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Post by topbilled on Dec 20, 2023 13:08:06 GMT
On another thread I mentioned the Warners Brothers classic MIRACLE IN THE RAIN (1956), which has Jane Wyman playing a religious woman who becomes involved with a soldier on leave (Van Johnson). After he is killed in the war, it is her religious faith that keeps her going and allows her to believe she will see him again.
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Post by topbilled on Dec 20, 2023 13:12:35 GMT
Other titles to consider:
BLACK NARCISSUS (1947)
THE SONG OF BERNADETTE (1943)
THE FLOWERS OF ST. FRANCIS (1950)
DIARY OF A COUNTRY PRIEST (1951)
THE MIRACLE OF OUR LADY OF FATIMA (1952)
THE NUN'S STORY (1959)
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Post by Fading Fast on Dec 20, 2023 13:16:53 GMT
⇧ That's a great list.
"Keys of the Kingdom" is another one.
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Post by I Love Melvin on Dec 20, 2023 14:58:00 GMT
For really amped-up melodrama, I like The Miracle (1959) with Carroll Baker and Roger Moore. It follows the DeMille template of excusing a whole long series of transgressions by using a religious framework to fall back on when the naughty stuff is done with. Carroll plays a novice at an abbey where an injured officer is brought to recover. They have an intense "vibe" and when he leaves she follows, not knowing that the statue of Mary has stepped down to act as a placeholder until she comes to her senses. All the nuns and townsfolk know is that the statue has disappeared and that brings about a series of local misfortunes, so it's all riding on Carroll to save the day. It's a bit silly, but since when have I ever let that get in the way of my enjoyment of a movie?  |
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Post by topbilled on Dec 20, 2023 15:08:21 GMT
⇧ That's a great list.
"Keys of the Kingdom" is another one. |
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Post by topbilled on Dec 20, 2023 15:13:36 GMT
For really amped-up melodrama, I like The Miracle (1959) with Carroll Baker and Roger Moore. It follows the DeMille template of excusing a whole long series of transgressions by using a religious framework to fall back on when the naughty stuff is done with. Carroll plays a novice at an abbey where an injured officer is brought to recover. They have an intense "vibe" and when he leaves she follows, not knowing that the statue of Mary has stepped down to act as a placeholder until she comes to her senses. All the nuns and townsfolk know is that the statue has disappeared and that brings about a series of local misfortunes, so it's all riding on Carroll to save the day. It's a bit silly, but since when have I ever let that get in the way of my enjoyment of a movie?
We might say there is a sub-genre here involving faith with Marian devotion. |
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Post by topbilled on Dec 20, 2023 15:28:54 GMT
Two productions from the 1980s worth mentioning maybe...both based on popular plays.
What happens when a nun becomes pregnant? Certainly, there's some melodrama in AGNES OF GOD (1985).
Also, a film I rather enjoy...1984's MASS APPEAL starring Jack Lemmon & Zeljko Ivanek with Charles Durning. It's sort of an 80s update of GOING MY WAY, where an established priest (Lemmon) is challenged by a young cleric fresh from seminary (Ivanek). They filmed at an actual Catholic Church in Arcadia or San Marino, somewhere outside Los Angeles. And the church in the film reminds me of some churches I attended in my younger days.
Unlike GOING MY WAY, I'd say MASS APPEAL has more mature, adult themes. Lemmon starts to experience a crisis of faith, and Ivanek wrestles with personal demons, at one point confessing he'd had gay tendencies after the monsignor (Durning) has to expel another priest from the diocese who's outed as a homosexual.
There's a memorable scene where Ivanek delivers a sermon from the pulpit, trying to jolt the parishioners out of their complacency, to get them to really understand and live their faith. This of course goes against the 'spoon fed' brand of Catholicism that Lemmon and the more conservative priests dole out. In real life, Jack Lemmon was a lapsed Catholic so I find this role a good one for him, perhaps even cathartic.
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