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The Bells of St. Mary's (1945)
Director: Leo McCarey
Writers: Dudley Nichols (screenplay), Leo McCarey (story)
Cast: Bing Crosby, Ingrid Bergman, Henry Travers
Genre: Drama Comedy
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.
The sequel to 1944's Going My Way. This time Father O'Malley (Bing Crosby) is sent by the head Bishop to St. Mary's, a Catholic school in financial trouble. It's headed by an order of nuns. The head nun is Sister Benedict (Ingrid Bergman). Both of them get along fine, but differ in the ways they do things, this then causes good natured conflict and makes for comedy-drama situations.
Barry Fitzgerald does not reprise his role as he couldn't! If you've seen Going My Way, you'll know why. In his place is a business man (Henry Travers) who played the angel in It's A Wonderful Life. Here he owns a huge building nearby to the falling down Catholic school. Then nuns would like nothing more that for this business man to donate his entire building which isn't even completed yet, to them...so they can run a modern school.
I liked this OK, but the script is more forced, the comedy more predictable and Hollywood-ish. Henry Travers was no replacement for the wonderful Barry Fitzgerald.
Still worth a watch.
The Bells of St. Mary's (1945)
Writers: Dudley Nichols (screenplay), Leo McCarey (story)
Cast: Bing Crosby, Ingrid Bergman, Henry Travers
Genre: Drama Comedy
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.
The sequel to 1944's Going My Way. This time Father O'Malley (Bing Crosby) is sent by the head Bishop to St. Mary's, a Catholic school in financial trouble. It's headed by an order of nuns. The head nun is Sister Benedict (Ingrid Bergman). Both of them get along fine, but differ in the ways they do things, this then causes good natured conflict and makes for comedy-drama situations.
Barry Fitzgerald does not reprise his role as he couldn't! If you've seen Going My Way, you'll know why. In his place is a business man (Henry Travers) who played the angel in It's A Wonderful Life. Here he owns a huge building nearby to the falling down Catholic school. Then nuns would like nothing more that for this business man to donate his entire building which isn't even completed yet, to them...so they can run a modern school.
I liked this OK, but the script is more forced, the comedy more predictable and Hollywood-ish. Henry Travers was no replacement for the wonderful Barry Fitzgerald.
Still worth a watch.