History Film / TheMiracleWoman

* InspiredBy: The film, and play that it's based on, were inspired by the life of Aimee Semple [=McPherson=]. Check Wiki/ThatOtherWiki for info on [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aimee_Semple_McPherson her]].

* InspiredBy: The film, and play that it's based on, were inspired by the life of Aimee Semple [=McPherson=]. Check ThatOtherWiki for info on [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aimee_Semple_McPherson her]].

* {{Adorkable}}: John is this. He’s a bit nerdy, a bit shy, and all around sweet.

* InspiredBy: The film, and play that it's based on, were inspired by the life of Aimee Semple [=McPherson=]. Check TheOtherWiki for info on [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aimee_Semple_McPherson her]].

* InspiredBy: The film, and play that it's based on, were inspired by the life of Aimee Semple [=McPherson=]. Check the other wiki for info on [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aimee_Semple_McPhersonher her]].

* YouHaveFailedMe: Hornsby hires different goons who pretend to be healed by Florence. One of his guys pretends to be a cripple, but he comes to the shows so drunk that he misses his cues. Once Hornsby finds out that he was also trying to tell the truth about the church to the newspapers, he has [[MakeItLookLikeAnAccident him promptly killed]].

* FlippingTheBird: This is ThePreCodeEra after all, so a worker raises the finger to Hornsby.

--->'''Hornsby''': Religion is great if you can sell it, no good if you give it away.

--->'''Hornsby''': You think you beat those people, don't you? Well you didn't. There's only one way to lick a mob, sister, ''join them''. You're not a hypocrite if you admit it. Most of the trouble in this world comes from people who have beliefs. The answer is: don't have any! If you have none, you can assume the ones that happen to pay.

--->'''Florence Fallon''': ''[over the radio]'' The trouble with most people is they're quitters; they're yellow. The moment they're put through any sort of test, they cave in. The difference between a man and a jellyfish is the fact that a man has backbone. What did God give them a backbone for? To stand up on his feet; that's what real men do. Beethoven wrote his greatest symphony when he was deaf, Oscar Wilde wrote his greatest poem in jail, and Milton, a blind man, gave a paradise lost. It's easy to forgive sinners, but it's hard to forgive quitters. ''[John is awed at the last remark, laughs ,and closes the window]''

--->'''Florence Fallon''': What God? Whose God? Yours?! This isn't a house of God, this is a meeting for hypocrites [...] Some of you have listened to my father for twenty years and you can't remember one word he said to you, but you will remember this! You subscribed to temperance, and I can tell you the name of you bootleggers; you pretend to be decent, and I know which of you is cheating, wives and husbands. Shall I call out your name? What are running away from, are you afraid of the truth? Is that why you got rid of my father? You are thieves, killers, adulterers, blasphemers, and liars, six days a week. And on the seventh day, you are hypocrites. Go on, get out all of you! Get out, all of you, so I can open some windows and let some fresh air into this church.

* {{Ventriloquism}}: Very much a Capra motif (loser-ish oafs with quirky hobbies), John sometimes uses his dummy to voice his feelings about Florence. It's dorky and sometimes cringe-worthy, but John sells it pretty well.

* SillyRabbitIdealismIsForKids: Hornsby gives a short but sweet lecture to Florence about how idealism is dumb.
--> '''Hornsby''': You're not a hypocrite if you admit it. Most of the trouble in this world comes from people who have beliefs. The answer is: don't have any! If you have none, you can assume the ones that happen to pay.

This is the second collaboration between director Creator/FrankCapra and Stanwyck, and it proves to be an interesting story. The film’s credits open with this line: "The Miracle Woman" is offered as a rebuke to anyone who, under the cloak of Religion, seeks to sell for gold, God's choicest gift to Humanity ---- FAITH.” Powerful words for 1931.

--->'''Florence Fallon''': This isn't the house of God, this is a meeting for hypocrites [...] Some of you have listened to my father for twenty years and you can't remember one word he said to you, but you will remember this! You subscribed to temperance, and I can tell you the name of you bootleggers; you pretend to be decent, and I know which of you is cheating, wives and husbands. Shall I call out your name? What are running away from, are you afraid of the truth? Is that why you got rid of my father? You are thieves, killers, adulterers, blasphemers, and liars, six days a week. And on the seventh day, you are hypocrites. Go on, get out all of you! Get out, all of you, so I can open some windows and let some fresh air into this church.

--->'''Florence Fallon''': ''[over the radio]'' The trouble with most people is they're quitters; they're yellow. The moment their put through any sort of test, they cave in. The difference between a man and a jellyfish is the fact that a man has backbone. What did God give them a backbone for? To stand up on his feet; that's what real men do. Beethoven wrote his greatest symphony when he was deaf, Oscar Wilde wrote his greatest poem in jail, and Milton, a blind man, gave a paradise lost. It's easy to forgive sinners, but it's hard to forgive quitters. ''[John is awed at the last remark, laughs ,and closes the window]''

Left with nowhere to go, she meets a con man by the name of Bob Hornsby (Sam Hardy) who is impressed by her command of stage and presence. He tells her she can get her revenge and a few bucks too, thus inspiring the creation of a church, The Temple of Happiness. She becomes the main attraction; she is a healer, a miracle woman. Undoubtedly, this is [[OnlyInItForTheMoney a sham to greedily gain money, and the men and women that she “cures” are paid, unbeknownst to the audience]].

''The Miracle Woman'' (1931) begins with Florence Fallon (Creator/BarbaraStanwyck) embittered and angry: after serving the church for many years, her father dies heartbroken, knowing that he's being turned out, poor and all, just because the congregation wants to replace him with a younger preacher. Florence calls them out for the hypocrites that they are, making them leave in disgust. Left with nowhere to go, she meets a con man by the name of Bob Hornsby (Sam Hardy) who is impressed by her command of stage and presence. He tells her she can get her revenge and a few bucks too, thus inspiring the creation of a church, The Temple of Happiness. She becomes the main attraction; she is a healer, a miracle woman. Undoubtedly, this is [[OnlyInItForTheMoney a sham to greedily gain money, and the men and women that she “cures” are paid, unbeknownst to the audience]].

* YouHaveFailedMe: Hornsby hires different goons who pretend to be healed by Florence. One of his guys pretends to be a cripple, but he comes to the shows so drunk that he misses his cues. Once Hornsby finds out that he was also trying to tell the truth about the church to the newspapers, he has [[MakeItLookLikeAnAccident him promptly killed]].

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Florence gives a huge one to the churchgoers:
--->'''Florence Fallon''': This isn't the house of God, this is a meeting for hypocrites [...] Some of you have listened to my father for twenty years and you can't remember one word he said to you, but you will remember this! You subscribed to temperance, and I can tell you the name of you bootleggers; you pretend to be decent, and I know which of you is cheating, wives and husbands. Shall I call out your name? What are running away from, are you afraid of the truth? Is that why you got rid of my father? You are thieves, killers, adulterers, blasphemers, and liars, six days a week. And on the seventh day, you are hypocrites. Go on, get out all of you! Get out, all of you, so I can open some windows and let some fresh air into this church.

* TheCorrupter: Hornsby manipulates Florence into thinking that yelling at the churchgoers wasn't enough; she needs to get even with them. How will she do this? By making her own church, by becoming rich and famous, proving that she's better than them all. A pastor's daughter now sells religion to the gullible.

* {{Blackmail}}: Hornsby threatens Florence: he'll tell the newspapers that she embezzled the church's money and murdered their employee. All of this, of course, has been done by Hornsby, not Florence.

* OnlyInItForTheMoney: Hornsby is a drifter you is just looking to make money.

* BeautyEqualsGoodness: Inverted: In her huge church services, Fallon dresses in simple, white clothing to evoke the image of goodness, purity, and an angelic quality. All the things she isn’t.

* FlippingTheBird: This is ThePreCodeEra after all, so a worker raises the finger to Hornsby. *GoldAndWhiteAreDivine: Florence wears white to invoke this trope, to be a “holy” person, but she is anything but.