The Man Who Could Work Miracles

Roland Young - George McWhirter Fotheringay
Ralph Richardson - Colonel Winstanley
Edward Chapman - Major Grigsby
Ernest Thesiger - Mr. Maydig
Joan Gardner - Ada Price
Sophie Stewart - Maggie Hooper
Robert Cochran - Bill Stoker
Lady Tree - Mr. Maydig's Housekeeper
Laurence Hanray - Mr. Bamfylde
George Zucco - Moody
Wallace Lupino - Police Constable Winch
Joan Hickson - Effie Brickman
Wally Patch - Police Superintendant Smithelle
Mark Daly - Toddy Beamish
George Sanders - Indifference

After producing Things to Come (1936), Alexander Korda moved on to another H.G. Wells story, The Man Who Could Work Miracles, Ralph Richardson and Roland Young head the cast in this fantasy comedy that like it’s predecessor was not a box-office success.

Three gods looking down on Earth decide to bestow magical powers on a mild mannered draper's assistant in Essex, England, George Fotheringay (Roland Young), to discover if absolute power will corrupt him. George first realises he’s inherited new powers when turning a gas lamp upside-down in his local pub, much to the surprise of the regulars. At first George doesn't appreciate the full extent of his gift and uses it to play tricks to impress and woo Ada Price (Joan Gardner), but he can't alter Ada’s emotions and she continues to rebuff his advances. Other people are not so immune; a policeman told ‘go to blazes’ by George is transported into the fires of hell, before being liberated to the streets of San Francisco.

When Maydig (Ernest Thesiger) and banker Bamfylde (Laurence Hanray) try to exploit George's gift for their own ends he is dismayed by their selfishness and takes it upon himself to assert moral authority. Colonel Winstanley (Ralph Richardson) is appalled by George’s vision of paradise, and having his whisky tampered with, so attempts to shoot George with a rifle only to discover George has made himself bullet-proof. Intoxicated by his power, things start getting out of hand when he determines to reshape the world as a utopian society. He creates a great palace, making Maydig, Bamfylde and Winstanley his servants. The worlds powerful and wise are brought before George to hear his vision for the future, but they disbelieve his powers forcing him to stop the earth on it’s axis as a show of strength. His action brings the world to the brink of destruction, and with his final wish he is able to shout out a plea for the earth to be restored to its original state. George is returned to the little pub where everything began, with no one remembering what had taken place.