Das Mirakel


Das Mirakel is a black-and white silent German film made and released in 1912, directed by Mime Misu for the Berlin film production company Continental-Kunstfilm GmbH. It was based on Karl Vollmoeller's 1911 play, The Miracle. The film was originally advertised as The Miracle in Britain and the US, but after copyright litigation in both countries it was shown as Sister Beatrix and Sister Beatrice respectively. In Germany it was known as Das Marienwunder: eine alte Legende.
The film stars Lore Giesen, Mime Misu, and Anton Ernst Rückert. The screenplay was by Mime Misu, and the cinematographer was Emil Schünemann, who was also behind the camera for Misu's film about the disaster, In Nacht und Eis.

Plot

The film opens in the nave of a cathedral. People cry out in awe as a blind woman's lost sight is restored. A procession forms, including many pilgrims and nuns. They pass through the cloisters, chanting.
Among the nuns there is one younger and more beautiful than the rest, named Beatrix. Among the pilgrims is a handsome knight. The two are attracted to each other during the service in the cathedral. Disturbed by her weakness, Beatrix struggles to control her emotions.
Gradually the knight overcomes Beatrix's resistance, aided by the Spirit of Evil, a sinister apparition that makes its appearance several times throughout the story. It in turn is countered by a second apparition that appears as a beautiful nun, the Spirit of Good.
When worshippers leave the cathedral after vespers, Beatrix throws down her robe and keys and flees with her handsome knight. The building is now empty and silent, with light falling on the motionless statue of the Virgin. Then the miracle happens. The statue of the Madonna comes to life, and steps down from her throne. She picks up the garment discarded by the infatuated nun, and takes up her place before the barren altar.
The other nuns return notice that the statue of the Virgin has vanished. Assuming it has been stolen, they turn upon the woman they think to be Beatrix, and are about to lead her with execrations when the Madonna rises slowly from her feet into the air, and stands before them.
In the second half of the drama deals with the adventures of the nun in the world. We see her gradual degradation physically and spiritually as she goes from one lover to another. The Spirit of Evil urges on her degradation and uses her as a pawn to destroy the souls of others she encounters.
At last, the Spirit of Good appears and leads a worn out Beatrix back to the gates of the cathedral. She sneaks inside afraid and ashamed. She finds the cathedral empty except for a single figure, which stands motionless before the empty altar. Beatrix goes forward to throw herself upon the mercy of the solitary watcher—and then the figure turns, and the Madonna reveals herself to the nun whose place she has taken.
Beatrix is about to run in fright when the sanctuary gates close miraculously, and she finds herself imprisoned in the cathedral. She prostrates herself upon the ground. A smile of pity comes over the face of the Virgin Mother. She stretches out her hand and raises Beatrix up. She then returns to her throne, leaving the pardoned penitent Beatrix to take up the pure life once again. Beatrix is now tranquil. A shaft of sunlight breaks through the cathedral windows and illuminates the scene.

Background

At least two films with the title The Miracle were made and released in 1912: the Continental-Kunstfilm version directed by Mime Misu, and the 'authorised' version directed by Michel Carré with most of the principal cast, costumes, and music coming from the original 1911 London production by Max Reinhardt of the play, The Miracle.
  • Das Mirakel produced by Continental-Kunstfilm GmbH
  • The Miracle produced by Joseph Menchen
From December 1911 to March 1912 London's Olympia Exhibition Hall was turned into an enormous stage set for one of the biggest theatrical shows London had ever experienced. This was Max Reinhardt's production of The Miracle, a wordless mime play by Karl Vollmoeller with music by Engelbert Humperdinck. The production involved a cast of around 1,000 minor players plus girl dancers and miscellaneous boys and girls, with an orchestra of 200 players, a chorus of 500 and a specially-installed organ. This spectacular mediaeval pageant was performed before a nightly audience of 8,000, with two matinees a week.
Although Vollmoeller's play had been copyrighted, it was largely based on the well-known legend of 'Sister Beatrice', originally collected in the 13th century by Caesarius of Heisterbach in his Dialogus miraculorum. The tale was revived by Maurice Maeterlinck in 1901 in a minor play named Soeur Beatrice, drawing on versions by Villiers de l'Isle-Adam and on the 14th-century Dutch poem Beatrijs.

The legitimate worldwide film rights to the Reinhardt production, and to the play and the music, were acquired by Joseph Menchen, an inventor who had built up his own electrical theatre lighting business in New York. He had been previously involved in the earliest days of the cinema, projecting early Edison and Vitascope films with his Kineoptikon at Tony Pastor's vaudeville theatre in New York from 1896-1899.
From the outset the advertising for the Continental version played heavily on the play's success at Olympia, hinting that it was a film of the actual production. It was heavily publicised in the German trade press, with double-page advertisements from September 1912 detailing the ongoing battles with Menchen.
Continental's film was completed and copyrighted by October 1912, while Joseph Menchen's authorised production of The Miracle started production near Vienna, Austria in early October and was finished by December 1912.

Production

Some of the film was shot on location at Chorin Abbey near the German-Polish border.
According to evidence given in a copyright court case involving the two 'Miracle' films, production of Das Mirakel began in Germany in March 1912, and was finished by July 1912. However, from after April until July Misu was engaged in filming In Nacht und Eis, which was passed by the Berlin censors on 6 July. It seems possible, therefore, that Das Mirakel was already in production when the Titanic sank, and that Misu immediately made In Nacht und Eis before completing Mirakel. At any rate, the Berlin police censor's decision to ban the film was dated 19 October 1912.

Timeline

"Battle of the Miracles"

Although Das Mirakel was well-received by the critics in the USA, it seems to have been made in a deliberate attempt to compete with the 'authorised' film of Max Reinhardt's production, The Miracle produced and co-directed by Joseph Menchen and Michel Carré. The release of two visually similar films in 1912 with the same title and dealing with the same subject has inevitably led to confusion, including the false notion that a film named The Miracle went down with the. See The Miracle, 1912 film.
The film's history is inextricably intertwined with that of Menchen's.
  • The Miracle US: Sinking of the Titanic, death of Henry Harris, April 1912. Al. Woods buys US rights after this date and before May announcement on return to US. Woods acquired the rights in April, according to
  • The Miracle US: Woods prints a warning that he owns the motion picture rights in the US
  • Das Mirakel US: A trade magazine advertisement reads "Coming Soon!! The Miracle. A sensational Cathedral play that aroused discussion throughout the world. New York Film Co, 12 Union Square, New York.2"
  • The Miracle UK: In June 1912 Menchen announced in the British cinema trade press that a colour film of The Miracle was going to be made in Vienna, the next venue for Reinhardt's production.
  • Das Mirakel US: Continental-Kunstfilm appointed the New York Film Company as their US distributors as from 1 July 1912, and announced the future release of four films including In Nacht und Eis and The Miracle
  • Das Mirakel UK: Elite Sales Agency formed on 3 October 1912.
  • The Miracle AT: Shooting started Monday 7 October 1912 in Perchtoldsdorf, Vienna.
  • Das Mirakel US: Imported the film into US 9 October. Al Woods attempted to have the film confiscated by the US Customs on the grounds that he owned the rights to the film. The chief customs officer declined to intervene, and decided it was a matter for a judge. The matter eventually came to court on 3 March 1913.

  • Das Mirakel US: Das Mirakel first shown in the US to Al Woods' lawyers and the press at 9 a.m. on Friday 18 October 1912 at the Fourteenth Street Theatre, New York City Strangely enough, the former manager of the Fourteenth Street theatre when it was the Théâtre Français was the opera impresario Jacob Grau, who also produced the inaugural season at Crosby's Opera House, Chicago, with his 'Grand Italian Opera Company'. Jacob Grau was the uncle of
  • * Maurice Grau, whose opéra-bouffe companies with Marie Aimée and Tostée played at the Theatre Francais and other New York venues from 1868 until he became the manager of the "old" Metropolitan Opera House from 1891-1903. Maurice was also the manager of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, from 1897-1900.
  • * Robert Grau, Maurice's detested younger brother, who managed vaudeville acts including Loie Fuller; one of Robert's protégés was Joseph Menchen, whose film of the Miracle premiered at Covent Garden in December 1912.
  • Das Mirakel DE: Misu's film banned by the Berlin police censor on 19 October 1912
  • Das Mirakel US: Film copyrighted in the USA as The Miracle: a legend of mediaeval times on 24 October 1912.
  • Das Mirakel UK: Trade press ad, 5 November 1912 : "The Elite Sales Agency of Gloucester Mansions, Cambridge Circus, have secured a remarkably fine film of The Miracle, which runs to a length of some 4,000 feet The drawing power of The Miracle when it was at Olympia was unlimited and, as with the play, so it will be with the film; for The Miracle is a spectacle of which one can never tire."
  • Das Mirakel US: New York Film Co. took out a full-page advertisement "10 Facts about the Miracle, and one Don't", 16 November 1912
  • The Miracle UK: Announced film was completed, being coloured in Paris 9 December 1912
  • Das Mirakel UK: Announced private screening of Das Mirakel as The Miracle at the Shaftesbury Pavilion, week of 9 December.
  • Das Mirakel UK: On 12 December 1912, the Shaftesbury Feature Film Company Ltd, 55-59 Shaftesbury Avenue, was formed with capital of £1,125 to take over the UK distribution of 10 films by Continental Kunstfilm from Elite Sales Agency Ltd. David Beck was a director of both firms.
  • Das Mirakel US: The film received its US general public première at the Hyperion Theatre, New Haven, Conn. on 15 December 1912.
  • The Miracle UK: Seeks court injunction to prevent Conti/SFFCo from showing their film. Court case 16–17 December 1912, Menchen v. Elite Sales Agency. The judge couldn't rule on the copyright, but allowed the film to be shown under another name. He suggested that Das Mirakel be shown under the name 'Sister Beatrice'. The Shaftesbury Feature Film Co. released it that day as Sister Beatrix, a few days before Menchen's film.
; UK showings
  • Das Mirakel UK: Première of the Continental film as the 3-reeler Sister Beatrix at the Shaftesbury Pavilion to a "storm of applause" on 17 December 1912, the same day as the injunction was granted.
  • The Miracle UK: Première of The Miracle in full colour, with orchestra, chorus and live actors at Covent Garden, 21 December 1912.
  • Das Mirakel UK: The Shaftesbury Feature Film Co arranged a number of single showings of Sister Beatrix around the UK, but these were one-offs, not regular scheduled performances, typically being shown at 11 a. m.
  • *The Office of the Cinematograph Trading Co., Ltd., Metropole Buildings, The Hayes, Cardiff, 11 a.m., Monday, 13 January
  • *The Office of Messrs. The Walturdaw Co., Ltd., 192, Corporation Street, Birmingham, 11 a.m., Wednesday, 15 January
  • *The Office of The New Century Film Service, 2-4, Quebec Street, Leeds. 11 a.m., Friday, 17 January
  • *Manchester. Monday, 20 January Please communicate for time and place.
  • * By arrangement with Films, Ltd., of Manchester Road, Liverpool: The Electra Theatre, London Road, Liverpool, 11 a.m., Tuesday, 21 January.
  • *By arrangement with Henderson's film Bureau, Irving House, Newcastle-on-Tyne: The Royal Electric Theatre, Great Market, Newcastle-on-Tyne, Thursday, 12 noon, 23 January.
  • The Miracle UK: The Miracle transferred to the Picture House, Oxford Street, on Friday 24 January 1913 after a month at the Royal Opera House, where it had still been showing three times daily with chorus and orchestra of 200 singers for as little as sixpence.
  • The Miracle UK: The Miracle was booked for 72 towns in the United Kingdom. "When the history of cinematography comes to be written it seems to me that "The Miracle" will have to be recorded as the record film." "The Miracle has broken all records at Kings's Hall, Leyton, Curzon Hall, Birmingham, Royal Electric Theatre, Coventry and the Popular Picture Palace, Gravesend."
  • Das Mirakel UK: The Shaftesbury Feature Film Co.'s Sister Beatrix advertisement for Easter week read: "We have two copies vacant for Easter week. Bookings allocated in strict rotation". Easter Sunday 1913 was 23 March. By contrast there were 90 copies of Menchen's film being exhibited throughout the UK to capacity audiences.
  • The Miracle UK: Menchen's full-page advertisement after Easter read: "The Easter Triumph. Max Reinhardt's wordless Lyricscope play / The Miracle. Nothing like it ever presented. Re-booked everywhere. A marvellous box office magnet."