Change of Habit (1969)

Director:

William A. Graham

Writers:

Eric Bercovici (screenplay)
John Joseph (story)

Release Date:

10 November 1969 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Tagline:

When the King of Rock Meets the Queen of Comedy, Romance Rules. [DVD tagline]

Plot:

Only a few songs as Elvis plays it straight as Dr John Carpenter. Mary Tyler Moore stars opposite as...

Plot Keywords:

Elvis | Church | Nun | Nun's Habit | Elvis Presley

Cast

Elvis Presley	...	Dr. John Carpenter
Mary Tyler Moore	...	Sister Michelle Gallagher
Barbara McNair	...	Sister Irene Hawkins
Jane Elliot	...	Sister Barbara Bennett
Leora Dana	...	Mother Joseph
Edward Asner	...	Lt. Moretti
Robert Emhardt	...	The Banker
Regis Toomey	...	Father Gibbons
Doro Merande	...	Rose
Ruth McDevitt	...	Lily
Richard Carlson	...	Bishop Finley
Nefti Millet	...	Julio Hernandez
Laura Figueroa	...	Desiree
Lorena Kirk	...	Amanda
Virginia Vincent	...	Miss Parker

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

USA:G | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Mayfield Senior School - 500 Bellefontaine Street, Pasadena, California, USA

Company:

National Broadcasting Company (NBC)

Trivia:

Elvis Presley's last feature film.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Elvis in the Movies (1990)

Soundtrack:

Let Us Pray

Passable attempt at "serious" side of the King

In his last movie, Elvis takes on a more `serious' role as a ghetto doctor who helps out the poor in a free clinic. The Catholic Action Committee considers his work valuable, so they send him some nurses to help out – but they don't tell him that his nurses are nuns! Apparently these sisters feel they can really `reach' the people better if nobody knows their status, including their employer. This, of course leads to all kinds of comedic opportunities, romantic entanglements and melodramatic soul-searching as our ladies confront the real world they have forsaken.

Although this is certainly an Elvis movie – complete with needless song & dance routines and women fawning helplessly at The King's feet – the main character is the lead nun, played by Mary Tyler Moore. Naturally, she is the woman Elvis falls for, and poor Mary must fend off his advances as she wrestles with her own feelings for the good doctor. The other two nuns get a fair amount of screen time; one is black and must face criticism of being an `oreo' from local Black Panther types (who are, at least, sympathetically portrayed) the other finds herself drawn toward social activism and is given many Hail Marys for finding Elvis attractive.

One thing I'm really not clear about is the relationship between this movie and the `Mary Tyler Moore Show.' Ed Asner, Mary's future boss, appears as a left-leaning `nice' policeman. One of my video guides mentions the show as being a spinoff of this film, but I don't recall Mary being an undercover nun! Maybe it's been too many years…

One very disturbing aspect of the film is a scene that celebrates `Rage Reduction Therapy' (also known as `Holding Therapy'), a controversial treatment for Autistic children. It is based upon the idea that Autism is a form of `acting out' for children who, for whatever reason, carry a lot of anger inside of them and cannot feel normal love. The treatment is for someone (in some cases a parent, in others the doctor) to hold the child and assure her that she is loved while she rages, yells, kicks, cries, etc. Somehow, after the trauma ends, the child is supposed to open up and want to communicate in a normal manner. The whole thing is just as disturbing to watch as it is to imagine, but somehow it works – for Elvis, anyway. Somehow I suspect that if it had been this successful in the ‘70's, we wouldn't be facing the current epidemic of autism.

Ultimately, I would recommend this film to Elvis completists, Mary Tyler Moore fans and lovers of late 60's cheese only. It is fun, in a way, and safe for the kiddies (although some of the social issues dealt with may be a bit mature for the very small), but certainly no `Girl Happy.'