Mar 26th
The Song of Bernadette***
(US 1943)
The asthmatic eldest daughter of an impoverished Lourdes family sees a vision of the Virgin Mary in a cave, and draws in the rest of the baffled townspeople towards the nearby water spring for its healing properties.
Long but almost perfectly paced religious drama which never allows the piety of its subject to take over and spoke very strongly to the secular worries of a wartime audience, made in a compellingly matter-of-fact style (akin to Schindler's List) and set in a perfectly realised French town, only occasionally spoilt by the occasional Hollywood accent and the visions of the Virgin herself, that look a little tacked on.
Written by: George Seaton, from the novel by Franz Werfel.
Producer: William Perlberg.
Director: Henry King.
Starring: Jennifer Jones, Charles Bickford, Gladys Cooper, Vincent Price, Lee J. Cobb, Anne Revere, Roman Bohnen, William Eythe, Sig Rumann, Aubrey Morris, Charles Dingle, Marcel Dalio.
Photography: Arthur C. Miller.
Music: Alfred Newman.
Art Direction: James Basevi, William Darling.
+ the Virgin Mary was played by an uncredited Linda Darnell
++ opening statement: "For those who believe in God, no explanation is necessary. For those who do not believe in God, no explanation is possible."
The Song of Bernadette***
(US 1943)
The asthmatic eldest daughter of an impoverished Lourdes family sees a vision of the Virgin Mary in a cave, and draws in the rest of the baffled townspeople towards the nearby water spring for its healing properties.
Long but almost perfectly paced religious drama which never allows the piety of its subject to take over and spoke very strongly to the secular worries of a wartime audience, made in a compellingly matter-of-fact style (akin to Schindler's List) and set in a perfectly realised French town, only occasionally spoilt by the occasional Hollywood accent and the visions of the Virgin herself, that look a little tacked on.
Written by: George Seaton, from the novel by Franz Werfel.
Producer: William Perlberg.
Director: Henry King.
Starring: Jennifer Jones, Charles Bickford, Gladys Cooper, Vincent Price, Lee J. Cobb, Anne Revere, Roman Bohnen, William Eythe, Sig Rumann, Aubrey Morris, Charles Dingle, Marcel Dalio.
Photography: Arthur C. Miller.
Music: Alfred Newman.
Art Direction: James Basevi, William Darling.
+ the Virgin Mary was played by an uncredited Linda Darnell
++ opening statement: "For those who believe in God, no explanation is necessary. For those who do not believe in God, no explanation is possible."
posted by Joe at 2:17 PM
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