“The main trouble is there are too many people who don’t know where they’re going and they want to get there too fast!”*
by chuckofish
Cary Grant, David Niven and Loretta Young
The Bishop’s Wife (1947), directed by Henry Koster, is a wonderful black and white Christmas movie that you may have missed. We discovered it on television back in the 1970s and have loved it ever since. Of course, it is right up my alley, being about an Episcopal bishop (David Niven) who is trying to raise funds to build a Cathedral. And there is Cary Grant as an angel–talk about great casting–who comes in answer to the bishop’s prayer for “help”. According to IMDB, Grant was first cast to play the bishop and Niven the angel, but when the original director was replaced, Koster decided they should be switched. A brilliant move. The resulting film was nominated for Best Picture, Director, Film Editing, and Music. It only won for Best Sound. It also boasts a great script by the playwright Robert Emmet Sherwood from the novel by Robert Nathan.
It was re-made in 1996 as The Preacher’s Wife with Denzel Washington as the angel and Whitney Houston as the wife. I have not seen this version, but I know they’re not Episcopalians. Sigh. It isn’t cool anymore to make movies about Episcopalians I guess. C’est la vie.
Well, I highly recommend this terrific Christmas movie from 1947. You should definitely make room in your busy holiday schedule for this treat.
* The Bishop’s Wife (1947)
dual personalities 