The Miracle case

by Laura Wittern-Keller

Although initially approved by state censors for screening in New York, Roberto Rossellini's Il Miracolo (The Miracle)--about a demented peasant woman who is seduced by a stranger she believes to be Saint Joseph--was attacked as sacrilegious by the Catholic establishment, which convinced state officials to revoke distributor Burstyn's license. In response, Burstyn fought back through the courts and won. The Supreme Court's unanimous 1952 ruling in Burstyn's favor sparked a chain of litigation that eventually brought filmmaking under the protective umbrella of the First Amendment.