Hollywood has always been fascinated by trashy vamps and holy nuns. Obviously, these polar opposites provoke strong reactions in audiences. Actresses are invariably drawn to playing these roles for both trade in extremes of sexuality: promiscuity and celibacy, great showcases for any thespian.
Over the past few months, just by chance, I’ve screened several movies that tell the story of a nun. Invariably, each film is a love story, supporting Seraphic Secret’s Rule #1 of Hollywood narrative: Every great movie is a love story.
Re: your piece on Black Narcissus. It wasn’t Flora Robson as Sister Philippa who was “a nun in the throes of sexual hysteria”, it was Kathleen Byron as Sister Ruth. It was also Kathleen Byron who Michael Powell was having an affair with – he had previously had an affair with Deborah Kerr so he had the current girlfriend and the ex on the set together.
Oh, and it was nothing to do with Hollywood either. It was all made in England.
But I agree with the statement that “Nearly every frame of this film is a work of art.”
Steve:
Thanks so much for the Byron/Robson correction. Total brain hiccup.
Lots to like in this posting Robert, but the last point about a Mother Superior who votes for Oscars is priceless.
I mean, just guessing which, if any, of the past dozen Best Film winners would get the holy nod is fun.
Antoine:
Hart’s story is quite amazing. There is also a man, an ex-fiance, who visits her regularly. They have grown old together, apart.
The miracle of the movie is unexpected and moving.
The miracle of the picture is that the nun goes off to have a good time and the statue of the Virgin Mary comes to life and covers for her. I don’t think that’s moving. I think that’s funny.
Didn’t you just ruin the surprise for anyone who might have been interested in seeing the film?
Didn’t you just ruin the surprise for anyone who might have been interested in seeing the film?
kishke
Dear Kishke: It’s on the Internet Movie Database and anyone familiar with Medieval legends about the Virgin Mary will see it coming a mile away. Sorry.
I am very careful on this blog not to include spoilers in my write-ups. I consider it bad form.
Most people who look up a movie on IMDB with a thought toward watching it will avoid spoilers that reveal the ending. In fact, in the advisory section, spoilers are blocked out with a “spoiler alert” that you have to click on to bypass. Besides, there are any number of people – likely most of the population – who are not familiar with medieval legends of the Virgin Mary. Why punish them by ruining the film for them?
I didn’t reveal the ending. I revealed the middle. Sorry if that spoiled anything for anybody.
Robert, you always seem to find a new and creative topic to present in the fields of film and religion. That’s why I love your blog!
Shabbat Shalom
Prophet Joe:
Thanks so much for the kind words. Glad to have you aboard. And Good Shabbos to you and yours.
It has been decades since I watched Two Mules For Sister Sarah, but didn’t they combine both the nun and the vamp into one in that movie? It wasn’t Clint Eastwood’s best work, as I recall. I think the female lead was Shirley MacLaine.
GW:
Your memory is correct. Shirley is a prostitute disguised as a nun. It’s actually a very good film. Original story was by the talented but erratic and alcoholic Budd Boetticher. This might be my favorite Eastwood movie, a true gem.
In THE MIRACLE, doesn’t Carroll Baker play a nun who leaves her convent to become a prostitute and then comes back?
Dear Robert: Shabbat Shalom. Why don’t you screen GREEN DOLPHIN STREET? One of the subplots involves Donna Reed’s character becoming a nun. That film got me started on the novels of Elizabeth Goudge, and I’ve loved nearly all of them.
Miranda:
I’ve never seen Green Dolphin Street. I’ll check it out. Thanks.
Dear Robert: Shavuah Tov. Hodesh Tov. Do screen GREEN DOLPHIN STREET. You’ll enjoy it. The book is even better than the film. You might want to read some of Elizabeth Goudge’s novels and think about adapting them.
Deborah Kerr had her practice – I remember her in Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison made 10 years later – there was a bit of tension there!
Bill:
Heaven Knows is a opretty good film, though I haven’t seen it in a long time. And yes, much tension between Kerr and the rugged Robert Mitchum.
The photograph of Dolores Hart and Elvis Presley is wonderful. Elvis at his sexy, smouldering best, cheek to cheek with Dolores, but she’s looking past the camera, perhaps toward a convent.
Earl:
Dolores Hart was always a bit distant in her roles, as if she were floating above the character and trying to undertsand simple human motives. She was… unearthly.
Barry,
Re: O for O’Malley :
Yes! Ingrid Bergman and Bing Crosby in “The Bells of Saint Mary’s”! That last scene makes me cry every time.
Is that the one with “Sister, there’s also a touch of tuberculosis?”
Not quite the same thing, but wish dialing O for O’Malley worked.
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/why-is-this-elvis-kissing-actress-turned-cloistered-nun-trying-to-raise-millions/
Hart’s convent needs handicap improvements.