Our Lady of Fatima (DVD)

The miracle of Fatima is portrayed on screen for the first time in this rare film, presented as part of the long-running religious TV anthologyFamily Theatre! In the small village of Fatima, Portugal, three shepherd children observe an apparition of the Virgin Mary. Their faith causes doubt and unrest among the villagers, but an even greater miracle is about to occur...

Family Theatre began as a radio show on the Mutual Broadcasting System in 1947. Its host, Father Patrick Peyton, was founder of the Family Rosary Crusade, a popular post-World War II prayer movement. Despite having no sponsor, Peyton was able to get many of Hollywood's biggest stars to appear on the program, including James Stewart, Lucille Ball, Henry Fonda, Robert Mitchum, and Gregory Peck. This was also true of the television version, which started airing in syndication in 1951 while the radio series was still running (one show, "Hill Number One", even featured a young James Dean.) For this particular episode, the recent Spanish film La senora de Fatima was dubbed into English and edited to fit into Family Theatre's hour-long format. Predating the big-budget Warner Brothers picture The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima by a year, La senora de Fatima starred Fernando Rey, most famous for his role in The French Connection (1970). Also added to Family Theatre's version was a narration by a pre-Perry Mason Raymond Burr. Father Peyton appears at the end of the program to remind viewers of his motto, "The family that prays together, stays together." Family Theatre continued to air on television and radio until 1957. Afterwards, Father Peyton become heavily involved in the CIA's efforts to combat the spread of communism in Latin America. He died in 1992 at the age of 83, still active in the Crusade.

• drama