Miracle at Moreaux (1985 TV Movie) User Reviews

"Where are the Jews?!?"

[jeben · 7/10 · 7 September 2000]

French Catholic boarding house school children meet political war *and* racial war first hand.

Low budget, but high on content, this film takes on racial hatred not with guns, but with a strike-force of touching personal engagements. Children must come to grips with their own stereotypes and bigotry and how better than through other children under the hopeless oppression of Nazi genocide. They win!

Add to the personal touch the sense of Christmas spirit when one of the children, forced to answer the German officer's question, "Where are the Jews?", retorts "Right there!" (pointing to Mary and Joseph in the Christmas play they were rehearsing).

A nice story for families who want to get a fresh perspective on Holocaust suffering from a child's eye. I recommend it.

Nun, Swit, and Tears

[NoDakTatum · 6/10 · 1 November 2023]

Loretta Swit fights Nazis and typecasting in this mild family film set during World War II. Swit is Sister Gabrielle, a nun running a school for children in the French countryside. The kids are not orphans, but their parents have sent them to the school to escape the bombings. Three Jewish children are being led to the Spanish border when their guide breaks into the school to steal food. He is caught by some visiting Nazi soldiers and killed, and Sister Gabrielle pretends the one lone child she does find, Anna (Marsha Moreau), is one of her students. Anna's brother Daniel (Robert Kosoy) and friend Sabine (Talya Rubin) come out of hiding and are given sanctuary in the school. The students don't know what to make of the mysterious trio, especially Dominique (Carla Napier), who repeats the Nazi rumors she has heard about Jews and their religion. The villains are a sympathetic Sergeant Schlimmer (Ken Pogue), who misses his own daughter, and the young Major Braun (Robert Joy), who knows the children are at the school. The children must be at a certain spot in order to be led across the border, and Sister Gabrielle and the other kids come up with a plan involving doubles and the upcoming Christmas pageant.

"Miracle at Moreaux" is touted as a "family feature film," but only runs fifty-eight minutes. It was shot for the PBS series "Wonderworks," and it is obviously made with children in mind. There is nothing here that would be too upsetting, except hearing about the fate of Sabine's family. What is here, however, is rather mild. This was shot in Canada, and the cast is tiny. The school, the surrounding woods, and the Nazi office are the only settings. Without any sort of edge and very little threat, the final escape sequence is almost too easy. I am not sure if this was based on a true story, but read the wordy writing credits that show up onscreen- "Written by Paul Shapiro and Jeffrey Cohen/ Based on a teleplay by Bob Carney/ From a script by Ellen Schecter/ Adapted from the book 'Twenty and Ten' Written by Claire Huchet Bishop and Illustrated by William Pene du Bois". Not enough makes it to the screen for so many hands in the creation. "Miracle at Moreaux" is a very mild little effort full of mild little performances. It is not bad, it is not uplifting, it merely sits there, much like this video back on my local library's shelf.

Heart-Breaking and Touching

[rowena307 · 9/10 · 3 December 2006]

I was in 6th grade when I saw this movie and it touched my heart. The actors were flawless and the music helped make it touching.

The theme is racial discrimination and courage. Anna, Daniel and Sabin have to be resourceful and figure out how to get to Spain without the Nazi's capturing them. The school children have to care for the Jewish children and help them.

When I watched this in Mr. Ebline's language arts class, it took me my whole willpower not to cry. The drama and emotion is huge throughout the movie but mostly when Daniel, Sabin and Anna are talking about their families to the school children. Daniel explains that he doesn't know what happened to his parents and Sabin's family was shot in the open street. The other sad part is when the guide was shot.

This movie has a touch of scariness in it. The chase scene before the Guide was shot kept me on the edge of my seat. (I think I fell off) The scene in which the schoolchildren try to smuggle Anna, Sabin and Daniel over the border was possibly even more scary than the chase scene. The Jews almost got caught but the soldier had a change of heart and decided to not to report them.

Great movie for anyone who lives for drama and sad movies.

Miracle at Moreaux : A Miraculous Find

[happipuppi13 · 10/10 · 18 July 2012]

It's certainly goes without saying that a great percentage of our population here in the states (and maybe the free world) knows Loretta Swit as Major Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan on M*A*S*H.

...But very few know much about other TV shows & movies that she's done. "Miracle at Moreaux" certainly does qualify. I lucked out last week when I found this on VHS (yes< I still have a player) at my local Goodwill in very good condition.

The movie was made in 1985 and aired on PBS in 1986,as part of a program for the family that had a 1 hour film that covered certain subjects and reminded parents to have a talk & answer their kids questions about things they had seen.

Loretta Swit,plays a nun in a very understated,simple manner. She's is in charge of a group of children and clothes them,feeds them,educates them and just overall gives them a home. Enter 3 young Jewish kids in the woods nearby,that are being tracked by German soldiers.

She naturally lets them hide out until she can find a way to help them escape to freedom. Only one girl is not happy that she has let "Jews" in and Swit's character takes this girl to task over it.

Eventually,what we see in this short but well made movie is,a simple definition for kids about toleration & understanding of those different from themselves. A good history lesson that is palatable for the family and also that when people work together,they can perform realistic "miracles",as only humans can do.

Since this movie is set in World War 2 Germany and deals with racism, the nazi's and their searching for Jewish refugees (for reasons not mentioned out loud in the film),it's a good idea that parents should do so.

It's quite clear that the subject matter is toned down greatly. We see guns but they are never fired. We see a soldier give the nazi salute but he doesn't say "heil,hitler". There is of course no bad language either.

I couldn't possibly give this anything but 10 Stars. If you happen to see a copy of this available (in whatever format,I urge you to give it a look.

It's quite interesting to see Loretta in a role most would not have expected of her. (END)

Unwatchable. Worse than an amateur film.

[smiledaydream · 2/10 · 5 March 2021]

Unwatchable. Worse than an amateur Movie. Any college student would make a better movie than this. This is like the worst TV show, the worst acting, the worst writing, the worst production, the worst music. It's comically bad. Science theatre 2000 maybe.