Il tesoro del santo

In a beleaguered Spanish village, an unwed prostitute "in the family way" believes her prayers to an aged statue of St. Joseph have been answered after she hears his voice and awakens from a faint in possession of gold coins. The crooked mayor also hears the voice, promising to redeem himself to the townspeople he has cheated--but the miracle is a hoax, set off by a thief who was digging under the statue for buried treasure. Troubled independent production went through two directors--Victor Stoloff, who was fired without credit, and William Dieterle, who completed the picture--only to be shelved until 1971, when it resurfaced in the US with a new title (likely to everyone's chagrin). Allan Scott's dim script is the real casualty, wherein the thief actually feels guilty he duped the prostitute into believing her prayers were heard, risking her spiritual belief and the entire town's animosity by revealing the truth. A solid cast almost rescues it: Ginger Rogers is fine (if overly colorful) as the local Madame (real-life husband William Marshall produced); Ray Milland is wily and almost charming as the thief the Madame is in-cahoots with; Elliott Gould makes his debut as a mute; Barbara Eden and her husband, Michael Ansara are fine; and Cecil Kellaway (still doing his kindly old priest bit) is always nice to have around. Slow-starting comedy improves as it goes along, though the big finale isn't quite grand enough and the concluding tag shucks the whole thing off with a smile and a wave. *1/2 from ****