"The Miracle Man" is a great film....up until the very disappointing and hard to believe ending. It's a real shame, as it was quite compelling up until then.
When the story begins, you see that John 'Doc' Madison (Chester Morris) is the leader of a gang of grifters who cheat folks by preying on their decency. However, after he gets in a fight with Nikko (Boris Karloff), he nearly kills him...and takes it on the lam. He eventually finds himself in a strange small town. Strange because there is no doctor and folks go to a local faith healer, 'The Patriarch', for healing. John gets the idea to exploit this and use it to make a big score...so he contacts the gang and has them meet him there. However, over time, several gang members come to believe in the power of The Patriarch...and John is having a hard time getting this big score. What's next? Well....it's pretty disappointing!
There are two things I didn't like about the film. The first was minor...Karloff's accent seemed weird. The second one, however, was HUGE....after such a wonderful setup, the ending is a real letdown...and left me very disappointed. It's a shame, as up until then it was great! Terrifically cynical...but the ending undoes all that great cynicism.
When the story begins, you see that John 'Doc' Madison (Chester Morris) is the leader of a gang of grifters who cheat folks by preying on their decency. However, after he gets in a fight with Nikko (Boris Karloff), he nearly kills him...and takes it on the lam. He eventually finds himself in a strange small town. Strange because there is no doctor and folks go to a local faith healer, 'The Patriarch', for healing. John gets the idea to exploit this and use it to make a big score...so he contacts the gang and has them meet him there. However, over time, several gang members come to believe in the power of The Patriarch...and John is having a hard time getting this big score. What's next? Well....it's pretty disappointing!
There are two things I didn't like about the film. The first was minor...Karloff's accent seemed weird. The second one, however, was HUGE....after such a wonderful setup, the ending is a real letdown...and left me very disappointed. It's a shame, as up until then it was great! Terrifically cynical...but the ending undoes all that great cynicism.