'Miracle' film focus of censorship program.(Arts & Entertainment)

Byline: PAUL GRONDAHL - Staff Writer

The New York critics praised "The Miracle," a 1950 movie from an Italian dream team: director Roberto Rossellini, screenwriter Federico Fellini and actress Anna Magnani.

But New York state's censors bowed to pressure from Catholic leaders who deemed the movie sacrilegious and banned the 41-minute art film, creating a cultural uproar that wound up in a major freedom of speech case heard by the U.S. Supreme Court.

"The irony is that the Catholic censors in Italy had no problem with the film, and Rossellini was a Catholic who said he never intended sacrilege," said Laura Wittern-Keller, a visiting assistant professor …