How a "Sacrilegious" Film Changed Hollywood Forever...
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- Опубликовано: 3 янв 2025
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In this video I take a look at THE MIRACLE, a supposedly "sacrilegious" film that caused a Catholic uproar, changed the film industry forever, and gave us Constitutional protections!
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Just saying that The Legion of Decency gave Miracle on 34th Street a “B, or morally objectionable in part” simply because the main character is divorced.
BABE WAKE UP NEW BE KIND REWIND JUST DROPPED
AND A ANNA MAGNANI VID AT THAT!!
BABE LET ME CHECK ON THE KIDS FIRST THEN WE CAN WATCH BKR
What?
🎉
me
That CATHOLIC jumpscare genuinely got me
😂🤣
As usual, simply not seeing the film never seems to occur. No, preventing other people from seeing it is the point.
The book Movie-made America covers film all the way from the beginning and the constant censorship efforts that almost immediately started, it’s very interesting. Makes the whole “cancel culture” thing extra funny because upper class busybodies were up everyone’s ass about everything back then.
Ugh! You are so right.
@@davidbowman2001 And, funny coincidence - that's just about the time when the enchanting expression "up everyone's ass" originated.
Because you can't force people to not watch the movie.....oh wait.
@@davidbowman2001"Cancel culture" is literally just more of the same. I hope you're smart enough to realize that.
We Italians may have the Vatican sitting inside our borders, but the USA has always beaten us in terms of religious prudery and fanaticism.
Bhè, dipende... Sicuramente l'atteggiamento puritano è molto più palese. Sul fanatismo direi che la partita è, ahimè, aperta 😅
More a Protestant problem than a Catholic one. That’s what happens when deeply-flawed theology teaches you’re either saved or you’re not, and that works don’t matter.
As an American, I find that fascinating.
@@Wired4Life2EXACTLY!!!
And then, there's that.
I love these videos because as a film lover the give great engaging film history and while still being so modern and a little messy. Like, I don't if it's just me but every time she pulls out receipts or gives me background on something salacious that happened almost 100 years ago, I'm like oohhh TEA! The dead actors are fighting!!!
Hahaha! Same. It satiates my inner gossip. 😂
Same same gossip of the past! yassss
Word.
Like....ValleyBoy! Like...WTF R U TALKING ABOUT??? Like....ANY IDEA WHATSOEVER...like???? like... lol...like BTW, 'like' this please! like Give it a GAZILLION likes because I like likes! I also like the actual word like! Did jou like notice??? like!
One of my most vivid childhood memories is my mother's (a committed Catholic) refusal to stand for the Legion of Decency pledge. Great job on the video essay.
ALL CathoLICKs should be 'COMMITTED'! Christianity is a SATANIC religion, BASED on human SACRIFICE. Did jou drink yer BLOOD of the Christ today???
Seriously, your videos belong on Criterion Collection blu ray special features. I get so much from these videos it’s insane, thank you!
Yup! INSANE is the accurate adjective here! (see 99% of the Herd)
Anna Magnani, is a staggeringly gifted actress. I've loved her ever since I first experienced her brilliance in "The Rose Tattoo". ❤😊
The Rose Tatoo really deserves a Proper 1080p Blu Ray release someday.
Mama Roma was the first one I saw her in. Brilliance!
@@eamonndeane587 PREACH!
@@Mondomeyer Brilliance indeed! She lights up the firmament with her talent/gift.
staggeringly ??? Is she like....DRUNK??? like
The Miracle walked so Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf could crash through the window full bore.
You always find pockets of film history that I've never heard discussed on other channels! Thank you for educating us
Some people just continually need to be reminded that they are not the boss
It feels a bit like deja vu learning about this, especially when looking at book bans and everything happening in the USA right now
My soul yearned for a BKR video today, thank you so much for putting so much effort into your work!
Maybe jou need more comfortable shoes??? (;
I watched Rome Open City in a film studies class in 1982. It blew me away. Similar to Schindler's list but showed the randomness of the horror of the war that they had just lived through. No swelling music scores no close ups at the pivotal moments in the film. Those were for the after math the characters went through.
BKR- I'm sure she's heard it multiple times, but, one of the best essayists on YT!!! I always come away with great film info and I feel incredibly enlightened with every video. Watched some Rossellini films w/ my partner for their Cityscapes film class and I was very touched by Italian cinema. Thank you BKR for the great content and thorough research! ❤
What Bodie Russell said.
She's insanely talented. She keeps making masterpiece after masterpiece.
Anna Magnani is to me one of the most naturally gifted actresses and most magnetic and versatile people ever put on screen, only Bette and Judy, and maybe Ingrid Bergman can even come close to her imo
Dear BKR, Thank you once again for another informative, and enjoyable piece. In the current socio-political environment, where a portion of America is attempting to Make America Great Again, it is interesting to see how politically, socially, and culturally conservative "That" America was. There are as many years between us now, and the America of The Legion Of Decency, as there was from that time, to the end of Slavery, and the American Civil War. At its heart this is an issue about change, both then, and now.
Oh, shut up, you self-admiring git.
True. Knee jerk reaction.
Nothing frightens leftists more than people daring to hold different beliefs.
It's so interesting to watch how conservative the party that USED to hate the FBI/CIA, and USED to believe the duty of the press is to question the powerful and the government, whichever party was in power.
Go watch MSNBC and continue literally trembling over them scary MAGA people (they're not the ones who burned billions and killed dozens to get the packaging on boxes of pancake mix).
That portion attempting to "make America great again" is a cancerous cult, that's already done the nation so much harm. It was disgusting that they would imply America is not great. And it was horrible to have a "president" who saw the majority of American citizens as his enemy. And it was embarrassing to have an unregistered sex offender with a porn star wife *in the Whitehouse!* 😞
I pray for the day when we are all Americans together. That would be great. God bless you, dear reader. We'll get through this...together. United we stand, divided we fall. 🌹
Nobody expects the Legion of Decency!
I see what you did there 😂
And as a Catholic, I find it hilarious
This was an excellent video essay! I’m fascinated by early radio, television, and motion pictures because you can see the progression of the media in relation to changing attitudes of society. We have been enriched by movies that push boundaries and offer alternative perspectives.
STOPPED EVERYTHING I WAS DOING
NEW BKR VIDEOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
All BKR's video essays are highly entertaining, informative, and insightful; this latest entry demonstrates why this series is truly important, necessary, and invaluable. More, please, thank you.
David N, You get 10 pts for knowing Grade 5 English spelling, and grammar! Too bad the vast majority haven't mastered that skill!
Cardinal Francis Joseph Spellman was always quick to use his power on people and walked around as if he was the moral compass of the nation, he was a defender of McCarthy & McCarthyism. A little fact about Spellman is that he was a gay man, one of his "lovers" included Roy Cohn.
Probably the greatest opening line of any video essay ever.
I loved the Anna Magnani video so it’s nice to see her making a comeback of sorts.
Finally, been waiting since I saw the IG story
you are a wonderful essayist. not only will i watch this video a few more times, but i'll make sure others watch it too. very nicely done.
As an American who was raised in a strict Catholic household I'm not surprised at all by this. The Church has always issued orders to the faithful not to see this film or that, as well as books. I remember seeing the 'Last Temptation of Christ' & being greeted by a very large crowd of protestors. The Church had ordered the faithful to boycott & protest the film.
It’s very interesting because I live in a very catholic country but it’s not that uptight. The majority of people watch whatever they want now and in the past
It’s actually infuriating how relevant this video is. Why do conservatives believe that they get to dictate what everyone else watches?
Or what they wear, or who they love....
@@aksez2u when the Bible literally says DON’T JUDGE
@@perryjones7771 The bible is not their handbook. At all. "christianity" is a cover for their authoritarian fascism.
Their argument often uses the phrase, "But what about the children!" while the kids are like, "Now, why are we in this?"
@@aksez2u Was gonna post that.
Drop everything you are doing. The new BKR video is heeeeeeerrrrreeeeeee!
You have inspired me to take a film course! I’m exited. Love your videos.
Not sure if this is the first BKR essay I've ever seen, but regardless...
Well done !!! I will be checking out more~~~
It felt informative, entertaining, and well-researched.
You made "history" interesting and engrossing for someone who loves movies but doesn't love "history."
WHO not sure???
As soon as I see u upload a video I gotta tune in a watch; your videos are amazing and I love everything that you do. You’ve inspired me to do so much!! Thank you❤️❤️❤️
Your videos are incredible. So diligently researched, written in away that keeps you listening, and a voice that relaxes you while doing so! Also excellent incorporation of visual editing
I have seen and read other descriptions about how important this film was in the overturn of Mutual, but your video is the best organized and clear picture of everything that was going on, and the conditions that existed for the decision. Bravo, well done!
Once again, an exemplary entry. And (as always) deeply researched and informative. I knew about the problems with films about "race" in terms of the South (so many films were "banned", especially during the late 1940s, when Hollywood would try to make films addressing the nation's racial problems, such as PINKY, LOST BOUNDARIES, HOME OF THE BRAVE, and INTRUDER IN THE DUST, but had no idea that some of these cases went to trial, and that the appellate courts at the time upheld the bans because racial segregation was accepted as legal). Joseph L. Mankewicz had talked about this situation, because in 1950, his film NO WAY OUT was subjected to the same problems, and its restricted showings in the South and its ban in many urban centers in the North (such as Chicago), set the film up for failure. Mankiewicz was always proud of his film (he was proud of the fact that he went to NYC and went to places like the Negro Ensemble Company, to seek out black talent, finding people like Sidney Poitier, Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis, and to bring them to Hollywood), and he felt it was as important as his other 1950 film (which was the megahit ALL ABOUT EVE). So you make a compelling point about the attempt of the Catholic Legion of Decency to assert authority, and in a predominantly Protestant country, that went over like a lead balloon.
You're such an amazing storyteller, thankyou so much for your work. X
You have been popping off recently, these videos have been coming out so quickly
A timely and important, yet fun and engaging video. Your batting average on this channel is incredible!
Every time I watch something by “BKR”, it inspires me to do something new in film. God, I love this channel.
I love your videos! Film history (like regular ol history) reminds us that things haven't changed much except for the end of the Production Code. A few years ago, we almost had Congressional hearings over another European movie on Netflix. Incidentally, Netflix plays a bunch of their movies at the Paris Theater now.
Wow, I didn't know any of this before! Just fascinating. Great video as always!
Love the song choice when speaking about the Catholic church
Great, stimulating content ... forms part of my renaissance of the appreciation of cinema ...
I'm 15 minutes into the video (great job as always, this is so captivating!) and I just want to say something that I find extremely ironic in all of this.
I'm italian, and as an italian studying cinema I have of course been exposed multiple times to Neorealismo and movies such as Rome open city. I distinctly remember, during one of our lessons, that a teacher of ours asked us how we thought Open city, which is, for anyone that hasn't seen it, a war movie set in Nazi-occupied Rome about the hardships and heroic deeds of the Resistance, had been promoted abroad (in the USA specifically, if I'm not wrong). Well, none of us guessed what the answer was.
Apparently, the initial promotion of the movie abroad relied very heavily on presenting it as a scandalous picture, harping on the fact that it included many 'osé' topics (i.e. female characters strolling around in lingerie -in their own changing rooms and bedrooms, how scandalous!-, a number of queer coded characters, Magnani's character being pregnant out of wedlock...). All of these elements were indeed in the movie but they were just part of the realism and crudness of the post war situation Rossellini (and subsequent neorealist pictures) were describing, but once the movie was brought to a foreign public which clearly hadn't that in its own pictures, they were sensationalized and turned into a spectacle to fill seats.
The hypocrisy of this whole ordeal.
"Alla U w0ps get offa da lawn!!!" L0L Cheech and Chong 1969
Using the dramatic Lacrimosa music while reading the Catholic Church, quotes is perfect. Also, LOL at your first communion picture. If you know you know. Also, if anything, this movie sounds like it promotes faith and is criticizing the people for mocking her. I thought this censorship was going to be about something actually scandalous!
I wouldn't go as far as saying that the Miracle promotes faith. Everyone in that movie ( us, the viewers included) knows, what has happened. The only exception being the main heroine. But more than that... This film condemns cruelty. Yes, she was pure soul lost in her mind, but it doesn't give us (and everybody in her village) to be cruel to her just because she was raped and her psyche choose to protect her from that in this way. Care and help is the right reaction, not mockery and physical cruelty.
The movie IS in fact religious. The story arc involves multiple actual miracles, and the main premise is that the novice ruins multiple lives by abandoning her vocation to holy orders! But the first part of the film makes it seem very sacrilegious, and the timing of what was released before and during the same time creating a kind of "simultaneous contrast" that did make it seem anti Catholic.
@@freshname the Miracle promoters faith.??? Just Juan word...WTF??? (Is that 3 words?)
I just wanna tell you your videos are BOMB! 🔥 Girl I’ve been watching you for a year now and these videos are so sickening! ✨ Top notch in every way!
it’s pretty infuriating that some of the strongest voices opposing letting this film be shown did not even watch it 😑
I had the same E.N.T. doctor that Cardinal Spellman had. 50 years ago, they still used legal amounts of cocaine for certain conditions. I didn't get high but I could breath properly for the first time in my life.
Nice work. Did NOT know all this material. Interesting perspectives, too.
My understanding of history has been broadened, and there are so very many lessons to be taken from this - Thank you! Also, love your sense of humor :)
This video heals my soul ❤❤
I loved this episode so much. I usually know a bit about whatever you are profiling, but this was ALL new to me - and utterly fascinating. Wow.
That octopus would make a great tattoo.
Izzy! I love these film history videos aside from your actresses videos! Keep making these!
I just watched the documentary on Judy Blume, that & your video uncomfortably reminded me of the attempts of censorship today, in 2023. It never stops & we must never stop fighting it.
I'm watching this and thinking... "Hmm, Disney, Florida." 🤔🏰
OUTSTANDING video, thank you for such consistently great work!
@Be Kind Rewind - when you posted the recent vid about Marylin I commented that you had the skills to write and produce an essay about the triumphs of Norma in opposition to the "tragedy narrative" that is so prevalent for 61 years. One of your subscribers thought that I was attacking you with a sarcastic fake suggestion! I assured him that I was being sincere as you clearly have the thinking, writing and narration skills to undertake such a good idea. I still think it's a good idea.
"Degradation" is pronounced "deh-grah-DAY-shun". I always thought that the film was about a pilgrimage to that place where that thing happened where the two little girls saw the Virgin Mother but I was going off the title with zero info and now...
I find the subject of censorship in movies quite fascinating as there are parallels of movie censorship in the past and that of book banning happening in the present. In both cases, it seems in both cases, the root cause is because both the older and the younger generations were politically at odds with each other on what they considered as “morally acceptable”.
exposing kids to pornography in schools shouldn't even be debated. IN 50's there was a fight between liberty and obscurity, these days the fight is between normal decency and totally disgusting depravation, if you broaden your point of view, and look at what other countries did and thought those day, and what do and think know, you understand that the similiarities are just apparent
The problem is that extreme right wing zealots automatically label everything that is LGBTQ content as “pornography” regardless is the content is tame. They banned a kids book because it has two gay penguins, that’s just ridiculous!
Also if you don’t want your kids to read those books, then don’t allow them to. You don’t need to make that decision for other parents regarding their children, just saying!
@@davy209 it's the contrary: if you want your kids read those books, let them doing. But talking about sex and 'gender' to 6-8, and even 10 yo kids, is wrong on any level, and schools shouldn't let kids of that age reading those stuff
Yeah because kids that sometimes other kids have either two moms or two dads is so traumatizing to them…
It’s, of course, insane that it took until 1952 for the US Supreme Court to hold that motion pictures fall within the purview of the First Amendment. (I’m not sure if it’s better to have a First Amendment to protect against some reactionary, repressive minority pressuring the government to act or to not have that reactionary, repressive minority in the first place.)
(32:13-32:25) '...mere weeks after the "Miracle" decision.'
Actually even closer than that -- just one week (Monday June 2, 1952, being just one week after Monday May 26, 1952).
Ms BKR, you are fabulosity itself!
Another awesome presentation.
Thank you!
🙏😘❤️
It’s shame the life of Brian wasn’t made 40 years earlier. It would of been fantastic watching cardinal whatshisname’s head explode.
Excellent video. Honestly, U.S. film culture can be so repressed regarding themes and doesn't even watch the films it allegedly says are bad to watch. All the more reason to watch them. Also, as a former Catholic, the repression of free artistic expression and its connection to the Hays Code, censorship boards, etc is too finely linked. It's hard not to see a film made during the Hays Code where corners weren't cut finely just to get a notion across, and why there was such a sexual explosion in the late 60s into the 70s and 80s. So much was repressed.
Also, I think it's fascinating that the theme of The Miracle was more contentious than the lead actress in the film. When Anna Magnani won her Oscar for doing a Hollywood film, one had to think if that was a peer-driven way for Hollywood to recognize her previous films for shaking the barley for their own freedom of speech through artistic expression.
insideouter, (see what I did there?) Society has GRADUALLY been SATANIZED! I've seen it happen in my lifetime!
GREAT, great work!!!!
Thank you for this great video. You really make a terrific work.
amazing video, I now want to marathon all the movies you mentioned
I didn't expect to be that interested in this story but then it got into the real legal challenges and the politics of the Supreme Court and I was invested again.
Thank you for this excellent video, I learned a lot about movie history that I thought I already knew.
So far, this is the best video I've seen on all of RUclips in 2023.
my mom grew up very Catholic, but she always saw those "condemned by the Legion of Decency" labels as a seal of quality. Like if they are saying it's corrupting, it's probably a good movie
What does it mean to be very Catholic? As in very INDOCTRINATED?
@@mr.blackhawk142 I meant as in she went to Catholic school, taught catechism (specifically 1st communion), went on a retreat at a convent every year, made rosaries as a hobby...that kind of very Catholic.
She was not indoctrinated enough to stay with the church when some of the parishioners said I was going to hell.
6:24 What do they have against maggots lol
Perhaps the depiction of maggots in beef might turn someone in the audience towards vegetarianism, and as we all know, vegetarianism is communism!😂
WTH...I'm subscribed and notifications on and yet RUclips doesn't alert me to your videos dropping. If I don't check in on your channel myself every once in awhile I'd never know new vids are out. Huge fan of your channel❤
Amazingly well researched video.
BKR's narrating and editing video are improve significantly! Keep up the good work then. As a fellow cinephile, I always enjoy and support your channel.
Ps: cute picture of younger you in catholic school there
Ps:??? 1st door to yer left!
This is a good indicator of how, because more stories could be represented after the codes were lifted from this case, that more could be done to gain the rights of all because of this case. Keeps me hopeful for the future what with the current social climate :)
This is very enlightening. Thank you.
Such an interesting account. And sadly still relevant battles within our society. Great video, thanks
So interesting. I am so thankful for how far we have come.
Interesting fact 4:19 the actor behind Anna Magnani is Director Fedrico Felliini.
Critics back then would have a heart attack if they ever saw oldboy (2003)
Similar groups succeeded in banning "Joyland" in Pakistan last year 😑
Sorry... Gerald McBoing-Boing??
I choked on my tea 😂
Thank you for this. I got all the way through film grad school without hearing about this case.
The censor's list for 'Battleship Potemkin' include all the most memorable shots in the movie!
super interesting episode. Thanks!
Love this channel
As they say in another BKR video: “And then, the Catholics mobilized.”
Thank you for a great presentation.
What apt timing considering that a teacher in Florida is being investigated for showing a Disney film where the protagonist is gay in the midst of DeSantis' Don't Say Gay bill and lawsuit against Disney
The Minions of Moscow should be a band's name.
When the catholics card popped up i laughed pretty hard.
Fun fact: The Miracle is actually adapted from the novel "Flor de Santidad," "Flower of Holiness," by 19th century Spanish writer Ramon del Valle-Inclan, in which a virginal, mystical peasant girl is made pregnant by a passing pilgrim that she believes to be Jesus Christ.
Amazing as always
Lookee there…I too at tended Catholic school for twelve years as well. 🎭
Oh hello fellow former-catholic. (I presume, I don't think anyone I went to Catholic school with stayed Catholic)
@@TheJillers Just Catholic on the books. The he Catholic Church is a hot mess.
I'm a rare bird: a liberal practicing Catholic. The Church is a hot mess but some of us are staying within and fighting for change. Completely understand leaving though.
The more things change . . .
The call to boycott a venue showing a particular film, or that " may show it henceforth" is rather ominous. Sounds an awful lot like the concept of pre-crime.
it will never cease to amaze how some people feel entitled to rob other people of their own experience, interpretive thoughts and ideas...and how so many people think they need to be told 'right' from 'wrong' or in this case 'holy' or 'un'.
Yup! At least we are 'FREE' to PAY for THREE houses to buy one! Gotta love DEMONcracy!!!
Informing and Entertaining. Love the vídeo.
How many children was Spellman abusing while being a self righteous jerk about a movie he didn't understand