vast, barren field outside Milan, which Totò organises into a small, happy shanty town. Then rich Signor Mobbi (Guglielmo Barnabò) buys the land and tries to get rid of the homeless. But, when a miracle happens and oil is found, the poor turn into capitalists.

Alas, this haunting and imaginative mix of fantasy, message, comedy and whimsy has faded somewhat, as the immediacy of its timely postwar story has dimmed, but it is still a lovely film that charms and amuses and delights.

Miracle in Milan won the Palme D’Or winner at Cannes Film Festival in 1951, tied with Miss Julie (1951).

The screenplay by Cesare Zavattini, Vittorio De Sica, Suso Cecchi D’Amico, Mario Chiari and Adolfo Franci is based on Zavattini’s novel Totò Il Buono.

Also in the cast are Paolo Stoppa as Rappi, Brunella Bovo as Edvige, Guglielmo Barnabò as Mobbi, Anna Carena, Alba Arnova, Flora Cambi, Virgilio Riento, Arturo Bragaglia, Erminio Spalls, Riccardo Bertazzolo, Francesco Rissone, Angelo Pirotti and Gianni Branduani.

Miracle in Milan [Miracolo a Milano] is directed by Vittorio De Sica, runs 101 minutes, is made by Produzioni De Sica, is released by ENIC, is written by Cesare Zavattini, Vittorio De Sica, Suso Cecchi D’Amico, Mario Chiari and Adolfo Franci, based on Cesare Zavattini’s novel Totò Il Buono, is shot in black and white by G R Aldo and Aldo Graziati, is produced by Vittorio De Sica, is scored by Alessandro Cicognini, and is designed by Guido Firoini.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 7711

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