The Bells of St. Mary's (1945)

I love a good story about nuns. Here is a secret that few people but my mother know: when I was little I desperately wanted to become a nun when I grew up. I was raised in a fairly secular house; my mother was "spiritual" but not religious, and my father, though he went to a Catholic school, was then atheist. I didn't even go to church until I was 15 and that was my own choice. No, I wanted to be a nun when I was little because I loved their habits. My mother encouraged me to consider the priesthood, but the collar was no match for those awesome gowns and headdresses. I like things that billow.

Anyway, "The Bells of St. Mary's" is a charming little movie starring Bing Crosby and one of my all-time favorite actresses, Ingrid Bergman. Crosby plays the new pastor of a parochial school, St. Mary's, which is under the threat of being condemned by the evil, greedy Mr. Bogardus (how clever the writer must have felt in coming up with a name like that). His character, Father O'Malley, will not only have to fight to save the charming school, full of charming kids, taught by charming nuns, he will also go head to head with the stubborn Sister Benedict (Bergman). It's all rather charming.

I'm not sure that I would want Crosby teaching my children in real life, but here he is perfectly affable, with his soft smile and his chocolate voice. Would it be a Crosby film if they didn't throw in a few pointless musical numbers? Irrelevant though they may be, I think I might be physically impossibly not to swoon when he opens his mouth.

Bergman is demure and enjoyable to watch in a peculiar role for her. She was surprisingly funny in it, though that didn't stop her natural sadness from pushing through. The two of them are a good match, and although I think both were odd choices for their respective parts, they did very well with what they had. That's the thing about good actors, they can do a better job in ill-fitting roles, than mediocre actors in parts made for them.

This is a predictable but harmless film. A feel-good romp about the goodness in the hearts of men, featuring fine performances and some sweet and tender moments. Leo McCarey's movie may have made a strong appearance at the Academy Awards when it first premiered, but I suspect that was just a sign of the times. People were looking for stories that could take them away from war and remind them that they actually had souls. That's all well and good, but I largely suspect this is film I will forget two weeks from now.

3/4