LeonLouisRicci A Good Cast and an Excellent Production Design Highlight Director Tod Browning's Last Film. However, Much of the Horror and Mystery are Diluted with the Constant Debunking Dialog and Denouements.The Suspension of Disbelief is Constantly being Undermined by Voluminous Verbiage and Demonstrations About How All of This is a Bunch of Hooey. One Atmospheric Scene After Another is Quickly Talked Out and We're On to Another.It is All a Bit Complicated, and that Doesn't Help, with Red Herrings and Disguises. It's a Bumpy Affair and Most of the Entertainment Value is Lost Among the Cerebral and Stoic Conceit. Some of it Might be Attributed to the Motion Picture Code that was Adamant About Exposing Spiritualism. Religion of Any Sort Other than Judeo/Christian was Meant with Dedicated Disdain.Overall, the Movie is Worth a Watch for the Cast, the Sleek Production, and Tod Browning's Steady and Surreal Hand, but as a Whole it is a Rather Dense Disappointment.

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

David (Handlinghandel) I am no scholar of Tod Browning. Therefore, it's not clear to me why his career seems to have ended so early and with this movie. It's a mystery, with a bit of comedy and quite a bit of romance. Robert Young is excellent in the lead role, and he is not an actor I ever liked much. The supporting cast is superb. The spooky looking Gloria Holden is especially effective, though listed way down in the credits.This man directed Dracula, a very famous movie, and Freaks, a unique and endlessly fascinating movie. Why did his career end within the same decade as those two? This is, despite its name leads, a programmer. The late 1930s and the 1940s were filled with hybrids like this. Not much of a swan song, I'd say.

Barney Bat I understand this was the famous Todd Browning's final film; well, he certainly picked a good one to go out on. MIRACLES FOR SALE is a murder mystery with a twist: all the suspects are either magicians or oculists. This naturally makes for a very spooky and atmospheric thriller, which is well handled by Browning and the cast. Robert Young is perfect as the glib magician hero, Florence Rice is appealing as the frightened heroine, and Frank Craven and Cliff Clark supply some hilarious dialogue. Unlike many murder mysteries of this vintage, though, MIRACLES doesn't fall into unsuspenseful slapstick by trying to ape the Thin Man films--it gets positively creepy in parts. Also refreshing is the fact that Young's character doesn't deny the existence of the supernatural: he just thinks that the murder in this case is the work of humans. As you would expect in a magician murder mystery, there are several tricks and illusions in the plot, one of which took me in completely. My brother, an amateur magician of sorts, also passed this one on the accuracy of its depiction of the magic profession. Check it out; you won't be disappointed.