‘THE BISHOP’S WIFE’

Please feel free to comment on my review.

Cary Grant is David Niven’s Guardian Angel

Who knew this Christmas film would become a favourite for the Bradley family? 😀

Back in 2019, my parents and I planned to see a limited re-release of the 1954 film ‘White Christmas’ starring Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye at our local cinema. Sadly, we weren’t able to, but thankfully we saw another Christmas film to make up for it. And it was a Christmas film we had never seen before!

This is ‘The Bishop’s Wife’, starring Cary Grant, Loretta Young and David Niven. We enjoyed the film very much that I even purchased a DVD copy of the film for my parents and me to enjoy in 2020. We even revisited the film in 2021. I’m pleased my parents and I enjoyed the film when we first saw it. 🙂

We know ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’! It’s a film about a man who loses his way in life and he gets visited by an angel who helps him. ‘The Bishop’s Wife’ has a similar approach in terms of its story with superficial elements in it, except it’s done differently. It’s done in a quiet and more reserved manner.

I found how quaint and charming this black-and-white Christmas film from 1947 was. It’s ironic that this film came out a year later after ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ was made in 1946. It’s also ironic that ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ gets talked about more compared to how ‘The Bishop’s Wife’ gets talked about. 😐

It’s interesting to note that this film is based on a book by Robert Nathan, which was published in 1928. This is something I didn’t realise when checking out the film on the big screen as well as on DVD. I’m sure the film took liberties in adapting from the source material, but it’s still good to watch.

My parents and I saw this Christmas movie on the big screen at Showcase Cinemas in Nantgarw. We didn’t know what to expect when we saw this film. I was surprised my parents hadn’t seen this film before. They easily enjoyed it as well as me. The film also features big names from the days of 1947.

I’ve seen Cary Grant in a number of films such as ‘Arsenic and Old Lace’ and ‘To Catch a Thief’. Recently, I’ve seen him in ‘North by Northwest’ and ‘An Affair to Remember’. The character that Cary Grant plays in this particular Christmas film is quite different to the other film roles he’s played.

I expected Cary Grant to play the actual bishop in the film, but it turns out it’s David Niven who plays the bishop in the film. Instead, Cary Grant plays an angel who helps David Niven’s bishop with his problems. Cary Grant as an angel?! That’s so surreal to think about. Yet he plays it so remarkably well.

David Niven’s bishop character is called Henry Brougham. In the film, he struggles to secure money for a cathedral he’s trying to maintain. Cary Grant’s angel is called Dudley and he comes in answer to Henry’s prayer to God in order to give him some guidance and to see what he’s missing at Christmas.

This includes his wife and daughter who love Henry Brougham so much, even when he’s stressed out with the activities he has to perform as bishop. It’s quite underplayed in terms of how David Niven plays out that stress Henry Brougham is going through, but it’s welcome in a festive film like this one.

By the way, David Niven has appeared in many films such as ‘The Pink Panther’ films as well as ‘The Prisoner of Zenda’, which I’ve yet to see. I’ve seen him recently in films like ‘Candleshoe’ and 1978’s ‘Death on the Nile’ with Peter Ustinov. I greatly enjoyed his performance as Bishop Broughton here.

Like Cary Grant, David Niven was a big name in his day in terms of films at the cinema. This was the first time I came across David Niven as an actor, especially in a film shown for a limited re-release on the big screen. It was a huge joy and I liked how David Niven plays the troubled bishop throughout. 🙂

Loretta Young stars as Julia Brougham, Bishop Henry’s wife. At the start, she’s unhappy about her husband’s unhappiness with saving the cathedral. She wants to do all she can in order to help her husband, but he doesn’t seem to be that open to her ideas about securing a happy future for them.

Dudley comes along to bring happiness into Julia’s life, such as having lunch at her favourite restaurant; ice-skating on an ice rink and purchasing a new hat she really likes. This is much to the dismay and jealously of Bishop Henry, who thinks Dudley is trying to steal his wife away from him. 😐

But Dudley’s actions to help Julia be happy are quite innocent when he’s guiding Bishop Henry to see what he can’t see beyond the struggles he has. Dudley performs little miracles that nobody anticipates, such as decorating the Christmas tree and typing a Christmas Eve sermon for the bishop.

The special effects featured for Dudley’s miracles are of their time, but they’re so effective and get the point across very well. I don’t think this film would have been made very well in today’s context if so many flashy CGI effects were utilised to convey that Dudley can perform miracles as an angel. 😐

The film does contain quite a number of humorous moments. I found how easy it was to laugh at certain moments in the film whenever Dudley performed miracles. The moment where Dudley walks out of Bishop Henry’s office when he had the door locked was amusing and quite awe-inspiring here.

There are also the moments when Dudley keeps refilling Professor Wutheridge’s glass of wine as well as his bottle once he thinks he’s finished with his recent drink. I don’t know why Dudley kept doing that to Wutheridge – maybe it was his scepticism – but it was so amusing to watch in the film.

Dudley also helps people who are in need of help and he has some influence to make people see the good side of things. Early on in the film, the scene where he helps a blind man to cross the road was nice to watch. Dudley also has an effect of stopping cars about to drive into him when on the road. 🙂

The scene where Dudley persuades Gladys Cooper as Mrs. Hamilton to contribute funds for Henry’s cathedral is also quite good. Beforehand, Mrs. Hamilton had been a sourpuss, especially in making things difficult for Bishop Henry’s endeavours to save the cathedral. She becomes nice in the end. 😀

There are other familiar faces that my parents and I recognised when watching the film. There are a number of child actors we recognised from ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’. This included the boy who played young George Bailey – Robert J. Anderson –who plays a defence captain in a snowball fight scene. 😀

I’m surprised the boy wasn’t given a name in the film. He could’ve been George Bailey for all we know. 😀 There’s also Karolyn Grimes, who played Zuzu Bailey in ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’, as Debby, the Broughams’ daughter. Karolyn Grimes has also been in the 1946 film ‘Blue Skies’ with Bing Crosby. 🙂

The film also features Monty Wolley as Professor Wutheridge, James Gleason as Sylvester the taxi driver, Elsa Lanchester as Matilda the housekeeper and Sara Haden as Mildred the secretary. A lot of these characters become affected by Dudley’s presence when he brings joy and happiness to them.

Incidentally, here’s some fun trivia. David Niven was originally meant to play the angel Dudley whilst Dana Andrews (who was in 1945’s ‘State Fair’) was to play the bishop and Teresa Wright to play the wife. Imagine how different the film would’ve been with the three cast members in different roles. 🙂

Teresa Wright bowed out due to be being pregnant and Dana Andrews was lent to RKO in order to obtain Loretta Young. The film’s director Henry Koster brought in Cary Grant, but he wanted to play the angel. I’m sure David Niven would’ve been a great angel, but he does so well playing the bishop.

The 2004 DVD edition I purchased back in 2020 sadly doesn’t have any DVD special features. Not even a theatrical trailer for the film. This is odd because apparently the theatrical trailer does appear on later DVD/Blu-ray editions of the film. As I’ve indicated, this film doesn’t get that much attention.

I enjoyed ‘The Bishop’s Wife’ very much when my parents and I saw it on the big screen. I’m glad I recommended it to my parents at the time. I’m also pleased that my parents and I enjoy the film whenever we get the chance to see it, as we own it on DVD. It’s a nice Christmas film to check out. 🙂

‘The Bishop’s Wife’ is a romantic comedy with some very good Christian messages featured in it. I’m pleased the film ends on a good Christian note, especially with David Niven’s character giving the sermon. Cary Grant is very good as angel Dudley and I do like how reassuring the film’s conclusion is.

After we’d seen the film at the cinema back in 2019, my parents and I met a couple who said they enjoyed the film very much. To know a film can still touch the hearts of people today, even on a re-release basis at a local cinema, means it’s doing something right. I hope you’ll enjoy this film as well.

‘The Bishop’s Wife’ rating – 9/10

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