The Bishops Wife- The greatest Christmas movie.

[Tommy Tainant]

Rarely gets a mention when great xmas films are discussed.. I saw it just before xmas and it is really in a class of its own.
That is mainly down to the star quality of Cary Grant. He plays an angel called Dudley who is sent to earth to help Bishop David Niven find his faith.
Loretta Young plays the long suffering Bishops Wife and her scenes with Dudley naturally cause Niven undue jealousy.
But then I dont know any bloke who would be comfortable seeing his wife spend the day with Cary Grant.

Even a Bishop.
The best scene is the magical ice skating scene. Even if a double stood in for Grant you still believe its him.
Will there ever be a modern Cary Grant ?

Google Search

 

[rightwinger]

A Christmas classic

One of Cary Grants best roles

 

[whitehall]

Cary Grant played Cary Grant effortlessly and Loretta Young played her usual over emotional self. On top of that the whole thing was very British. Not worth the trouble.

 

[Tommy Tainant]

Cary Grant played Cary Grant effortlessly and Loretta Young played her usual over emotional self. On top of that the whole thing was very British. Not worth the trouble.

What trouble ?

 

[rightwinger]

Cary Grant played Cary Grant effortlessly and Loretta Young played her usual over emotional self. On top of that the whole thing was very British. Not worth the trouble.

Cary Grant played Cary Grant
Jimmy Stewart played Jimmy Stewart
John Wayne played John Wayne

Still great actors

 

[Flopper]

Rarely gets a mention when great xmas films are discussed.. I saw it just before xmas and it is really in a class of its own.
That is mainly down to the star quality of Cary Grant. He plays an angel called Dudley who is sent to earth to help Bishop David Niven find his faith.
Loretta Young plays the long suffering Bishops Wife and her scenes with Dudley naturally cause Niven undue jealousy.
But then I dont know any bloke who would be comfortable seeing his wife spend the day with Cary Grant.

Even a Bishop.
The best scene is the magical ice skating scene. Even if a double stood in for Grant you still believe its him.
Will there ever be a modern Cary Grant ?

Google Search

It is a real Christmas classic. If you like Christmas movies, it is not to be missed. In casting the movie, both David Niven and Carry Grant were chosen, however there was a controversy of who would play the bishop and who would play the angel. In the script, the bishop was a more serious roll while the Angel was more comedic. Henry Koster, the director convicted the studio to go with Niven as the bishop and Grant as the angel because Nixen had more dramatic experience and Grant had more comedy experience. Not sure about the logic, but the choice was perfect.

 

[Flopper]

They all developed screen personalities that the public would love and they rarely drifted too far from their persona. If you are familiar with the movies of the 30's and 40's, you'll recognized other screen personalities such as Walter Brennon, Lionel Barrymore, Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Mae West, and many more.

Most of the big stars in the 30's and 40's developed screen personalities and the studios carefully selected roles to fit those personalities. The studios and audiences loved them. Playing against type was relatively rare. Many such actors such as John Wayne and Jimmy Stewart loved their roles because they were paid lots of money and the acting was not that hard but others such as Montgomery Cliff, Ida Lupino, and John Garfield rebelled and sought more challenging and different roles. This is one of the factors that led to the collapse of the studio system.

 

[hondo 50]

I've seen a few John Wayne movies. Seems like the guy never really acted. Just talked like hisself.

 

[Flopper]

I've seen a few John Wayne movies. Seems like the guy never really acted. Just talked like hisself.

Probably so. John Ford, close friend and director of a number of Wayne's best movies would often say on set, "Duke, when the hell are you ever going to learn to act."

John Wayne, aka Marion Morrison never attended an acting school. When asked about how he plays his rolls, he said, "I just play who I am or at least the way I would like to be." He also said "making movies was the easiest job I ever had."

 

[rightwinger]

Probably so. John Ford, close friend and director of a number of Wayne's best movies would often say on set, "Duke, when the hell are you ever going to learn to act."

John Wayne, aka Marion Morrison never attended an acting school. When asked about how he plays his rolls, he said, "I just play who I am or at least the way I would like to be." He also said "making movies was the easiest job I ever had."

Late in his career Wayne was just a caricature of his image

 

[hondo 50]

Probably so. John Ford, close friend and director of a number of Wayne's best movies would often say on set, "Duke, when the hell are you ever going to learn to act."

John Wayne, aka Marion Morrison never attended an acting school. When asked about how he plays his rolls, he said, "I just play who I am or at least the way I would like to be." He also said "making movies was the easiest job I ever had."

Rolls. That probably describes his roles.