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The Man Who Could Work Miracles (1936)

Director: Lothar Mendes

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From Time Out Film Guide

Less well known than the other Korda/HG Wells collaboration Things to Come, this stands the test of time far better. Alexander Korda's anglophilia allows an endearing seriousness to settle round Wells' now clichéd visions, and the film's cosy view of the world doesn't entirely conceal a coldly pragmatic estimation of man's limitations. Roland Young, as a Mr Polly-like shop assistant, the unwitting guinea-pig in a divine experiment, succeeds marvellously in conveying the power-lust of the meek and righteous, and the wooden performances of the rest of the cast fail to rob the film of its resonance and charm. Certainly it's pedantic and disjointed, but its concerns for world peace, and meditations on the dangers and attractions of absolute power, make it a moving epitaph for Baldwin's Britain.

Author: RMy 0000-00-00 00:00:00

Time Out Film Guide

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Cast & crew

Director: Lothar Mendes

Producer: Alexander Korda

Cast: Roland Young, Ralph Richardson, Ernest Thesiger, Joan Gardner, Edward Chapman, Sophie Stewart, George Zucco, George Sanders, Joan Hickson full cast

Genre(s): Fantasy

Duration: 82 mins


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