The Bishop's Wife

The Bishop's Wife
(Cary and the Bishop's Wife)

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Henry Koster
Produced by Samuel Goldwyn
Screenplay by Leonardo Bercovici
Robert E. Sherwood
Billy Wilder (uncredited)
Charles Brackett (uncredited)
Based on The Bishop's Wife 
by Robert Nathan
Starring Cary Grant
Loretta Young
David Niven
Music by Hugo Friedhofer
Cinematography Gregg Toland
Edited by Monica Collingwood
Production
company
Distributed by RKO Radio Pictures
Release dates
  • December 9, 1947 (1947-12-09) (Premiere-New York City)[1]
  • February 16, 1948 (1948-02-16) (U.S.)[1]
Running time
 109 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Box office $3 million (US rentals)[2]

The Bishop's Wife, also known as Cary and the Bishop's Wife,[3] is a Samuel Goldwyn romantic comedy feature film from 1947, starring Cary Grant, Loretta Young, and David Niven in a story about an angel who helps a bishop with his problems. The film was adapted by Leonardo Bercovici and Robert E. Sherwood from the 1928 novel of the same name by Robert Nathan, and was directed by Henry Koster.

It was remade in 1996 as The Preacher's Wife starring Denzel Washington, Whitney Houston, and Courtney B. Vance.

Plot

Bishop Henry Brougham (David Niven), troubled with funding the building of a new cathedral, prays for divine guidance. His plea is seemingly answered by a suave angel named Dudley (Cary Grant), who reveals his identity only to the clergyman.

However, Dudley's mission is not to help construct a cathedral but to guide spiritually Henry and the people around him. Henry has become obsessed with raising funds, to the detriment of his family life. His relationships with Julia (Loretta Young) and their young daughter are strained by his focus on the cathedral.

Everyone, except for Henry, is charmed by Dudley, even the non-religious Professor Wutheridge (Monty Woolley). Dudley persuades the wealthy parishioners, particularly widowed Agnes Hamilton (Gladys Cooper), to contribute needed funds, but not to build the cathedral. He coaxes Mrs. Hamilton to donate her money to feed and clothe the needy — much to Henry's chagrin. To save time, Dudley also redecorates the Broughams' Christmas tree in a few seconds, saves an old church by restoring interest in the boys' choir, and dictates to a typewriter to magically produce Henry's new sermon — without Henry's knowledge.

But when Dudley spends time cheering up Julia, there is an unexpected development: Dudley finds himself strongly attracted to her. Sensing this, Henry becomes jealous and anxious for his unwelcome guest to finish and depart. He reveals Dudley's true identity to Professor Wutheridge, who urges him to stand up and fight for the woman he loves.

Dudley indicates a willingness to stay, but Julia, sensing what he means, tells Dudley it is time for him to leave. Dudley tells the bishop it is rare for an angel to envy a mortal. Henry wants to know why his cathedral plans were derailed. Dudley reminds the bishop he prayed for guidance, not a building.

With his mission completed and knowing that Julia loves her husband, Dudley leaves, promising never to return. All memory of him is erased, and later that Christmas Eve at midnight, Henry delivers the sermon that he believes he has written. Dudley observes from the street, satisfied that his work is done.

Cast

Niven was originally cast as the angel, Dana Andrews as the bishop, and Teresa Wright as his wife. However, Wright had to bow out due to pregnancy. According to Robert Osborne, Andrews was lent to RKO in order to obtain Loretta Young. Koster then brought in Cary Grant, but he wanted to play the angel, so the role of the bishop was given to Niven.

Production

In markets where the original title was kept, the posters had a black text box added
In some US markets, the film was retitled "Cary and the Bishop's Wife"

Production was not without troubles. Producer Samuel Goldwyn replaced director William A. Seiter with Henry Koster to create a completely new film. In early previews, audiences disliked the film, so Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett made uncredited rewrites. Even so, and even though the premiere of The Bishop's Wife was accompanied by critical success, the film didn't do very well at the box office at first. Market research showed that moviegoers avoided the film because they thought it was religious. So, Goldwyn decided to re-title it Cary and the Bishop's Wife for some US markets, while adding a black text box with the question "Have you heard about CARY AND THE BISHOP'S WIFE?" on posters in markets where the film kept the original title. By adding Grant's first name to the title the film's business increased by as much as 25 per cent.[3][4]

Although no denomination is mentioned in the film, the characters are clearly members of the Episcopal Church. The city where the film takes place is apparently New York City, as street signs marked "Madison Avenue" are seen in the opening scene. Location filming was done in Minneapolis, Minnesota.[5] The Robert Mitchell Boys Choir appeared in the film, singing O Sing to God by Charles Gounod. The "Lost April" song that features in the film had lyrics written for it with the song being recorded by Nat King Cole.

Karolyn Grimes also played the (later) famous daughter-role 'Zuzu' in It's a Wonderful Life, released a year earlier. Another actor who appeared in both movies was Bobby (or Bobbie) Anderson, who was billed as "Defense captain" (in the snowball fight) in The Bishop's Wife and who played young George Bailey in It's a Wonderful Life.

In the scene in which Dudley conducts the boys' choir, the Charles Gounod composition 'Noël: Montez à Dieu' ('O Sing to God') was performed by the Robert Mitchell Boys Choir.[6]

Elsa Lanchester also appeared as Katie Nanna in Mary Poppins.

Awards

The film won the Academy Award for Best Sound (Gordon Sawyer), and was nominated for Best Director, Best Film Editing, Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture and Best Picture.[7]

Adaptations to other media

The Bishop's Wife was dramatized as a half-hour radio play on the March 1, 1948 broadcast of The Screen Guild Theater with Cary Grant, Loretta Young and David Niven in their original film roles. It was also presented on Lux Radio Theater three times as an hour-long broadcast: first on December 19, 1949, with Tyrone Power and David Niven, second on May 11, 1953, with Cary Grant and Phyllis Thaxter[8] and third on March 1, 1955, again with Grant and Thaxter.

The soundtrack has been released on compact disc.[9]

References

  1. 1 2 "The Bishop's Wife: Detail View". American Film Institute. Retrieved May 8, 2014.
  2. ↑ "Top Grossers of 1948", Variety 5 January 1949 p 46
  3. 1 2 The Saturday Evening Post, February 19, 1949; page 22: How Grant Took Hollywood Linked 2013-12-24
  4. ↑ Peter E. Dans: Christians in the Movies: A Century of Saints and Sinners, page 93 Linked 2013-12-24
  5. ↑ Filming locations for The Bishop's Wife at the Internet Movie Database
  6. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgIvJl2P3JI
  7. ↑ "The 20th Academy Awards (1948) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Retrieved 2011-08-18.
  8. ↑ Kirby, Walter (May 10, 1953). "Better Radio Programs for the Week". The Decatur Daily Review. p. 50. Retrieved June 27, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ↑ "The Bishop's Wife (1947)". SoundtrackInfo. Retrieved 2009-10-10.

External links

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Streaming audio

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