The Bells of St. Mary's (1945)

Director:

Leo McCarey

Writers:

Dudley Nichols (screenplay)
Leo McCarey (story)

Release Date:

21 February 1946 (Sweden)

Genre:

Drama | Family

Tagline:

The Whole World's in Tune . . . with Bing and Bergman together at their most brilliant best !

Plot:

At a big city Catholic school, Father O'Malley and Sister Benedict indulge in friendly rivalry, and succeed in extending the school through the gift of a building.

Plot Keywords:

School | Catholic | Church | Catholic Church | Catholic School

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 3 wins & 7 nominations

Cast

Bing Crosby	...	Father Chuck O'Malley
Ingrid Bergman	...	Sister Mary Benedict
Henry Travers	...	Horace P. Bogardus
William Gargan	...	Joe Gallagher, Patsy's father
Ruth Donnelly	...	Sister Michael
Joan Carroll	...	Patricia 'Patsy' Gallagher
Martha Sleeper	...	Mary Gallagher, Patsy's mother
Rhys Williams	...	Dr. McKay
Richard Tyler	...	Eddie Breen (as Dickie Tyler)
Una O'Connor	...	Mrs. Breen

Also Known As:

Leo McCarey's The Bells of St. Mary's (UK) (complete title) (USA) (complete title)

Runtime:

126 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

UK:U | Australia:G | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | USA:Approved

Filming Locations:

Old Tucson - 201 S. Kinney Road, Tucson, Arizona, USA

Company:

Rainbow Productions

Trivia:

The song that Ingrid Bergman sings is "Varvindar Friska (Spring Breezes)", a traditional Swedish folk song for Walpurgisnight, which marks the end of winter and the beginning of spring.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Sister Benedict is starting to erase her drawn portrait on the blackboard when Father O'Malley walks in, she barely erases any of the portrait, but in the next scene most of the portrait is already erased.

Quotes:

Patricia 'Patsy' Gallagher: [stands up in class to present a report] The Six Senses.
Sister Mary Benedict: The subject I gave you was the five senses.
Patricia 'Patsy' Gallagher: Well, for my topic, I chose six senses.
Sister Mary Benedict: [baffled and confused] Go on, Patricia.
Patricia 'Patsy' Gallagher: The Six Senses: To see, to hear, to taste, to smell, to feel... to be.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: Code Name: Diamond Head (#7.8)" (1994)

Soundtrack:

Aren't You Glad You're You?

Dial "O" for O'Malley.

Leo McCarey and Bing Crosby had such a mega-hit on their hands with Going My Way that a sequel in this case really was inevitable. If The Bells of St.Mary's does not quite hit the heights of Going My Way it's got nothing to apologize for. One thing that I do like about it is that you don't have to have watched Going My Way to get into the spirit of this.

Bing repeated his Father O'Malley character and in doing so got a second Oscar nomination. Until Al Pacino was nominated for Michael Corleone in both Godfathers One and Two, Crosby was the only performer ever to have been nominated twice for the same role. Because of Father O'Malley,

Bing Crosby became probably the most well known Catholic lay person on the planet. And for better or worse it's the Crosby that is remembered when the knives came out for him after he died.

With Ingrid Bergman the damage was more immediate. Today if you asked the average movie goer to quickly name the part Bergman is best known for it would be Ilsa Lund from Casablanca. Back in the late 40s however the answer would be Sister Benedict. How a Swede who is identified as Swedish in the film could be a Catholic, let alone a nun is a mystery to me. But that's how good an actress Ingrid Bergman was. She became the personification of holiness so when Ingrid Bergman announced she was pregnant with Roberto Rosellini's child the reaction of the public was swift and terrible. Banish her from Hollywood and she was. Such is the power of the mass media. Consider folks like Errol Flynn and Robert Mitchum who had reputations as hellraisers before scandal hit them. Such is the power of the silver screen and the images it creates.

Bing has some good songs here, he sings the title tune with different lyrics for the screen then for his record. It's the school anthem and he sings it with a chorus of nuns to back him. Those nuns do sing well and in key. I wonder if it was the inspiration for Sister Act.

Crosby also has two of his patented philosophical numbers, Aren't You Glad You're You and In The Land Of Beginning Again. And in keeping with the nature of the film, he sings Adeste Fideles and O Sanctissima.

Among the supporting cast I would single out Joan Carroll as the girl boarding with the convent housekeeper and Martha Sleeper as her mother. Sleeper had both looks and talent, she should have had a bigger career.

The Bells of St. Mary's is what we would deem fine family entertainment. It's also how the Catholic Church likes to see itself. It's a milestone movie for the careers of its stars. But what a cost.