THE BELLS OF ST. MARY'S (1945)
Olive Signature- Limited Edition of 4000
Label: Olive Films
Region Code: A
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 126 Minutes
Audio: English
Video: 1080p HD Full Frame (1.37:1)
Director: Leo McCarey
Cast: Bing Crosby, Henry Travers, Ingrid Bergman, William Gargan
It's a bit rare that I will write a review for stuff that's not cult, horror or exploitation, but as my hair continues to turn grayer I find that I have a bit of a soft spot for more vintage monochrome cinema. With that said, I've always loved black and white movies, even in the 80's when I was a kid I grew up watching everything in black and white, even the stuff that wasn't actually in black and white, because my household only had a black and white TV! But even then I wasn't into classic Hollywood films unless it was something somewhat edgy, stuff like the Val Lewton produced thrillers, the Universal monsters stuff, the William Castle shockers, and comedies like The Three Stooges and Abbott & Costello, all of which you could watch on broadcast TV back in the 80s on the weekends. I didn't even like American westerns as a kid, they bored me to death, I didn't get into to westerns until I caught up with the spaghetti westerns of Sergio Leone, and it's only in the last decade or so that I have developed an appreciation for the golden oldies of yesteryear Hollywood, watching an increasing amount of vintage monochrome melodramas and stuff I would never have watched when I was a kid, I mean this was stuff my grandma watched, ha ha.
Which brings us to The Bells of St. Mary's, a faith-based gem starring the tap-dancing crooner himself Bing Crosby (White Christmas) and the timeless beauty that was Ingrid Bergman (Spellbound). Set in the titular dilapidated Catholic school the film concerns a newly arrived Father O'Malley (Crosby) who has arrived at the school to replace the former elderly priest who was apparently driven to the breaking point by the gaggle of nuns that run the school, lead by the angel-faced Sister Superior Mary Benedict (Bergman), the principal of the school. O'Malley has been tasked with evaluating the school and making the recommendation to his superiors of either closing it down or keeping it open.
O'Malley is a bit unorthodox in his approach, he's not stuffy, which goes against the principled ways of the Sister Mary Benedict, with the pair often butting heads and disagreeing with what's best, but both coming from the same well-intentioned place. I was expecting this to be a more straight-faced faith-based melodrama, but I was pleasantly surprised to discover that it's peppered with plenty of farcical humor throughout. A scene of Sister Mary Benedict secretly teaching a young boy to box, after buying a beginner's boxing manual at the local sports shop, so that he can thwart a bully on the playground is one of my favorites, her teachings being a bit to good, when the boy accidentally knocks her on the chin during a sparring match! And later when she see's the confrontation taking place through her window she shadow boxes while rooting for the boy, all the while nervous and a bit conflicted about her participation. Father O'Malley for his part takes a shine to wayward teenager Patricia (Joan Carroll) with her homework a bit more than he should, showing that he's willing to bend the rules a bit when it comes to the betterment of a child, he's a just a good guy.
While the school is falling apart local businessman Horace P. Bogardus (Henry Travers, It's A wonderful Life) is building a brand new modern business building right next door, and we discover that Sister Mary Benedict and her fellow sisters only plan to save the school is to pray that Bogardus miraculously donates it to the churchout of the goodness of his money-grubbing heart, which seems highly unlikely, but you know that power of prayer is mighty, and this is the sort of film where a miracle just might happen!
The film is just a heart-warming slice of faith-based melodrama, not my usual cup of tea to be honest, but when the film is anchored by Bing friggin' Crosby and Ingrid Bergman it's just hard not to love with it, and I had a great time watching it. It's not exactly a Christmas movie but I'll probably be adding this to my yearly Christmas watch-list because it's so uplifting, it's right there with It's A Wonderful Life. Director Leo McCarey (Duck Soup) has a light touch when it comes to the Catholic trappings, it's not a preachy film, and the way it's punctuated with moments of humor and sweetness is just precious, but not too precious, you know?
I didn't realize till I dug into the extras but the film is actually a sequel to Going My Way (1944), also directed by McCarey and starring Crosby, so I'm probably gonna have to seek that one out, and as luck would have it I think Shout! Factory have just released it on Blu-ray.
Audio/Video: The Bells of St. Mary's (1945) arrives on Blu-ray from Olive Films, licensed from Paramount, as part of their Olive Signature collection, limited to only 4000 copies. Framed in the original 1.37:1 full frame and and presented in 1080p HD, the black and white image looks lovely, there's a natural looking patina of grain, and the source, which benefits from a brand new 4K restoration, has only a few minor speckles throughout. There's a nice looking grayscale and contrast is solid, plus we get a modicum of depth that is very pleasing.
Audio on the disc comes by way of an authentically vintage sounding English DTS-HD MA Mono 2.0 mix that delivers both dialogue and the score from Robert Emmett Dolan without issue, as well as the handful of songs sung by both the mellow-crooner Bing Crosy and star Ingrid Bergman.
Olive deliver some tasty treats for fans of extras, we get an audio commentary from Bing Crosby biographer Gary Giddins, a 17-min look at the film by Catholic Sister Rose Pacatte who examines her love of film from a young age, seeing The House on Haunted Hill at age seven, and getting into what she loves about this film, in addition to pointing out a few faith-based issues she has with it.
Film historian Steve Massa also shows up for a 22-min discussion of the the film and it's director, revealing that he began his career as a defense lawyer but walked out of court one day when he realized his client was guilty!
Professor Emily Carman discusses the film in the context of Hollywood production history and sequels that runs about 8-min, touching on other Hollywood sequels including the Universal monster films, but mainly discussing this film.
Additionally there are two half-hour radio adaptations of the film with Bing Crosby, Ingrid Bergman, and Joan Carroll all reprising their screen roles, this is a nifty extra for fans of vintage radio dramas.
The single-disc release comes housed in a clear Blu-ray keepcase with an attractive matte finish slipcase. inside there's an eight-page booklet with writing on the film by Cultural Critic Abbey Bender, along with stills and movie poster images. The writings can also be viewed as a text-only extra on the disc itself.
Special Features:
- Mastered from new 4K restoration
- Audio commentary by Bing Crosby biographer Gary Giddins
- “Faith and Film” – Sr. Rose Pacatte on The Bells of St. Mary’s (17 min)
- “Human Nature” – Steve Massa on The Bells of St. Mary’s and Leo McCarey (22 min)
- “Before Sequel-itis” – Prof. Emily Carman on the film in the context of Hollywood production history (8 min)
- 2 Screen Guild Theater Radio Adaptations (60 min)
- Eight-Page Booklet with Essay by Cultural Critic Abbey Bender
The Bells of St. Mary's (1945) is a delightful and heartwarming faith-based slice of heaven, and this new 4K restoration from Olive is sure to be spiritual and cinema nirvana for vintage movie lovers, top marks for this one, another excellent release in the Olive Signature line-up.
