...und der Himmel lacht dazu

Loretta Young and Celeste Holm are two nuns from a French convent on a mission to establish a children's hospital in a rural village much to the consternation of composer Robert Masen (Hugh Marlowe) who would like to see his place in the country stay just like it is. Against all odds the indomitable sisters move Masen and several other unlikely contributors into making the hospital a reality. It's fine family viewing with a warmth an innocence unseen in today's more cynical Christmas pics.

I saw this charming, slickly produced film as a young parochial grammar school kid at a theater in downtown Boston (near where my family lived at the time) and remember being tremendously amused at the scene where the two sisters, played by Loretta and Celeste (saddled with having to approximate a French accent), blithely tore up a parking ticket, placed on the windshield of their borrowed open WW II-era Jeep, thinking it was just an advertisement. Sister Celeste tosses the pieces into the air as they drive off from in front of New York's St. Patrick Cathedral where they'd illegally parked. (I doubt that she felt obliged to confess that little venial sin, do you?) There's a lot more to be amused and entertained by, of course, and the behind-the-camera artisans, as well as the well-chosen actors, especially Hugh Marlowe and Elsa Lanchester as well as Misses Young and Holm, all contributed some very professional work. Henry Koster, the director, was an old hand at keeping a project such as this from slipping entirely into a bath of over-the-top sentimentality.

So much has changed since those somewhat more innocent times and a gentle story such as this, with two ladies encased in those heavy, enveloping habits (with only their perfectly made-up faces visible to the world, by the way), is almost inconceivable today. See it and be transported back to a time when goodness, sincerity, and religious beliefs that don't descend into fanaticism were the order of the day, at least in Hollywood movies aimed at the family trade.

One interesting little tidbit: in one scene Hugh Marlowe's character (a song writer) sings the Academy Award-nominated song, "Through a Long and Sleepless Night" (which didn't win - and you'll hear why), and his singing voice was dubbed by Ken Darby, who was chiefly responsible for directing most of the choral work in many of Twentieth's films for many years. I have a suspicion that Mr. Darby probably rejected quite a few male candidates who wanted to join the Fox studio's choir if they didn't sound any better than he did!

"Come to the Stable" is a beautiful, sentimental movie, in the vein of "Bells of St. Marys" and "Going My Way." I saw it many years ago before buying the video and seeing it again. Loretta Young, unquestionably one of the great actresses of all time, is outstanding as a dedicated nun. So is Celeste Holm. It is easy to see why they were nominated for oscars. The picture itself received (I believe) six nominations.

The picture has you pulling for these dedicated nuns to accomplish their task. As with movies of this era, of course they do.

It is well worth watching.

"Come to the Stable" is a charmingly entertaining tale of two French nuns attempting to establish a children's hospital through their faith in God and their fellow man. This story, set in the post-WWII New England,is not a Christmas movie per se but it does embody the spirit of the season. Loretta Young and Celeste Holm are wonderful as the nuns - Loretta as the feisty Sister Margaret and Celeste as Sister Scholastica with the unshakeable faith. Elsa Lanchester is yet again exceptional, this time in her role as the reluctant aide to the nuns. Hugh Marlowe is wonderful as the harried and frustrated songwriter/neighbor.

This movie is about determination and faith and accomplishing the improbable. Sit back and allow this magnificent cast to entertain you. The experience will be well worth it.

COME TO THE STABLE (20th Century-Fox, 1949), directed by Henry Koster, from the story by Claire Booth Luce, stars Loretta Young in her most perfect screen role. Not quite the retelling of the three Wise Men following the star in the Heavens as they locate the Baby Jesus born in the stable surrounded by Joseph and his Mother Mary, but one about two nuns from the Order of Holy Endeavor on a mission of faith fulfilling their promise to God.

With its opening parallel to the three wise men, the film begins with two wise nuns, Sister Margaret (Loretta Young) from Chicago, and Sister Scholastica (Celeste Holm) of France, having arrived in Connecticut by train, walking miles through the snow with the twinkling star up above. Having spent and survived their war years in France helping underprivileged children, their mission now is to build a children's hospital in the town of Bethlehem. Their journey leads them to the barn where they find Miss Amelia Potts (sensitively played by Elsa Lanchester), an artist who specializes in religious pictures, and the Matthews family acting as models for her latest painting, "Come to the Stable." During the course of time, the nuns take up residence with Miss Potts, acquire the friendship and assistance of Anthony (Dooley Wilson), employed and living in the home of Robert Mason (Hugh Marlowe), a young composer, and his great dane called "Arson," on the other side of the hill from Miss Potts. Finding the perfect location to build their hospital, the nuns learn the land owner to be Luigi Rossi (Thomas Gomez), a bookie/ racketeer who conducts his business in midtown New York. Regardless of circumstances, they intend on meeting with him with the hope he would be so kind and donate the land to them, which doesn't seem possible. As much as the Bishop (Basil Ruysdael) and Monsignor Talbot (Regis Toomey) feel the nuns are fighting a lost cause, the Bishop agrees on giving them, along with the other assisting nuns, three months to earn enough money to pay for property and adjoining building for their church, much to the dismay of Mr. Mason who doesn't want the hospital placed "in his own back yard."

Filled with sentimental charm in the style of Leo McCarey's THE BELLS OF ST. MARY'S (RKO, 1945) starring Bing Crosby and Ingrid Bergman, COME TO THE STABLE is great on comedy as well with the sisters getting into the habit of unwittingly annoying Mr. Mason for special favors, and their way of passing through some tough thugs (one of them played by Mike Mazurki) in order to visit with their head boss (Gomez, in excellent portrayal). Aside from Sister Margaret being a driver with a lead foot, the scene worth mentioning is the one where the sisters come to Manhattan in Mr. Mason's borrowed jeep, leaving it in front of St. Patrick's Cathedral to enter the church and light a special candle, only to return to find a parking ticket placed on the windshield. What's done with the ticket comes as an element of surprise, especially from the officer watching at a distance. Scenes such as these are played in a straightforward manner, which performs much funnier for its viewers.

While Loretta Young deservingly earned an Academy Award nomination as Best Actress, Celeste Holm's secondary performance as the French nun who expertly plays a good game of tennis should not go unnoticed. Even though a native born French actress as Annabella could have been more accurate in the role, Holm's French accent is so perfect and convincing one would think she was actually born and raised in France. Hugh Marlowe, a fine actor with a very pleasing voice, is ideally cast as the harassed songwriter who not only finds the nuns to be a little troublesome to him, but more of a bother when he is told that his latest composition, "Through a Long and Sleepless Night" to be an old religious hymn he's unwittingly acquired in his head after listening to nuns chanting during church service nearby. Also in the cast is Dorothy Patrick as Marlowe's girlfriend, Kitty Blane.

Often categorized as a Christmas movie, COME TO THE STABLE actually isn't. Though its opening takes place during or around the Christmas season, the love, care and kindness enriched by others is felt throughout its three month time span in which its set. An inspirational movie with a message of not giving up hope when situations prove impossible. In Sister Margaret's case, her faith in the Lord and prayers to her patron St. Jude, patron saint of hopeless cases. A delightful film from start to finish, COME TO THE STABLE is worthy viewing not only around Christmas but any time of the year. While Loretta Young never portrayed a nun on screen again, she would enact that particular role in an episode or two on television for her "Loretta Young Show" in the 1950s, but none as memorable as her portrayal as Sister Margaret, who's faith is stronger than herself.

Displayed on video cassette in 1995, cable broadcast history for COME TO THE STABLE consists of American Movie Classics (1990s), Fox Movie Channel and Turner Classic Movies (TCM premiere: February 27, 2012) (****)