Barbara Stanwyck gives a superlative early performance as a young evangelist who is transformed into a big-time religious phenomenon by a carnival promoter. Frank Capra based his film loosely on the life of scandal-prone preacher Aimee Semple McPherson, softening the hard edges of the story by redeeming the heroine through her unselfish love for a blind aviator. Handsomely lit by Capra regular Joseph Walker and crisply written by Jo Swerling (Lifeboat, Guys and Dolls), The Miracle Woman is arguably Capra’s first sound-film masterpiece.