The Bishop's Wife

Premiered December 9, 1947 in New York City, February 16, 1948 nationwide.

"Oscar Takes A Holiday" continues with a film that features contributions from multiple Academy Award-winners.

Loretta Young plays the titular "bishop's wife."  She won the Best Actress Oscar for the 1947 movie The Farmer's Daughter.

David Niven, won his Best Actor Oscar for Separate Tables in 1958.

The Bishop's Wife was produced by Samuel Goldwyn.  He won the Best Picture Oscar for producing The Best Years Of Our Lives in 1946.  At the same Oscars ceremony, Goldwyn won the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award which is presented to "creative producers, whose bodies of work reflect a consistently high quality of motion picture production."  In the photo below, Goldwyn is holding both the Thalberg award and his Oscar.

Robert E. Sherwood co-wrote The Bishop's Wife and won a Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar for the aforementioned The Best Years Of Our Lives.

Last, but definitely not least, The Bishop's Wife is an Academy Award-winning film.  It won an Oscar for Best Sound Recording, with the statuette going to the film's sound director Gordan Sawyer.  He won two other Academy Awards for sound recordings for his work on The Alamo and West Side Story.  Sawyer also has an honorary Oscar named for him that is given to people in the motion picture industry "whose technological contributions have brought credit to the industry.”

Gordon Sawyer, holding the Oscar he won for West Side Story.

While we normally discuss Academy Award Winners, not nominees during "Oscar Takes A Holiday," it's worth noting that The Bishop's Wife was also nominated for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Film Editing.  

It might come as a surprise to some, but while Cary Grant was one of the biggest movie stars of all time, he never won an Oscar.  He was only nominated twice for Best Actor.

Now that we've discussed this film's strong Oscars pedigree, here's our review:

As Christmas approaches, Bishop Henry Brougham (David Niven) is having trouble raising money to pay for a new cathedral and prays for guidance.  

His prayers are answered by a charming and handsome angel named Dudley (Cary Grant).

The bishop's fundraising efforts have also created tension between Henry and his wife, Julia (Loretta Young).  She feels like Henry has little time for her and fears he may be overtaxing himself with the cathedral plans.

Dudley's good deeds manage to enchant most everybody in town -- a curmudgeon-y professor (Monty Woolley), the bishop's secretary (Sara Haden) and maid (Elsa Lanchester), his daughter Debby (Karolyn Grimes), a taxi driver (James Gleason), and a snobbish, materialistic potential donor (Gladys Cooper).  

However, the bishop himself begins to wonder if Dudley is really as angelic as he claims to be.  Henry suspects the angel is taking a romantic interest in his wife!

Will the cathedral get built?  Will the bishop and Julia's marital troubles be resolved?  Will Dudley manage to bring peace on earth and goodwill to all and earn his wings?

RigbyMel says: 

I first encountered The Bishop's Wife on cable during the holiday season when I was in high school.  I had been on a bit of a Cary Grant kick at the time and found the movie to be quite charming.   It became a regular part of my holiday viewing and has remained so.   

The story is sweet without being cloying and the cast is absolutely top-notch.

David Niven makes the bishop a sympathetic character who is so focused on getting the cathedral built that he's missing out on what's really important.   Niven's starchy British-ness and comedic chops are deployed to excellent effect -- for instance, take a look at the scene where he becomes literally stuck to a chair at a snooty donor's residence!

Cary Grant is delightful as Dudley -- one can see why he would appeal to pretty much everyone he meets and I enjoy his low key "miracles" throughout the film -- particularly a bit involving a locked door.  There are also some great stop motion animated bits where Dudley gets to quickly sort thru some mail and even decorate a Christmas tree with a wave of his hand.

Interestingly, when the production for this film began, Niven and Grant's roles were reversed!  It's hard to imagine this reversal working quite as well had the director gone through with it.

Loretta Young is lovely in the important (but ever so slightly thankless) role of Julia.  She manages to imbue her just a bit too perfect character with heart. 

And the supporting actors are fun as well -- particularly Elsa Lanchester (whose best known role today is as the Bride of Frankenstein) in the role of the family's maid.

The Bishop's Wife's classic holiday movie bona fides are also very strong.

Monty Woolley - who also appears in The Man Who Came To Dinner - is amusing as the cynical Professor Wutheridge, who also is the recipient of some angelic help from Dudley. 

And two young actors that appear in the beloved 1946 classic It's A Wonderful Life  have small but important roles in the movie.   Keep an eye out in the snowball fight scene for Robert J. Anderson (who also played the young George Bailey in IAWL).  

Robert J. Anderson (right) plays the captain of the "defending" team in the snowball fight.

The bishop's young daughter Debby is played by Karolyn Grimes (who also plays George's daughter Zuzu in IAWL).

The Bishop's Wife is an underappreciated holiday classic and most definitely is worthy of adding to your regular Yuletide film rotation.

RigbyMel's rating:

4 candy canes!

J.A. Morris says:

Unlike my co-blogger, I hadn't seen The Bishop's Wife until she introduced it to me in the last decade.  It's a good Christmas movie that features excellent performances by some of Classic Hollywood's best actors.  

Cary Grant is one of my favorite actors and it's nice to have an excuse to watch him every December, he makes Dudley believable.  Loretta Young is also solid as Julia.  

However, David Niven has the toughest role of The Bishop's Wife and he delivers.  Henry isn't a bad person, he's just going through a rough patch and isn't sure how to go about financing the cathedral's construction while simultaneously trying to be a decent husband and father.  

I'm sure some moviegoers 1947 found themselves rooting for Julia and Dudley to fall in love, since on the surface, they're more likable than the bishop.  I won't spoil the ending, but let's just say when the movie ends on Christmas morning, Henry has grown and changed for the better.  Niven makes Henry's growth very plausible.  

Monty Woolley is also great as Julia and Henry's old friend Professor Wutheridge.  As RigbyMel mentioned, Woolley played the rude and bombastic Sheridan Woodside in another Christmas movie, The Man Who Came To Dinner.  The Bishop's Wife gives holiday film fans a chance to see Woolley play a much nicer character.  

If I have any problems with The Bishop's Wife, it's that its pacing could've been a little better.  It's nearly two hours long and I think it could've told its story in a slightly shorter running time.  

The Bishop's Wife is an enjoyable Christmas movie and I recommended it to fans of Hollywood's Golden Age and everyone who loves Yuletide movies.  If you're not a fan of David Niven's acting, this film will make you one.  

J.A. Morris' rating:

4 candy canes!  

Coming up tomorrow:
We continue our Oscars tribute with a review of a remake of The Bishop's Wife!  See you then!