The Golden Years

The 1947 MGM film The Bishop’s Wife is one of those Christmastime stories that explores the true meaning of Christmas and what is really important in your live. The film was nominated for Best Director, Best Film Editing, Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture and Best Picture and it won for Best Sound. The film is based on a novel of the same name written by Robert Nathan.

It begins when Episcopalian Bishop Henry Brougham (David Niven) is trying to build a cathedral financed by a widow Mrs. Hamilton (Gladys Cooper). What Brougham doesn’t notice is that his wife Julia (Loretta Young) is miserably unhappy, he is forgetting why he became a minister in the first place. He prays that someone will come to help with his troubles surrounding the new cathedral and is answered by an angel named Dudley (Cary Grant). Dudley helps everyone meet their needs and is well-loved among the parishioners, even by non-religios Dr. Wutheridge (Monty Woolley). Brougham is the only person not enchanted by Dudley, especially with Dudley’s relationship with Julia, which has become increasingly complicated the more they bond and the more absent her husband is. Brougham has to stand up to Dudley and realize what about is life is the most important.

If the plot sounds familiar, its because the film was remade in 1996 and retitled The Preacher’s Wife, which starred Whitney Houston and Denzel Washington. Also, if the character of Matilda looks familiar, its because she is legendary scream queen Elsa Lanchester, most famously known as playing the title role in The Bride of Frankenstein.

For some reviews of this film, you can look to Cary Grant's personal website, which has a reivew of the film here. Crazy4cinema.com also has a review of the film, which you can read here. The blog Reflections in the Afternoon has this post, which talks about the film. Mymerrychristmas.com has this review as well. As an added bonus, here is the films trailer, thanks to Turner Classic Movies.