I'm beginning to think that having voice-over narration about a romance gone wrong is in Fred MacMurray's contract. In The Miracle of the Bells, he travels to a small town to plan a woman's funeral. Who is the woman and why would she want to be buried there? Cue the voice over and concurrent flashback. A couple of years back, Fred, a successful press agent, saw a chorus girl in a dancing show and helped her get ahead in her career. They fell in love, but he never told her how he felt, and now that she's dead, he wants to honor her last wishes and see her buried in her hometown.
Fred does a good job, but this is a role we've seen him in before and will see him in again. However, compared to Valli, the female lead, he deserves an Oscar. The weakest part of the movie is Valli, whose Italian accent hardly comes across as Polish, as the script calls for. She's not pretty enough to turn Fred's head, and when he meets her, she's shown to be the worst dancer in the lineup. If not entranced by her beauty or talent, what is the press agent fighting for? The script, and subsequent casting, doesn't give the audience any believable reason why Fred is so enamored with her that he goes through all the trouble of the film's plot.
The performance that does deserve recognition is Frank Sinatra's. He plays a priest who aides Fred in arrangements for Valli's funeral. Given all we know about Frank Sinatra's personal life, it would hardly be surprising if he didn't seem very priestly. I've never seen such a convincing, realistic portrayal of a priest. Yes, no one can compare to Richard Chamberlain in The Thorn Birds, but he played a conflicted priest. Frank Sinatra's character isn't written to be conflicted or distracted by a problem. He's a priest, as we all imagine them to be. It's an indescribable quality, but he truly comes across as a man of the cloth, completely devoted to God, truth, and love.
Fred does a good job, but this is a role we've seen him in before and will see him in again. However, compared to Valli, the female lead, he deserves an Oscar. The weakest part of the movie is Valli, whose Italian accent hardly comes across as Polish, as the script calls for. She's not pretty enough to turn Fred's head, and when he meets her, she's shown to be the worst dancer in the lineup. If not entranced by her beauty or talent, what is the press agent fighting for? The script, and subsequent casting, doesn't give the audience any believable reason why Fred is so enamored with her that he goes through all the trouble of the film's plot.
The performance that does deserve recognition is Frank Sinatra's. He plays a priest who aides Fred in arrangements for Valli's funeral. Given all we know about Frank Sinatra's personal life, it would hardly be surprising if he didn't seem very priestly. I've never seen such a convincing, realistic portrayal of a priest. Yes, no one can compare to Richard Chamberlain in The Thorn Birds, but he played a conflicted priest. Frank Sinatra's character isn't written to be conflicted or distracted by a problem. He's a priest, as we all imagine them to be. It's an indescribable quality, but he truly comes across as a man of the cloth, completely devoted to God, truth, and love.