Cast: Cary Grant, David Niven, Loretta Young, Monty Woolley, Elsa Lanchester
Credits: Producer: Samuel Goldwyn; Director: Henry Koster; Writers: Robert E. Sherwood and Leonardo Bercovici (Based on a Novel by Robert Nathan); RKO; 1947
Perhaps the screen’s most famous Christmas angel is Clarence from It’s a Wonderful Life, the Frank Capra classic. However, Henry Koster’s The Bishop’s Wife, with inspired screenplay by Robert E. Sherwood and Leonardo Bercovici (based upon the Robert Nathan novel), features the screen’s most debonair and sexy Christmas angel, Dudley, as portrayed by Cary Grant. The story of The Bishop’s Wife involves the triangle relationship existing between Bishop Henry Broughton (David Niven), a stuffy and aloof man, passionless and obsessed with building a new cathedral, his wife Julia (Loretta Young), a woman deeply devoted to her husband, but a woman extremely neglected and unsatisfied, and their savior, Dudley, an angel who relishes the human experience and is attracted to the woman, Julia, and who knows the secret of creating heaven on Earth. The tale unwinds during the Christmas season, and by its conclusion, when the Bishop delivers his Christmas Eve sermon, every character has undergone some significant change based upon the self-understanding of an inner vision which comes about through setting personal priorities and learning the simple joys of living and being a human being.
The movie shows another idyllic Christmas land: The sounds of Christmas carols, joyous and impassioned, frame the night-time cityscape, snow falls gently as choruses on street corners sing, Santa rings his bell and shoppers are attracted to storefronts which feature nativity scenes, toy trains, Santa’s reindeer and sleigh and mechanical Santas. A happy-go-lucky gentleman becomes our eyes, appreciating the joy and happiness which Christmas brings. This man volunteers to accompany a blind man across the street, oblivious to cars cruising rapidly down the street. When a mother lets go of her baby carriage to lift her older daughter higher so the child can see a Christmas display, the carriage rolls down the sidewalk in front of a passing truck, and this same man appears out of nowhere and stops the carriage. Soon the man sees an enraptured Julia Broughton look longingly at a special hat on display inside a store window, and watches as she moves on to a Christmas tree store and orders a tree to be delivered on Christmas Eve. This inquisitive man listens as Julia meets and greets an old friend, the Professor (Monty Woolley), a broken-down scholar who used to belong to Julia’s husband’s old parish, a man who has no religion but buys a pathetic, straggly Christmas tree because it reminds him of his childhood. Asked about husband Henry, Julia’s eyes sadden and she states that Henry is tired and worried about raising the money for a new cathedral. To brighten up the lovely lady, the Professor gives Julia his lucky coin, a Roman coin he claims is of little value. “We were happy back here with old friends,” Julia sighs. Soon the observant man approaches the Professor, greets him warmly, saying they met back in Vienna, but the Professor seems confused. Julia thinks the entire encounter amusing, but then the young man leaves, and Julia walks home alone, stopping a moment to look at the old parish.
Julia arrives home late; the meeting Henry is having with Mrs. Hamilton (Gladys Cooper) has already begun. Mrs. Hamilton reminds the Bishop that she was the person responsible for having Broughton named Bishop: “I had every confidence in you when you were a poor little parson of the church in the slums... I confess my confidence has weakened.” Hamilton’s money is tied to the proposition that this new cathedral have a chapel dedicated to her late husband George and other self-serving items about which the Bishop is none too happy. He calls Mrs. Hamilton his “guiding spirit.” Coming to the point, Mrs. Hamilton rants, “You will build that cathedral as I want it, or you will not build it at all!”
Henry chides his wife for her lateness, declaring, “What a ghastly afternoon, what a ghastly woman!” Appearing as a beaten and whipped dog before Mrs. Hamilton, the Bishop declares to his wife, “I had no intention of being strangled by her purse strings.” And Julia smiles and tells him she is proud of him. Julia further suggests he take a rest from all the stress caused by raising funds for the cathedral until after the upcoming holidays, but the Bishop is wise enough to understand that this is the charitable season when deep-pocket individuals are willing to give for such a cause. Julia is worried about her husband, both his physical and mental health. “Henry, if you could see your poor, harassed face... what’s happened to you... to us and our marriage?!” Julia reminds Henry that they used to have fun and were happy and made others happy as well. From seeing Henry in action, the audience probably finds it difficult to visualize that former Henry. As Julia gives Henry the Professor’s good luck coin, the bitter Bishop frowns and says, “Old fool, what did he think I could do with that!” Henry needs four million dollars for his new church and tells Julia he wants a quick dinner (with both of them sitting formally at opposite ends of the table) because he has lots of work remaining. Quickly realizing what a pill he has been, Henry slightly softens and offers to schedule time for just them to go out for lunch tomorrow, to go watch the skaters at the park. However, once Julia leaves, smiling and happy, Mildred (Sara Haden), Henry’s secretary, reminds him of a luncheon appointment he made a month ago. In utter frustration, now alone, Henry bows his head into his hands and pleads, “Oh, God, please help me!” as the painting of the new cathedral behind him suddenly begins to brighten and radiate. Soon, the strange young man that we met at the movie’s beginning appears before Henry in his chambers. The man declares that Henry’s prayers have been heard, and that he, Dudley, is an angel without wings here to help. Henry is more than a little doubtful, asking why can’t Dudley create the cathedral with one wave of his hand. Dudley, always pleasant and smiling, says, “You wouldn’t want me to do that—how would you explain it!” Dudley tells Henry he will be his assistant, helping the Bishop in any way he can. Once Henry prays he no longer has need of Dudley, Dudley assures the Bishop he will be “gone and forgotten.”
The next morning, Julia and daughter Debby (Karolyn Grimes) go to the park and watch the children playing in the snow, throwing snowballs and having a grand time. “They don’t want me! Guess I’m too little,” the girl cries. Dudley, who magically appears on the scene, tells the valiant little girl, “We’ll show them how wrong they are.” The so-called kid leaders say they are playing protect the fort but that Debby can’t fight because her father’s the Bishop. When Dudley tells Debby to pack and throw a snowball (which he magically guides) to smack the kid at the very top of the hill, Debby is immediately chosen by her peers: “Come on kid, you’re in our army!” Soon, Dudley offers to take Julia to lunch at Michel’s, the very restaurant that Julia wanted Henry to take her to today. Matilda (Elsa Lanchester), the servant, just happens to be traveling by the park and offers to take Debby home. Henry and Julia became engaged at Michel’s, and the restaurant holds plenty of pleasant memories. However, a table of busy-body old hens, all members of the Cathedral Committee, coldly eye Julia for eating with a handsome young man who’s not her husband. Dudley reads her palm and sees a woman “who is adored” and who will live a “rich full life.” Dudley tells the fascinated young woman, “The world changes, but two things remain constant: youth and beauty.” But Julia reminds Dudley that people grow older. Dudley corrects her: “Not everybody. The only people who grow old were born old to begin with. You were born young, you will remain that way.” To silence the gossip, Dudley goes over to the table of old women and invites them to sit with Julia and him. Unbeknownst to Julia, Henry canceled his appointment, coming home early to take Julia to lunch, but when he hears she already left with Dudley, he is angered and slams his office door.
On the way home Dudley and Julia run into the old Professor, who invites them up to his place for sherry. Looking at his twig of a tree with an angel on it (one that Julia gave him), the Professor remarks that it creates the “illusion of peace on Earth.” Asking about the manuscript of his 20-years-in-the-making book, one that every winter he promises to his publisher next spring, he regretfully states he hasn’t written a word, that he doesn’t want to repeat the same old dusty history. Soon Dudley returns to the Professor the same Roman coin he gave Julia, and recounts the coin’s history. Only 100 were minted by Caesar, and they were used to pay “the hotel bill” for lover Cleopatra. When Caesar’s wife discovered this so-called affair, he ordered all the coins be melted—but one survived. Dudley has planted the seeds for the Professor’s book. Strangely, as they drink their glasses of sherry, the bottle magically refills itself.
That evening, watching Julia brush her hair, Henry tries to think of romantic little compliments to show his wife how much he loves her, but all his comments come off as being stiff and too reserved. The words are kind—“you lead a well-ordered life... you’re an excellent wife...”—but passion is missing. Julia wishes that Dudley will be able to take some of the burden off her husband’s hectic life, but Henry can only feel jealousy that this younger man seems to be able to make Julia happy while he cannot.
The next day Henry plans to give in to all of Mrs. Hamilton’s demands and sets up a meeting at five o’clock, again missing another planned meeting with Julia at his old parish to listen to the boys choir. Hoping to get this unpleasant business with Hamilton over with rapidly, Henry plans to join his wife and Dudley at St. Timothy’s. Things work out well. Henry apologizes, agrees to the special chapel dedicated to her late husband George, agrees to have his name gilded in marble and his likeness matched to St. George slaying the dragon in stained glass. Henry even cynically asks, “Who do you have in mind as the dragon?” With everything quickly agreed upon, Henry asks to be dismissed, but upon rising, the chair in which he is sitting strangely sticks to his rear end, and he is unable to get free. Meanwhile, at his old parish, Dudley and Julia marvel at the constantly improving choir, composed of children that Julia saw grow up before her eyes. Apologizing for the absence of her husband, Julia and Dudley leave.
Once outside, Julia is in no hurry to return home, telling Dudley, “You seem to make me feel that everything is going to be all right.” Dudley takes her in to purchase the hat she has been eyeing for weeks now, and then catching a cab, driven by the ever-pleasant Sylvester (James Gleason), they take a slow drive through the park, coming upon a frozen lake where ice-skaters swing merrily round and round. Soon, Julia and Dudley join in, later joined by the at first clumsy but soon (under Dudley’s guidance) graceful Sylvester. As Julia and mostly Dudley dazzle the crowd, the other skaters stand by the side and watch the couple perform. Returning home in the cab, Sylvester does not charge them a dime. “You and the little lady have restored my faith in human nature.” Julia says this has been her most wonderful evening in years, but Dudley counters with “in centuries.” As the happy Julia dances into her home, Henry can only muster “charming” when Julia asks him his opinion of her new hat. Henry, maintaining his calm exterior, tells Dudley that Mrs. Hamilton is willing to finance the cathedral. Dudley replies that was a foregone conclusion “if you were willing to make a slight sacrifice of your principles.” The angel goes on, that so many need food and shelter, that the big roof of that cathedral could make so many little roofs. Reminding Dudley that once he got his cathedral the angel was free to go, Henry puts that message in prayer as Dudley demands. However, still present and smiling, Dudley informs Henry, Julia still wants me to stay. His jealousy only causes Henry to tell Julia that Dudley was incompetent and that he fired him, distressing his wife very much.
The next day leaving with Henry to catch a cab to attend a meeting, Sylvester makes a comment about Julia bringing a man of the cloth along to marry Dudley and her, but Julia frowns and tells him that this man is her husband. Since it is now Christmas Eve, Henry has asked secretary Mildred to type up his sermon and make five copies, but it is apparent she wishes to leave early to do some shopping. Dudley just happens to come along, offers to do the typing, and he promptly throws the original sermon into the fireplace, dictating a new one to a typer-less typewriter that works by magic.
Dudley manages to make it to Mrs. Hamilton’s house before Julia and Henry arrive, and while waiting for her, just happens to open a jewelry case and sees a piece of hand-written sheet music with the marginal note: “This was composed for you, my darling, and you only—Allan.” Whispering to himself that Mrs. Hamilton’s husband was named George, he goes to the harp and starts playing the song, immediately attracting the dazed woman. Mrs. Hamilton enters and states Allan would have been a great composer, if he hadn’t died young, nearly 40 years ago. “He was the only man I ever loved... but I got frightened. He had nothing and I was afraid of poverty. He ran away, I never saw him again... I never loved George Hamilton. He was very much in love with me. He was very wealthy.” Mrs. Hamilton, now crying, tries to compose herself as her two new guests arrive. Changing her attitude to one of sweetness and kindness, she mentions that Dudley just left, and she tells Henry that she changed her mind about the cathedral. “Give my money to the poor, the homeless, the unappreciated people. I want you to direct the spending of the money!”
Going home alone, Henry pauses at St. Timothy’s, his old church, and decides to drop in on the Professor, who isn’t amazed to find out that Dudley is an angel, since his sherry bottle is still being used and doesn’t get any emptier. However, Henry feels Dudley made his wife despise him. “I already lost the love of Julia and Debby.” But the Professor tells the Bishop he has the advantage, that Julia is a creature of the Earth, and “you’re a man.” He tells Henry to fight for her!
Meanwhile, Dudley announces to Julia that his work here is almost done, and once an angel is done a mission, he is never sent back to the same location out of fear attachments could be formed. After telling Julia that she is one of those rare people who can make heaven here on Earth, he implores her to not send him away, that he is tired of being a wanderer, but with tears in her eyes, she tells the angel, “You must go away and never come back,” and runs upstairs. Henry almost immediately enters, demanding Dudley put up his dukes and fight for Julia, that Dudley will not steal Julia and Debby away from him. “I’m not going to lose her,” Henry makes quite clear. Dudley reminds Henry that when he is gone, all memory of him will be erased. Henry reminds Dudley that when he prayed for the angel to go away after he got his cathedral, Dudley did not vanish. But shrewdly, Dudley reminds him he did not pray for a cathedral but he prayed for guidance, and that has now been granted. So his work is done. “When the immortal finds himself envying the mortal entrusted in his care, there’s a danger signal,” Dudley admits. “Kiss her for me, you’re lucky, Henry.” Going upstairs as Julia puts Debby to bed, Henry experiences overwhelming happiness and he kisses Julia. He suddenly wants to go downstairs and drink punch toasts and smash the glasses in the fireplace. Going on to church, Henry reads the sermon that Dudley wrote, thinking he himself composed it, delivering its theme of “peace on Earth” passionately as the smiling Dudley momentarily listens and then walks off.
Never has a Christmas movie made such a strong case for two characters, in this case Julia and Dudley, to commit adultery. As is made perfectly clear in the movie, they are soulmates, perfect for one another. In a parallel relationship, the bitter old prune Mrs. Hamilton admits she never married Allan, the love of her life, allowing him to slip away and soon die, but she devotes herself to preserving the memory in marble of her late husband George, a man she married for money. It is easy to imagine Allan as Dudley and George as Henry where the loves of both these woman lie. Both woman remain solidly devoted to their spouses, although both marriages are passionless and business-oriented. The emotions of both women are flamed by men outside of marriage, men whom neither can marry. Thus, in a sense, The Bishop’s Wife is a cheat, for it sets the audience up for a romantic liaison that can never be. Of course, conveniently, Julia’s memory of Dudley will fade, but even with all the constant reminders through the film of the kind, passionate man that Henry used to be, even with his threat to smash glasses in the fireplace, David Niven’s character is dull and emotionless. One cannot imagine, not even for one second, that one minute of bliss with Dudley could equal a lifetime with the Bishop.
But in this sacrifice we have the message of Christmas, of lost souls looking for their direction (the Professor finding a topic worthy enough for his book of a lifetime, and Henry finding a cause greater than helping the poor and unappreciated in his parish in the slums), and of doing the valiant thing through self-sacrifice (Dudley giving up the special love he finds in Julia so she can be reconciled with her passion-infused husband, even if he’s a few quarts shy; the Professor giving up his special coin to Julia, who in turn gives it to her husband, which in turn ends up in the hands of the Professor once again). The Bishop’s Wife makes our lives appear bittersweet and sad; sometimes we strive for the unobtainable, sometimes we have to settle for second best, but through “loving kindness and the out-stretched hand of tolerance” the human condition can hope to find “peace on Earth.” That’s the message of Henry/Dudley’s final sermon, and it remains the message of The Bishop’s Wife.
Black Christmas
Cast: Olivia Hussey, Keir Dullea, Margot Kidder, Andrea Martin, John Saxon
Credits: Producer/Director: Bob Clark; Writer: Roy Moore; Ambassador; 1974
It’s hard to believe, but A Christmas Story director Bob Clark first offered this skewered version of Christmas as a psycho Santa stalks comely co-eds.
Blackadder’s Christmas Carol
Cast: Rowan Atkinson, Tony Robinson, David Barber, Jim Broadbent, Stephen Fry, Robbie Coltrane
Credits: Director: Richard Boden; Writers: Richard Curtis and Ben Elton; BBC; 1988
Renowned British comic Rowan Atkinson (Mr. Bean) takes a turn as Ebenezer Blackadder in this British comedy series. However, in this version Ebenezer goes to bed as the “nicest man in England” and the spirits manage convince him how wrong he is so he awakens and vows to become “the horridest man in the world.” This backward view of A Christmas Carol is most comparable to the comedy of Monty Python and fans of British comedy will not want to miss this warped adaptation of the classic tale.
Blackmailing Santa
Cast: Chance Stroud, Adria Adams, Janis Wilson, Darryl Adams
Credits: Director: David Michael Maurer; Writer: Dylan Campbell; 2002
An eight-year-old boy thinks his neighbor is Santa Claus. He decides to try blackmail to get Santa to help his family avoid eviction.
Blossoms in the Dust
Cast: Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon, Felix Bressart, Marsha Hunt
Credits: Producer: Irving Asher; Director: Mervyn LeRoy; Writer: Anita Loos; MGM; 1941
This story is based on the life of Edna Gladney, a woman who devoted her life to helping adopted children and having the word illegitimate stricken from their birth certificates. Garson and Pidgeon play husband and wife whose little son is killed on Christmas Day.
Bugs Bunny’s Christmas Carol (Looney Toons Christmas)
Cast: (voices) Mel Blanc, June Foray
Bugs helps give Mr. Scrooge (Yosemite Sam) a dose of the Christmas spirit. Tweety is Tiny Tim and Porky Pig is Bob Cratchit. When Scrooge has seen the light, Bugs says, “Ain’t I a little Dickens?”
Bundle of Joy
Cast: Eddie Fisher, Debbie Reynolds, Adolphe Menjou, Tommy Noonan, Nita Talbot, Una Merkel, Melville Cooper
Credits: Producer: Edmund Grainger; Director: Norman Taurog; Writers: Norman Krasna, Robert Carson, Arthur Sheekman; Based on a story by Felix Jackson; RKO, 1956
Bachelor Mother was remade in 1956 by RKO as Bundle of Joy and starred Hollywood’s most adorable couple, Debbie Reynolds an
d, in his big-screen debut, Eddie Fisher. The story remained basically the same. Debbie, portraying Polly, is told she’s fired from her job as salesclerk at J.B. Merlin’s department store, and by the way, Merry Christmas. While waiting for an employment office to open she finds a cherubic blond baby in front of a foundling home. Once again, the helpful but obtuse employees think she is trying to abandon the baby because she has lost her job. Playing Guardian Angel, one of the administrators of the home visits J.B. Merlin’s to get Polly her job back. He sees the younger Mr. Merlin, Dan (Fisher), who not only gives Polly her job back but a $10 raise (a suitable increase since 1939). Poor Polly thinks the store has finally seen the light and realizes what a great employee she is. Her bubble is soon burst when the foundling home delivers the baby to her doorstep later that night.
As in the earlier film, she falls in love with the younger Merlin and complications ensue when J.B. thinks the baby is his grandchild.
Bundle of Joy is really more of a musical than a holiday film. It just happens to occur at Christmas, and with a wink and nudge, we are reminded of a virgin birth since everyone assumes the baby belongs to Polly, who the screenwriters make quite clear is not the type of girl to have a baby without benefit of marriage.
Fisher is a fine singer, but the film only lights up when Reynolds is onscreen, and even she can’t overcome the rather inept script. The songs, while pleasant enough, especially the Fisher/Reynolds duet “Lullaby in Blue” written by Josef Myrow and Mack Gordon, are not really memorable. The same can be said of the film.
Bush Christmas
Cast: Chips Rafferty, John Fernside, Stan Tolhurst, Pat Penny
Credits: Producer/Director/Writer: Ralph Smart; Gaumont; 1947
Australian children’s film that has a group of kids chasing thieves who stole horses. I haven’t been able to find a copy of this film so we have no way of knowing how Christmas relates to the movie.
Bush Christmas
Cast: John Ewart, John Howard, Nicole Kidman, Mark Spain
Credits: Producers: Gilda Baracchi and Paul D. Barron; Director: Henri Safran; Writer: Ted Roberts; Hoyts; 1983
Australian remake of the 1947 film. I’m still not sure what Christmas has to do with it.