The Bishop's Wife (1947)

The Bishop's Wife (1947) aka Cary and The Bishop's Wife

Oddly premised, vintage fantasy where the guidance a bishop (David Niven) prays for results in an ill-named, angelic figure (and you can't get more angelic than Cary Grant!) who, with the excuse of assisting him, basically devotes the length of the movie making the bishop jealous of the time he spends with his neglected wife (Loretta Young) and the (romantic?) relationship that develops between them.

The bishop is, for some reason that the audience will probably not wholly understand, obsessed with building a cathedral or, at least in obtaining the funding before the end of the month; (don't cathedrals generally get built over the course of decades, if not centuries?)

The current, rampant materialism on display within organized religion today makes it even more so which is, of course, obviously the point of the film.

Making it more difficult to identify with the bishop are his, much too nice, house and servants. He is still a bishop, so it's understandable they are there, but most audiences probably didn't then and won't have it as nice, even today, (irony emoticon goes here.)

The bishop had previously left the small community (where he was much beloved) to focus his attentions on hobnobbing with the rich in order to get the much-needed funds for the new edification; but at the same time, ignoring poverty and homelessness he had left behind.

There are minor miracles onscreen: the appearing and disappearing angel, flying cards, a miraculous wine bottle (which I liked,) a divinely guided snowball, and a decorated Christmas tree but, strangely, the simplest one (walking out a locked door) is not only the most significant but also the most memorable.

The use of doubles in an ice-skating segment and a harp playing sequence is obvious, but they are still fun, especially the skating number, which is a humorous highlight.

This movie did not really need any special effects other than Cary Grant who is charming as always; and not just because the script has his character cast a spell on everyone he meets including both a Saint Bernard, (much to his master's chagrin,) and an atheistic professor, but not the bishop himself who remains suspicious even after he comes to believe Grant's celestial origins.

With the name of Dudley, one would think the angel is to be made a figure of fun (for example there's also the non-biblical name of Clarence elsewhere who is definitely not a romantic figure); and while I have no problem whatsoever with the casting (since it makes sense in most traditional ways,) I'd be interested in seeing the effect a different actor would have with the same part.

There are funny moments (when Niven tries to say Grant is an angel and is repeatedly stopped by circumstances, for example,) but Grant is not really allowed to be as funny as he's proven to be able to be.

Think maybe of what someone cast against type, like Wallace Shawn for example, could have done with it: Maybe not as romantic a type (but still, why the Hell not?) and certainly a setup for a much funnier film.

Anyone could be jealous of Cary Grant, but if the movie made Niven jealous of a charismatic, but gnomish, little man? Just think of the missed potential for fun!

At the conclusion, we get the strange story choice to erase the memories of having interacted with an angel ...and the process of arriving at the lessons learned? How would this work? What difference would it make for two of the characters to have remembered the angel? The atheist professor then goes back to being an atheist? Isn't that a bad thing, as per the movie?

With Monty Woolley, James Gleason, Gladys Cooper, and Elsa Lanchester.