Last night, my Movie Meet Up enjoyed a screening of 1931's Miracle Woman. I not only enjoyed it as a film, taken on its own merits, I appreciated it for its place in the canon of filmdom. It was an early talkie, early Frank Capra and early Barbara Stanwyck.
The story, about a shady radio evangelist redeemed by love, wasn't hard to relate to in today's world. Stanwyck's performance was good -- and I always appreciate watching her work in our Meet Up because our moderator, Will, is such a fan and his enthusiasm is infectious. And most interesting of all, for me, was the fact that the movie had no score.
I was told this wasn't really a creative decision on the part of Capra. His later films all had background music. Miracle Woman had no score because in 1931, it simply wasn't easy to do.
In retrospect, it was a good decision. 85 years later, without corny music swelling up, the movie seems less dated and more watchable.
It was also cool to see Joanna again for the first time in 2017. We really have to get together again. But I know the next two weeks are going to busy for me at work, and she said she'll be traveling for business, so I guess that will have to wait.
I don't know this film, but I'm going to ask my library's movie guru if he can screen it.
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