Covers the same basic ground as Fox's infinitely superior "The Song of Bernadette" (1944), but with none of that earlier film's subtlety, fine performances and music, or assurance of dramatic narrative. This is a clumsy, ham-handed attempt on the part of Warner Bros. to make the case to the public and Congress's House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) during the darkest days of McCarthyism and its anti- Communist witch-hunts, that Hollywood was, if not exactly a model of piety, at least not a den of Red subversives, and not a few of the religious extravaganzas of the 1950's were made with this goal in mind. Earning a profit at the box office or kudos from critics were not high on the studio's list of priorities for this claptrap -- it was propaganda, plain and simple.
In short, this is a dreadful film that does a grave disservice to its subject matter.
In short, this is a dreadful film that does a grave disservice to its subject matter.