The Bishop's Wife may not be as well known as It's A Wonderful Life or A Christmas Story, but it is a simply wonderful Christmas movie. David Niven plays a harried bishop who is worried about raising money to build a great cathedral. He has been so absorbed in his work that he has neglected his wife, Loretta Young, and his little daughter, Debbie, portrayed by the girl who was Zuzu in It's A Wonderful Life. But before we even meet this family, we see a man help a blind man cross the street, and save a baby in its runaway carriage. We sense pretty quickly that he is an angel, played by the always excellent Cary Grant. He becomes the answer to the bishop's prayer for guidance, though not in the way the bishop expects.
This is the loveliest of movies; black and white, a skating scene, an adorable child, a rumpled old professor, a boy's choir. Everything is here. And it works. We believe in this Angel. We welcome his miracles. And we are moved by his longing to be human. I don't want to say more in case you haven't seen it, but I will say, please try and rent it or buy it this holiday season. Welcome it into your life.
Let us ask ourselves what He would wish for most, and then let each put in his share: loving kindness, warm hearts, and the stretched out hand of tolerance - all the shining gifts make peace on earth.
Nan ~ This is my favorite Christmas movie :)
ReplyDeleteHugs, Joanne
This is also one of my favorite Christmas movies. Well, I love most anything that Cary Grant was in, but this is one of my top ones.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds so lovely and nice - just right for Christmas. I think I may have seen it a long time ago and would love to watch it again.
ReplyDeleteJoanne, I remember that you love this movie. It is just so wonderful. And Kay, I think I like him in this film more than any other. I love the vulnerability, the longing to be human that we see. Margaret, I hope you can find it somewhere. It would be worth buying. I love black and white movies; there's just something so real about them, which is funny because we don't see in b&w. :<)
ReplyDeleteI only saw this movie for the first time last year; I had also seen the modern remake "The Preacher's Wife" which wasn't as good. A bit of trivia -- if I remember right, one of the boys that the daughter has a snowball fight with in the park is the same one who played the child George Bailey in It's A Wonderful Life!
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