Le due suore

"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.

"An irresistible force has been let loose in New England" as two nuns travel across what appears to be desolate country by foot, coming upon a stable in the clearing...true, they're in Bethlehem, but it's Bethlehem, New York! The stable is being rented by a dotty artist who specializes in religious paintings, and the sisters have been drawn there by a picture-postcard with the hopes of spearheading development in that area for a children's hospital. Skillful sentiment walks a nimble line between heartfelt religiosity and treacle. The nuns (Loretta Young and Celeste Holm, both Oscar-nominated) lack just two things in their quest--land and money--and the ways in which they acquire these necessities will warm even the grumpiest of viewers (they melt the heart of Thomas Gomez's surly racketeer--luckily for the sisters, he's a Catholic!). No weighty or ponderous agendas here, just simple, old-fashioned entertainment. Beautifully photographed by Oscar-nominated Joseph LaShelle, with music direction by Lionel Newman that tugs at the tear ducts. *** from ****

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.

"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.

During the late 1940s Clare Booth Luce, wife of Henry Luce of the Luce Publications, noted playwright, Republican Congresswoman had a celebrated conversion to Catholicism courtesy of Bishop Fulton J. Sheen. There's nothing like the zeal of the newly converted so this screenplay was written to show how God does move in mysterious ways for the believers.

What's hard to believe is that the same author of The Women actually wrote Come to the Stable. But it's true and Luce is a skilled writer and she fashioned a very easy to take tale of two nuns over from France trying to build a children's hospital in memory of the kids they couldn't save in World War II.

The two nuns are played by Loretta Young and Celeste Holm. There was no doubt that Young would be one of the three leads. Loretta Young, Irene Dunne and Rosalind Russell were three of the leading female Catholic lay people in the country at that time. I'm sure all were approached with this film.

Young and Holm were both recent Oscar winners, for The Farmer's Daughter and Gentlemen's Agreement and both were nominated for Best Actress here. Both lost the big sweepstakes to Olivia DeHavilland who was also a recent winner for To Each His Own. Strange are the ways of the Academy voters. Elsa Lanchester was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her role as the religious artist who offers the nuns shelter and lodging during their quest. Lanchester is her usual charming, but off the wall self in her part.

In today's audience some may find all the happy coincidences a bit much. But then again that is precisely the point of the film, that God will help those who help themselves.

One other thing. Some very rough and irreligious people contribute to the sister's endeavor and I think the message there is that on occasion, man can rise above just looking out for himself and think of the human race at large.