Search - The Man Who Could Work Miracles on DVD

Great movie, lousy transfer

James M. Dickey | Alexandria, Virginia | 01/16/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

""The Man Who Could Work Miracles" is a marvelous humorous fantasy the screenplay of which was both written by and based on a short story by the great early science fiction writer H. G. Wells of "Time Machine" and "The War of the Worlds" fame.

"Miracles" tells of a Mr. Fotheringay, a simple dry goods clerk in early 20th England who is given the power to work miracles by a god who wants to see what use he will make of it. Starring Roland Young (best known in this country as the original "Cosmo Topper" in the film "Topper." The film is highly entertaining as it depicts Mr. Fotheringay's adventures and also raises some genuine moral and philosophical issues about how power should be used and its limits. The FILM is highly recommended.

On the other hand, this is a lousy transfer of the film to DVD, blurry and with a constant annoying flicker. True, the film is nearly 70 years old, but I have a transfer that I made from a laserdisc copy I owned to a DVD-R which is still far superior in quality to this one. In this case, the name of the publisher "Cheezy Flicks" is, I'm afraid, merely a case of truth in advertising!"

H. G. Wells' Lost Masterpiece

B. Frederick | St. Louis, MO, USA | 02/23/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"As an atheist, I don't believe in miracles. But that did not stop me from enjoying this movie immensely. For one thing, his power is granted by one of three gods who talk it over in space before he is given his power. For another, he was chosen at random, had not requested ("prayed for") the power, and only learns he has it by accident.

One of the things I liked about it is that his miracles have consequences. They change things he does not intend as well as things he does. It's funny, really funny, but it is also thought-provoking."