The Miracle of the Bells (novel)
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| Author | Russell Janney |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Prentice-Hall |
Publication date | 1946 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover, Paperback) |
The Miracle of the Bells is a novel written by Russell Janney and released in September 1946. It was the first novel by Janney who was 61 years old and had been a press agent for stage productions and motion pictures.[1][2] It was the best-selling novel of 1947.[3] By March 1948, the book had sold over 500,000 copies and had been translated into 14 languages.[4]
Plot
Olga Treskovna, a young woman from a Pennsylvania coal-mining town, receives a role as an extra in a movie adaptation of the life of Joan of Arc. She is then recast as the star of the film. During the production, she is diagnosed with a fatal case of tuberculosis developed from inhaling coal dust in her home town. She hides her illness and continues with filming, dying at the end of shooting.
Bill Dunnigan, a press agent who befriended Olga, has silently loved Olga and accompanies her body back to her home town. He persuades the five churches in the town to ring their bells continuously for four days as a publicity stunt. The stunt draws national attention with radio networks broadcasting the ringing bells.
Elements adapted from real life
The book includes autobiographical elements. Janney, like Dunnigan, was a press agent for motion pictures. The story of Olga was inspired by the life of actress Olga Treskoff. The real-life Treskoff grew up in the coal town of Glen Lyon, Pennsylvania, and moved to New York to become an actress. Treskoff appeared in several theatrical plays and later partnered with Janney in producing Broadway plays, including "The Vagabond King" (1925). The real-life Olga died in the 1930s. After years of work on the novel, Janney wrote "The Miracle of the Bells" as "a loving remembrance of the real-life actress Olga Treskoff."[5]
Much of the book is centered around events at Coaltown's St. Michael's Church, and Glen Lyon also had a St. Michael's Church. The release of the book and later the motion picture "brought worldwide fame to St. Michael's" in Glen Lyon, as fans traveled to Glen Lyon to visit the actual locations.[5]
Reception
Dr. H. W. Ettelson in The Commercial Appeal wrote that, while "no masterpiece", "it is a work that has definite merits and excellences". Ettelson praised the book's "vigorous narrative style" and it intriguing plot "developed with the skill of a natural storyteller." Ettelson wrote that the book's chief flaw was its "unconscious sacrilege" in treating religion "as if it were something to be promoted by a publicity ballyhoo a la Hollywood."[2]
The Richmond Times-Dispatch called it "wildly improbable and delightfully heartwarming." The review continued:
Purists will shudder at Mr. Janney's style. . . . There will be gasps at cliches and some quivers at the liverty he takes with rules of rhetoric. But let grammarians shudder. While they're worrying . . ., Mr. Janney will be cleaning up, for royalties will be rich and movie rights colossal on "The Miracle of the Bells" and readers who want a fine novel of escape, a story that restores their faith and love in an for their fellow-men will enjoy and recommend "The Miracle of the Bells."[6]
Adaptations
The book was adapted into the 1948 film The Miracle of the Bells, starring Fred MacMurray and Frank Sinatra. Janney was furious with choices made by the film's producers, including the casting of MacMurray, who Janney viewed as colorless and inept in the role of Dunnigan. His anger grew after reading the screenplay, and the "last straw" for Janney was the decision to include a song for Sinatra to warble in the role of Father Paul. Janney hired a lawyer to protest the decisions, but was advised that he was helpless to prevent the changes.[7]
The work was also adapted for Lux Radio Theatre on May 31, 1948.[8]
References
- ^ Allen R. Matthews (September 8, 1946). "Off the Bookshelves". Richmond Times-Dispatch. p. 12D – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b H. W. Ettelson (September 8, 1946). "'Miracle of the Bells' Uses Brotherhood Of Man Theme". The Commercial Appeal. p. IV-12 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Hackett, Alice Payne and Burke, James Henry (1977). 80 Years of Bestsellers: 1895–1975. New York: R. R. Bowker Company. pp. 129–151. ISBN 0-8352-0908-3.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "Reviews and Previews". Harrisburg Telegraph. March 16, 1948. p. 20 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "Glen Lyon native and church immortalized in print, feature film". Citizen's Voice. April 22, 2001. p. 81 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Producer Turns Novelist". Richmond Times-Dispatch. September 8, 1946. p. 12D.
- ^ Karl Krug (September 7, 1947). [ttps://www.newspapers.com/article/pittsburgh-sun-telegraph-miracle-of-the/131730668/ "Film Comment"]. Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph. p. 48 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Those Were the Days". Nostalgia Digest. 35 (2): 32–39. Spring 2009.