Die Glocken von St. Marien

At a big city Catholic school, Father O'Malley (Bing Crosby) and Sister Benedict (Ingrid Bergman) indulge in friendly rivalry, and succeed in extending the school through the gift of a building.

Although generally associated with Christmas, there is really only about five or ten minutes directly related to the holiday season. Of course, being a feel-good movie, it is appropriate to watch at that time of the year, just the same. Especially with Bing Crosby in the lead... who captured Christmas in the 1940s and 1950s more than he did? This is also a great performance from Ingrid Bergman during her Hollywood years. The boxing scene is incredible and make the whole film worth watching.

1944's "Going My Way" was a wispy-thin Oscar winner with only Barry Fitzgerald's adorable curmudgeon-ness to lift it out of sugary banality; this sequel drops Barry, so it shouldn't be of much use. However, director Leo McCarey actually pulls off a winner. Bing Crosby is back as Father O'Malley, and he's more human here than before, and his warm, witty battles with sister Ingrid Bergman are a delight (it helps that Bergman is possibly the most glowing, knowing, embraceable nun in Hollywood history!). Their smooth trials with the students and each other at St. Mary's have a seamless professionalism that, while not especially fresh, works the audience over with sheer good will. A sub-plot involving a troubled young girl (the excellent Joan Carroll) and her mother is a dandy heart-tugger, and the light music involved isn't such an obvious device as it was in "Going My Way"; the songs are there, but they're unobtrusive. A very good film, one that triumphs over its predecessor. Bing proves to be a solid actor here, not just a personality; he makes Father O'Malley a reachable character rather than just a holy rascal. Watch for his hesitation at the very end, and the thoughtfulness he gives to the scene. Admirably, Crosby gives back this time around. ***1/2 from ****

What has always attracted me to the oldest films starring Bing Crosby as a priest has been the ability he had to transfer to the viewer a tremendous warmth and tenderness. Certainly, his lines were written, but they were more than mere lines, for he embodied the attitude and intent of them so noticeably that it is hard not to end such a film without wanting to emulate such a man.

From his son, Gary, from his book "Going My Own Way," one can read a different story of his father. He claimed that Bing was cruel, cold, remote, and both physically and psychologically abusive -- such hard words to take in when one can be so deeply moved by his performances, especially as a priest.

His son, Philip, disputed his brother's claims, writing, " I loved him very much. He loved all of us too, including Gary. He was a great father." It is Philip's words I prefer to believe, for no man could give as much as his father did on the screen and it not come from his soul.

Ingrid Bergman's face in TBOSM was very beautiful, as though she came from heaven herself. Truly, she was one of the most gorgeous women that ever graced yesterday's films, and she too portrayed remarkably well the gentleness and kindness we envision God to be.

Watch this film and be blessed.

I had often heard how this film was nominated for Best Picture and other important Academy Awards, so I was glad to see it on cable a few days ago. I was very pleased with it. The film builds up to quite an emotional, dramatic ending. There are some moments when Ingrid Bergman simply shines with a special radiance. Bing Crosby was excellent also, although I think he had many better songs to sing in his long career. The direction seems slow-paced at times, but in a way this measured pacing gives the audience a better chance to focus on the characters on the screen.

The story certainly touched upon some important issues of Catholic education in the 1940's and 1950's. There were always fine attempts to help children from the other side of the tracks to prosper in a private school, with assistance of various kinds. The postwar population boom, however, led to huge numbers of children being educated as cheaply as possible in crowded, old, unsafe buildings. It was not uncommon to have 70 pupils in one classroom. In this film the nuns are relentlessly polite, but in real life they had to be very strict to control large classes. The picture refers to "fire traps" and the fact that St. Mary's School was about to be condemned. How ironic this was, for just 13 years later -- on December 1, 1958 -- a fire swept through the antiquated Our Lady of the Angels elementary school in Chicago, killing 92 children and three nuns. That tragic fire led to sweeping changes in building code laws and the modernization of thousands of schools across America, both public and private.

Father O'Malley is assigned to the Catholic school of St Mary's, once there it becomes apparent from the off that his methods and ways will clash with those of Sister Mary Benedict. However, with the school under threat of closure due to financial hardships, both Father and Sister must come together in faith that all will turn out right in the end.

The Bells Of St Mary's is the sequel to 1944s Oscar winner, Going My Way, tho not winning any awards other than for Best Sound Recording {it was nominated in the four main categories}, it is however a wonderful picture that firmly stands up straight in its own right. Obviously leaning heavy on the sentimental side in plot and meaning, Bells Of St Mary's is never stuffy, this is mainly down to the special performances of Ingrid Bergman {Sister Benedict} and Bing Crosby {Father O'Malley}, seamlessly working well off each other, even tho their respective characters are vastly different. Bing croons delightful tunes such as "Adeste Fidelis" and "Aren't You Glad You're You", whilst Bergman lifts the spirits in the art of pugilism!, I kid you not, it's a fabulous sequence.

This is a smashing and delightful holiday movie, I dare you not to be enchanted during the Christmas nativity scenes, nothing more needs to be said really, give it a whirl and I'm sure you wont be disappointed. 7.5/10