Miracle in Milan

Vittorio De Sica's follow-up to the internationally acclaimed Bicycle Thieves is a modern biblical parable that begins with the words, "Once upon a time". Abandoned in a cabbage patch, the hero, Toto, is brought up by a kindly old lady. The boy grows up to become one of life's saints, and the poverty that surrounds him in the shanty town outside Milan only sharpens his faith in human nature. Then his guardian angel descends from heaven and gives him the ability to perform miracles. Like a piece of 16th-century Renaissance art seen through a neorealist lens, this will probably seem very corny and simplistic to modern audiences. In 1950, though, it was widely admired and shared the Grand Prix at Cannes with Alf Sjöberg's Miss Julie.