The Bells of St. Mary's
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| The Bells of St. Mary's | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Leo McCarey |
| Produced by | Leo McCarey |
| Screenplay by | Dudley Nichols |
| Story by | Leo McCarey |
| Starring | <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/> |
| Music by | Robert Emmett Dolan |
| Cinematography | George Barnes |
| Edited by | Harry Marker |
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Production
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| Distributed by | RKO Radio Pictures |
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Release dates
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Running time
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126 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $21,333,333 (United States)[1] |
The Bells of St. Mary's is a 1945 American drama film produced and directed by Leo McCarey and starring Bing Crosby and Ingrid Bergman. Written by Dudley Nichols based on a story by Leo McCarey, the film is about a priest and a nun who, despite their good-natured rivalry, try to save their school from being shut down. The character of Father O'Malley had been previously portrayed by Crosby in the 1944 film Going My Way, for which Crosby had won the Academy Award for Best Actor. The film was produced by Leo McCarey's production company, Rainbow Productions.
The Bells of St. Mary's has come to be commonly associated with the Christmas season, due most likely to the inclusion of a scene involving a Christmas pageant at the school, and the fact that the film was released in December 1945.
Contents
Plot
The unconventional Father Charles "Chuck" O'Malley (Bing Crosby) is assigned to St. Mary's parish, which includes a run-down inner-city school building on the verge of being condemned. O'Malley is to recommend whether or not the school should be closed and the children sent to another school with modern facilities; but the sisters feel that God will provide for them.
They put their hopes in Horace P. Bogardus (Henry Travers), a businessman who has built a modern building next door to the school which they hope he will donate to them. Father O'Malley and the dedicated but stubborn Sister Superior, Mary Benedict (Ingrid Bergman), both wish to save the school, but their different views and methods often lead to disagreements. One disagreement involves a student (Richard Tyler) who is being bullied by another. A more serious one regards the promotion of an eighth-grade student, Patsy (Joan Carroll), whom the parish has taken in while her mother (Martha Sleeper) attempts to get back on her feet.
At one point, Sister Benedict contracts tuberculosis, and the physician recommends to Father O'Malley that she be transferred to a dry climate with non-parochial duties, but without telling her the reason. She assumes the transfer is because of her disagreements with O'Malley, and struggles to understand the reasons for the path set out for her. Right before Sister Benedict departs, Father O'Malley reveals the true reason for her temporary transfer.
Cast
- Bing Crosby as Father Chuck O'Malley
- Ingrid Bergman as Sister Mary Benedict
- Henry Travers as Horace P. Bogardus
- William Gargan as Joe Gallagher
- Ruth Donnelly as Sister Michael
- Joan Carroll as Patricia "Patsy" Gallagher
- Martha Sleeper as Mary Gallagher
- Rhys Williams as Dr. McKay
- Richard Tyler as Eddie Breen
- Una O'Connor as Mrs. Breen
Reception
The film was enormously popular, earning receipts of $8 million in North America during its initial run. [2] It made a profit of $3,715,000, making it the most profitable film in the history of RKO.[3] Adjusted for inflation, it is considered the 50th highest grossing film of all time.[4]
Awards
The film won the Academy Award for Best Sound, Recording (Stephen Dunn), and was nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Bing Crosby), Best Actress in a Leading Role (Ingrid Bergman), Best Director, Best Film Editing, Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture, Best Music, Song (for Jimmy Van Heusen (music) and Johnny Burke (lyrics) for "Aren't You Glad You're You") and Best Picture.[5]
Radio and TV adaptations
- There were two radio adaptations of The Bells of St. Mary's on The Screen Guild Theater radio program. Both starred Bing Crosby and Ingrid Bergman. They were broadcast on August 26, 1946[6] and October 6, 1947.[7]
- A television adaptation on videotape of The Bells of St. Mary's was shown in 1959, starring Claudette Colbert, Marc Connelly, Glenda Farrell, Nancy Marchand, Barbara Myers, Robert Preston, and Charles Ruggles, and was directed by Tom Donovan.
References
- ↑ The Bells of St. Mary's. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved January 20, 2010. This is $460 million when adjusted for inflation, the 52nd highest of all time.
- ↑ "All Time Domestic Champs", Variety, 6 January 1960 p 34
- ↑ Richard Jewel, 'RKO Film Grosses: 1931-1951', Historical Journal of Film Radio and Television, Vol 14 No 1, 1994 p46
- ↑ [1]
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ https://archive.org/download/ScreenGuildTheater/Sgt_46-08-26_ep311_Bells_of_Saint_Marys.mp3
- ↑ https://archive.org/download/ScreenGuildTheater/Sgt_47-10-06_ep356_Bells_of_Saint_Marys-Begin_Camel_Screen_Guild_Players.mp3
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Bells of St. Mary's. |
- 1945 films
- English-language films
- Commons category link is defined as the pagename
- 1940s drama films
- American films
- American drama films
- American black-and-white films
- Films about Roman Catholicism
- Films about Catholic nuns
- Films directed by Leo McCarey
- Films featuring a Best Drama Actress Golden Globe winning performance
- Films that won the Best Sound Mixing Academy Award
- Irish-American media
- Nuns in fiction
- RKO Pictures films
- American sequel films
- Films about educators
- Films set in schools
- American Christmas films
- Screenplays by Dudley Nichols
