Bessie Smyth
Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.
Edwin
The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.
Cristal
The movie really just wants to entertain people.
Goingbegging
The Thirties were racing towards their close, accompanied by a curious speeded-up style of film dialogue, as though the writers were being paid by the word. These flat, metallic exchanges are suitable enough for wisecracks, but they kill any sincerity in lines that are meant to carry emotional depth. So for example, the film opens on Robert Young (later to be your favourite TV doctor Marcus Welby) putting the case for exposing fake mediums in order to protect genuine seekers after psychic truth. He sounds like more like an auctioneer at a meat-market.This was the last film to be directed by Tod Browning, who exploits his own early experience in the circus by replicating all manner of smoke-and-mirror spectaculars that can hold the attention of audiences who may have been left somewhat behind by the intricacies of the plot. But a conference of magicians is always going to make a good start to a murder story.It was Browning who had also directed the first Dracula talkie, and he brings in touches of it here, notably in the casting of Gloria Holden, previously of Dracula's Daughter, whose disdainful manner was believed to reflect her genuine boredom at appearing in movies she felt were beneath her. But her disdain manages to suggest mystery, and we are kept wondering whether this glamorous medium will be unmasked before the end. Glamour of a more conventional kind is provided by Florence Rice as the vulnerable blonde at the mercy of sinister dark forces. They say there were also some dark forces in the studio, claiming that it was only her well-connected father who got her the roles, apparently blighting her career.One joke that certainly wouldn't be allowed today - a haunted skull moving its jaw up and down ("Obviously a woman!"). And a good disciplined performance by a fortyish William Demarest as the regulation sceptical cop.
Mark R. Leeper
This film rarity was the last film directed by Tod Browning, who directed Dracula (1931) and FREAKS (1932) as well as several Lon Chaney films. Sadly it turns out to be a surprisingly conventional murder mystery. The main character, played by Robert Young, is an inventor of illusions for stage magician and in his spare time he is a debunker of fake spiritualist mediums. Browning, who used real circus freaks for FREAKS, did not bother to use real stage illusions from the magicians. Instead he uses obvious camera tricks or card tricks in which he plants convenient cards in the performers hands. Fans of Universal horror films of the 30s and 40s will enjoy seeing many familiar faces including Henry Hull of THE WEREWOLF OF London, Gloria Holden of Dracula'S DAUGHTER, and Frank Craven of SON OF Dracula. Also playing is William Demarest and Eddie Acuff. In the end the film really does not work because someone who uses a disguise is just not very well disguised. Rating: 0 on the -4 to +4 scale or 4/10
chank46
The first time I ever saw Florence Rice, that I know of, was in Four Girls in White. I fell in love with her immediately! Don't let one of the other reviews fool you, Florence was a talented hard working actress with a natural appeal, the girl next door type. She also had a comedy streak in her. She and Robert Young create some real "magic" in Miracles for Sale. (pun intended)Tod Browning brings his directorial good sense to the proceedings. Miracles for Sale is a delightful slice of a bygone era.Sometimes being born privileged is a drawback. Was Florence the victim of petty Hollywood jealousies keeping her from being the huge star that she showed promise of being? Forty seven movies in ten years, OK they weren't all epics but she worked with some pretty heavy hitters. Perhaps in this day of DVD/VHS and our fascination with nostalgia, Florence Rice can be re-born into the STAR she should have been.
F Gwynplaine MacIntyre
"Miracles for Sale" still attracts interest because it was the last film directed by cult figure Tod Browning. (He contributed to one screenplay after this film, but didn't direct it.)"Miracles for Sale" is SO CLOSE to being a good film. The action takes place at a convention of magicians, and we meet one of each type: there's a card-trick specialist, an escape artist, and so forth. A magician gets murdered in an "impossible" way: obviously, one of the other magicians committed the murder, using some kind of conjuror's trick. But whodunnit, and how?This film violates the most basic rule of magic: never do the same trick twice for the same audience, unless you do it two different ways. In one scene, sitting at a breakfast table, Robert Young casually waves his hand and makes a sugar bowl vanish into thin air. We didn't expect it, so we don't see how he did it. He orders another sugar bowl from the waiter, played by the annoying bit-part actor Chester Clute. When it arrives, Young waves his hand again and makes the second sugar bowl vanish too, by the same method. This time we're expecting it, so we see how he does it ... and you'll be as disappointed as I was.One scene is very eerie for a few seconds, when Young discovers a typewriter busily typing out a death threat ALL BY ITSELF, with no human operator. We see the typewriter's keys moving, with nobody touching them. Spooky! But then we notice that the keys are moving IN SEQUENCE from left to right, so the typewriter can't be typing out any message except QWERTYUIOP ASDFGHJKL. I wish that MGM's special-effects department had worked a little harder on this scene, and made the typewriter keys move randomly.Frank Craven (the original Stage Manager in "Our Town") gives a decent performance here. He has some funny lines about how much he hates New York City, and what a lousy place New York City is. The payoff for this schtick is vaguely amusing. A funnier bit occurs near the end, when Craven gets caught in a Rube Goldberg contraption which forcibly dresses him in a ridiculous costume.Florence Rice, the love interest in this film, is blond and pretty but not very talented. Her father was Grantland Rice, a very popular (and powerful) sportswriter in the 1930s, and her brief film career was largely due to his influence.At one point in "Miracles for Sale", one of this film's cast members appears (in heavy make-up) disguised as another cast member, and we're supposed to be fooled. I spotted the disguise, which helped me solve the mystery. You'll probably spot it too.I give "Miracles for Sale" 6 points out of 10, and one of those points is merely a tribute to Tod Browning.
