A storm of controversy erupted when Roberto Rossellini’s “The Miracle” was released with “The Human Voice” in 1948 as a two-part film, “L’Amore.” Cardinal Spellman in New York was particularly outraged at this tale of a simple woman who sleeps with a bum (portrayed by screenwriter Federico Fellini) under the impression that he is Saint Joseph. The next item on her agenda is giving birth to Jesus Christ, a plan which is greeted with derision by the people of her village. Blasphemous or not, “The Miracle” and “The Human Voice” gave Anna Magnani a superb showcase, and she made the most of it. She began her career in small parts like the maid she played in “Deadline” a 1934 Vittorio De Sica comedy. Magnani’s enormous talent might well have been consigned to servant roles for the rest of her life on film had it not been for Rossellini’s and her own willingness to give the movies a realism they never had before./

© 2007 - Monica Sullivan - Air Date: 6/27/07