Royal Film Performance Series: The Bishop’s Wife (1947)

King George VI (blurry), Queen Elizabeth, King Michael of Rumania, and Princess Margaret.

The movie shown at the second Royal Film Performance, like the first, had a religious tone to it. It was the now Christmas classic, The Bishop's Wife (1947) starring Cary Grant, Loretta Young, and David Niven. It was held at the Odeon Theatre on November 25, 1947, just five days after the Royal wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh. They understandably did not attend. 

While the newlyweds were not in attendance, the audience WAS treated to a 30 minute color film of the wedding. An Australian newspaper described the scene:

The King and Queen, with Princess Margaret, made a tortuous progress to the theatre while milling crowds choked the approaches and pressed against the steel crush barriers.

Mounted police had to force a route for cars bearing the Royal parties and film celebrities.

Several people fainted an had to be extricated by ambulance men. 

~ The Mercury, November 27, 1947

Another newspaper, The Daily News (November 26, 1947), shared this interesting tidbit:

The Film, The Bishop's Wife, is American. It comes under the new British tax and will not be generally distributed. 

Up to £A32/10/ were paid for seats near the Royal box. The show raised more than £A31,500 for the Cinematograph Trade Benevolent Fund. 

Click here to see the program (for sale on Ebay) 

CLICK HERE to watch a two minute British Pathe newsreel. 

I love how they describe the gowns.

And CLICK HERE for a six minute video of silent footage of stars and guests arriving.

British Pathe films have to be licensed, so I have removed them from my posts.

Loretta Young: An Extraordinary Life, by Joe Morella and Edward Z. Epstein, recounts the glamorous star's encounter with the royals:

Among their fellow passangers [on the Queen Mary] was Noel Coward, of whom an anxious Loretta asked, "When I curtsey to the queen how low shall I bow?" To which Coward replied, "To the floor, ducky"(260).

Loretta was not disappointed upon meeting the royal family. She later recalled, "As the big moment approached, I kept running around trying to find out whether I should wear my long white gloves. Everybody was so excited, and I was no exception. Although we had been well rehearsed for the event, we all just plain forgot. I was frantic, for suddenly the line began to move and my turn was coming. At the last minute I got a peek at the others and saw they had their gloves on. I never got gloves on so fast in my life"(261). 

David Niven, according to the authorized biography Niv by Graham Lord, reported to producer Sam Goldwyn, "The audience loved every second of it and the Queen and Princess Margaret told me afterwards and at great length how much they enjoyed it" (148). 

 CLICK HERE TO SEE PHOTO OF LORETTA YOUNG 

MEETING QUEEN ELIZABETH, THE QUEEN MOTHER

Here's what VARIETY had to say about the film:

While a fantasy, there are no fantastic heavenly manifestations. There’s a humanness about the characters, even the angel, that beguiles full attention. Henry Koster’s sympathetic direction deftly gets over the warm humor supplied by the script, taken from Robert Nathan’s novel of the same title.

Cary Grant is the angel of the piece and has never appeared to greater advantage. Role, with the exception of a minor miracle or two, is potently pointed to indicate character could have been a flesh-and-blood person, a factor that embellishes sense of reality as the angel sets about answering the troubled prayers of Episcopalian bishop (David Niven).

 Plot, essentially, deals with Grant’s assignment to make people act like human beings. In great need of his help is Niven, a young bishop who has lost the common touch and marital happiness because of his dream of erecting a massive cathedral.

Loretta Young gives a moving performance as the wife whose life is touched by an angel without her knowledge of his heavenly origin. Niven’s cleric character is played straight but his anxieties and jealousy loosen much of the warm humor gracing the plot.

And the NEW YORK TIMES:

Emissaries from heaven are not conspicuously exceptional on the screen, the movies having coyly incarnated any number of these supernatural types, ordained by their fanciful creators to right the wrongs of this world (not to mention the bookkeeping errors that seem to occur up above). And certainly communion with angels is traditional at Christmastime, which is the season when most of us mortals need angelic reassurance anyhow. So there is nothing especially surprising about the miracle that occurs in Samuel Goldwyn's "The Bishop's Wife," which opened last night at the Astor—except that it is superb. And that is very surprising, in view of the realistic fact that it is a sentimental whimsy of the most delicate and dangerous sort. All of us know that angels don't walk the earth like natural men—and definitely not in the image of that debonair rascal, Gary Grant. And most of us have some dark misgivings about the tact of the makers of films when they barge into the private area of a man's communication with his God. But you need have no anxieties in the case of "The Bishop's Wife." It is as cheerful and respectful an invasion of the realm of conscience that we have seen. And it comes very close to being the most enchanting picture of the year — a judgment to which its many merits will shortly make a strong bid. That is because its incursion is on a comparatively simple and humble plane and its whimsy is sensitively syphoned from the more human and humorous frailties of the flesh. We are not going to make an analysis of the many subtle comments in this tale of a full-bodied guardian angel who answers a young bishop's prayer for guidance and spiritual comfort in the midst of a crisis in his life. We are not going to state any morals which this charmingly casual angel proves in drawing the bishop's wrought attention from a new cathedral to the richer services of life—and, particularly, to a fresh fulfillment of his family responsibilities. We are not going to mouth about these matters, because the picture itself refrains—and that is one of the most endearing of its many endearing young charms. In shaping this warm and winning fable from a Robert Nathan book, Robert Sherwood and Leonardo Bercovici have written with beautiful belief that a point clearly made in performance doesn't have to be hit a dozen times nor a moral quietly manifested put into a hundred solemn words. And so there is no heavy pounding of the lesson of humanity, of the futility of ostentation, of the special possessiveness of a man's love. Nor is there any such pounding in Henry Koster's directorial style. Smoothly and with artful invention he has induced Mr. Grant to give one of his most fluent and beguiling performances as the angel, "Dudley," who fixes things. And he has got out of David Niven a deliciously dexterous and droll characterization of a sorely pressed young bishop who can't quite cotton to this messenger from on high. Elsa Lanchester, too, is encouraged in an exquisitely faceted role of a twitterly little housemaid who flirts with this angelic gent, and Monty Woolley is actually human as an old dodo who is morally re-inspired. James Gleason, Sara Haden and Gladys Cooper are rich in smaller parts. Weakness is only evident in Loretta Young's unctuousness as the bishop's wife. She is the one artificial, inconsistent and discordant note.Of course, there are probably some people who are going to say that this film encourages a futile illusion with its hope of miraculous aid. But they—if they do—will be missing its most warmly inspiring point which is—but wait a minute That's for you to recognize and enjoy. We cannot recommend you to a more delightful and appropriate Christmas show.

Next up in the Royal Film Performance Series: Scott of the Antarctic (1948).

Previous Film: A Matter of Life and Death (1946).

Sources: 

Lord, Graham. Niv: The Authorised Biography of David Niven. St. Martin's Press. 2003. 

Morella, Joe & Epstein, Edward Z. Loretta Young: An Extraordinary Life. Landmark Books. 1986.

Come to the Stable (1949)

Following the popular pattern of The Bells of St. Mary's and Going My Way, which found much charm and amusement in the lives of nuns and priests, this fable, originally written for the screen by Clare Boothe Luce, finds further romantic enchantment in the work and devotion of nuns.

 

~ NY Times Review, Bosley Crowther, 7-28-49



 

 

Come to the Stable (1949) is about two nuns from France who have come to Bethlehem (Connecticut, not the one in the Holy Land) to keep a promise and build a children's hospital.

Celeste Holm as Sister Scholastica and Loretta Young as Sister Margaret

 

The film opens with this very surreal scene, of two nuns walking across a wide snowy expanse, appearing to be far from any civilization. They come upon a road sign that lists the names of all the places mentioned in the New Testament of the Bible: Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Galilee, etc. This mistakenly led me to believe the film was set in the Holy Land, which confused me until I realized they were in New England. Though they never specify Connecticut as the state, as there are several Bethlehem's in the area, it is believed that that is where the film is set.

 

 

The nun's see a barn and go up to it. They peer in the doors and see the following scene.

This (again) surreal scene is broken when one of the little boys suddenly kicks the other. It is then that you realize this is a family posing for a painting (who else thinks it's dangerous the way the toddler is suspended from the ceiling?). The painter is Miss Amelia Potts, played by Elsa Lancaster.

 

Miss Potts invites the nuns in (she can't leave them in the snow!) and asks them to stay for tea. The nuns inform her that they came especially to see her. They refer to a postcard featuring one of her paintings, "Come to the Stable." The reason for their visit they explain is that during WWII they were in charge of a children's hospital in France that was in the line of a German advance. As they couldn't move the children, Sister Margaret (Young) prayed that they would be spared. After the battle, the only building left standing was the hospital. Sister Margaret than promises to build a hospital dedicated to St. Jude (impossible cases) in New England. After seeing one of Miss Potts paintings, they decide that Bethlehem is to be the location. They end up (basically) inviting themselves to stay with Miss Potts until they talk to the bishop the following day and receive permission to go ahead with the hospital.

 

 

The next morning, while burying a statue of St. Jude on top of a hill that they want to build the hospital on, they meet another neighbor, Bob Mason (Hugh Marlowe). He is a songwriter who moved to the country where he could write his pop tunes in peace and quiet (of course they are nothing like what would be considered a pop song to us). The sisters ask Mason if he knows who owns the hill. He tells them a Mr. Luigi Rossi who resides in New York.  

 

The sisters then set off to see the bishop, who gives them a little money. The next day they borrow Mr. Mason's jeep (he's leaving for Hollywood to work on a movie score for a few months) and head to New York to find Mr. Rossi (Thomas Gomez). He is a bookie, and they have trouble getting to his office. They finally do get to see him and ask him if he would be willing to donate the hill. Rossi says no, but gives them some money towards their cause. As the sisters are leaving, they discover that Rossi had a son who died in France near their hospital during the war. Rossi suddenly has a change of heart and gives the land but on one condition: they include a stained-glass window in memory of his son.

 

Luigi Rossi

 

Now that the sisters have their land, they need money to begin building. While driving past the hill, the jeep gets a flat. Because of this they notice a For Sale sign on an old warehouse across the street, which they purchase for $25,000 with a three month option of $5000 to act as a temporary shelter until the hospital is completed. They immediately call the bishop to tell them their good news. He, however, is worried about the price of the building and goes out to investigate. While he is there, eleven more nuns show up.

 

 

When Bob Mason gets back from Hollywood, he is surprised and curious at the sudden increase in nuns. He goes over to the stable to investigate and find that it has been converted into a chapel. The nuns are also selling produce and arts, ringing a bell to signal when they are open. Bob realizes that all of the extra noise is going to distract him from his work and so he sets out to try to get rid of them. He doesn't want to be mean but the whole reason he moved to this area in the first place was for the quiet and that is now gone.

 

 

The three-month option is almost up and the nuns are $500 short. Maybe Mr. Mason will make up the difference? You'll have to watch the film to see what Mason's decision is and what makes him change his mind.

Full movie

Directed by Henry Koster, who also directed The Bishop's Wife (1947), The Inspector General (1949) and Harvey (1950), the film opened July 27, 1949 and was nominated for a slew of awards, including Best Actress for Young, Best Supporting Actress for Holm and Lancaster, Best Song, Music, and Story.

A sequel titled A Spark in the Night was announced the following year that would show Young and Holm in Hiroshima after it was bombed at the end of WWII. It was never filmed.

This post is part of the Loretta Young Birthday Blogathon hosted by Cinema Dilettante, Now Voyaging, and the Young Sisters Appreciation FB Group. Be sure to read all of the other posts about this very fashionable star!

Pre-Code Films: Platinum Blonde (1931)

Release Date: October 31, 1931
Running Time: 89 min.
Director: Frank Capra
Dialogue: Robert Riskin

Cast:

Loretta Young . . . . . . . .  . Gallagher

Robert Williams . . . . . .  Stew Smith

Jean Harlow . . . . . . . .  Ann Schuyler

Reginald Owen . . . . . . . . . . Grayson

 

 

Synopsis:

Down-to-earth reporter Stew Smith marries socialite Anne, despite their obvious differences in background. His fellow reporter Gallagher waits patiently for him to recognize that his marriage was a mistake and that she is in love with him. Stew becomes bored of being married as each assumes the other is the one whose lifestyle must change. Stew asks Gallagher to help him write a play. She arrives with a bunch of reporters and the mansion turns into a party. Anne arrives and orders them out. Stew goes with them. - source

 

 

 

My Analysis:

This movie was surprisingly good! I had never heard of Robert Williams before I watched this film but he is hilarious! I think it’s funny that Young is top billed but that this film is now primarily watched because of Harlow. Without her this film would probably not be known (even though her hair style is horrible here).

 

Trivia & Goofs:

• Robert Williams died of appendicitis just three days after the film's release. He would be forgotten, if not for this role, as he was only in four other films and two shorts.

• The film, originally titled Gallagher after Young's character, was renamed by Hughes to promote Harlow, capitalizing on her hair color, called "platinum" by Hughes' publicists. Harlow was on loan from another studio and was excited to do this film as it was her first comedy.

• When Stew Smith is married, his colleagues make fun of him in the press room. At that moment his wife calls and he walks over to the phone with his pipe in his mouth. However, when he picks up the phone, the pipe disappears.

 

Quotes:

Stew Smith: Yeah, I know those bluenoses. Their ancestors refused to come over on the Mayflower because they didn't want to rub elbows with the tourists... so they swam over!

In a 2008 interview, actor Christopher Plummer called Williams "...one of the most realistic comedians the screen had. He made Cary Grant look like he was overacting... To watch Robert Williams act was like seeing a comic using the Method, long before the Method became famous with Marlon [Brando] and Monty [Clift]".

 

This post is part of the Pre-Code Blogathon hosted by Pre-Code.com and Shadows and Satin. Be sure to check out the other participator's posts!
 

 

All images found via Pinterest.

You may also like my Review of Magic Town (1947), a Capra-like film also written by Riskin.

Also, check out my post on the Legion of Decency.

More Screenshots here!

My 50th post!!!