page_title: The Miracle (1912 film)
section_title: Literary sources
hierarchical_section_title: The Miracle (1912 film) / Literary sources
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Caesariusdenkmal in Königswinter-Oberdollendorf – Bronzeplastik des Caesarius von Heisterbach (ca. 1180–1240) von Ernemann Sander, 1991
context_page_description: The Miracle, is a British silent full-colour film, using a hand-coloured process similar to Pathéchrome. Produced by Joseph Menchen and directed by Michel Carré, it is among the very first full-colour feature films to be made. It stars Maria Carmi, Ernst Matray, Florence Winston and Douglas Payne, and was filmed on location in Austria.
  The Miracle was not intended to be shown as an ordinary film in the usual way, but was designed by Menchen to be shown as part of a 'Lyricscope play'. This was an unusual spectacular theatrical presentation which – in its most elaborate and complete expression – included: the projected colour film; a full-sized symphony orchestra and chorus performing Engelbert Humperdinck's score; live sound effects such as church bells and crowd noises; stage sets around the projection screen which changed during the performance; and live actors and dancers in medieval costume. The various component parts of this ideal production varied somewhat according to local conditions.
context_section_description: The miraculous legend of a wayward nun named Beatrice has been retold many times since it was first collected in the early 13th century by Caesarius of Heisterbach in his Dialogus miraculorum (1219–1223). The tale was revived by Maurice Maeterlinck in 1901 in a minor play named Soeur Beatrice (Sister Beatrice), drawing on versions by Villiers de l'Isle-Adam and on the 14th-century Dutch poem Beatrijs. Maeterlinck described his own work (and Ariane et Barbe-bleue) as "...little scenarios, short poems of the type unfortunately called 'opera-comique', destined to furnish the musicians who asked for them, a theme amenable to lyrical developments. They pretend to nothing further." According to one critic, however, Ariane et Barbe-bleue and Soeur Beatrice "are, in truth, absolutely devoid of serious effort, aesthetic, doctrinal, or moral." 
  According to Jethro Bithell, "As a reading play Sister Beatrice is ruined by the species of blank verse in which it is said to be written. Typographically it is arranged in prose form; but palpable verses of this kind madden the reader:"
     "II est prudent et sage; et ses yeux sont plus doux 
  
      Que les yeux d'un enfant qui se met a genoux."
  Maeterlinck used the same style in Monna Vanna: "...written, partly, in the same kind of blank verse as Sister Beatrice—very poor stuff considered as poetry, and very troublesome to read as prose."  
  Sister Beatrice was produced by Vsevolod Meyerhold at the Moscow Arts Theatre in 1906, a production which Reinhardt may possibly have been aware of. Maeterlinck's play was also produced in March 1910 at the New Theatre, New York, with Edith Wynne Matthison in the title part.
  While recovering from an illness aged 18 in 1896, Karl Vollmoeller had a vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary which had a profound impression on him, and which later became the basis of his wordless play, The Miracle. In a later interview he recounted: "While living in Italy, I had the chance to become absorbed in Latin manuscripts which told the history of the saints of the Catholic Church. (ie Heisterbach). One of these legends inspired me to write my play known as The Miracle... I wrote this piece (play) all at the same time (in one go), before films were made. I wish to state most emphatically that my play contains a spiritual  message for the whole world, not only for Christians."
  In another interview in 1913, Vollmoeller said of The Miracle: "The Miracle is not a theatre play in the ordinary sense. It is intended as an appeal to religious feeling. To attempt to cater in a play of this sort exclusively to the rich or the snobbish would be a great mistake. Often the people who would appreciate a play are the people who cannot afford the price of admission. For a production like The Miracle to coach the people for whom it was primarily intended it must have a low price of admission."
caption: Statue of Caesarius of Heisterbach
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