The Small Miracle

TV Movie
1973
1h 13m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

A small boy of rural Italy, befriends a Catholic priest and pleads for help to save his sick donkey. Hearing the stories of St Frances on how he loved cared, even cured animals, comes up wit... Read allA small boy of rural Italy, befriends a Catholic priest and pleads for help to save his sick donkey. Hearing the stories of St Frances on how he loved cared, even cured animals, comes up with notion "If he could just bring his donkey to the Vatican in Rome, and ask the Pope if he... Read allA small boy of rural Italy, befriends a Catholic priest and pleads for help to save his sick donkey. Hearing the stories of St Frances on how he loved cared, even cured animals, comes up with notion "If he could just bring his donkey to the Vatican in Rome, and ask the Pope if he could just place him in the entombed Saint's Chapel, his spiritual presence would cure hi... Read all

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.6/10

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Photos

Storyline

Edit

Did you know

Edit

Alternate versions
For its second run in 1975, the film was edited down to forty-five minutes, so that it could be fitted into a one-hour time slot rather than a ninety-minute one.

Connections
Edited into Hallmark Hall of Fame (1951)

User reviews4

Featured review

4/10

I think this will play better if you are Catholic.

I mean no disrespect, but my summary really is true. I am not a Catholic and didn't get a lot out of this film. However, perhaps Catholics will enjoy it far more. Keep this in mind when you watch the film.

The actor/director Vittorio De Sica stars in this film as a nice old priest who has spent his entire life in Assisi, Italy. He always seems to be annoying his very short-tempered superior (Raf Vallone). This irritation gets a lot worse when a boy named Pepino (Marco Della Cava) takes the priest's words very literally and takes an animal into the crypt of St. Francis to pray for its life. This is because St. Francis was legendary for his bond with animals and stories abound of him preaching to the animals. And, to me, taking the mouse there seems pretty reasonable. But Vallone is NOT happy and instructs Pepino never to do this again. But, when Pepino's donkey appears to be dying, he begs to get permission to bring it to the crypt. Naturally he's told no, and so he goes on a pilgrimage to Rome--to get the Pope himself to grant permission.

The problem I had with this film was not the plot. It was slight but moderately enjoyable. BUT, my problem was with Maro Della Cava. The child simply was annoying and I got very sick of hearing him yell and nag--he was VERY annoying and a terrible child actor. Fortunately, small miracles DO exist, as this was the only film appearance for this annoying brat.