A Irmã Branca

One of the reviews on this site talks about the good old days when, if you wanted to see a film, you had to set your alarm for 3 a.m., or stay up past 11 p.m. in order to see it. And most of the time, five minutes into it, you fell asleep.

"White Sister" is a remake of a film starring Lillian Gish and Ronald Coleman. Studios often did this, making one an A-film, and remaking it as a B-film. I am thinking this was a B film since I don't think Clark Gable had quite made it big yet; he was still being "groomed." Helen Hayes, of course, was from the stage, and while she made some films, she never became a superstar.

Hayes plays Angela, the daughter of a Prince (Lewis Stone). She is betrothed to a banker, Ernesto Traversi. He's boring; Angela has a lot of verve and is interested in fun, as young people are.

She meets Lt. Giovanni Severi (Gable) at a carnival, and they fall in love. When she tells her father, he is furious. Angela rushes to Giovanni's barracks, but he isn't there; she is sent to the Officer's Club. Meanwhile, her father had the same idea and is en route to the barracks when the cars crash, and her father is killed. Angela is injured.

She feels terribly guilty and, at any rate, she can't marry him while she is in mourning. He goes into battle, and it seems that he has been killed.

Devastated, Angela enters a convent and takes her vows as a nun.

Some time passes, and it turns out that Giovanni escaped from a prison camp and is being cared for on a farm. With his captors on his trail, he takes off and eventually gets home and goes looking for Angela.

This is a well-acted story, schlocky by today's standards, but still moving. I think it's because of the sincerity of the performances. Helen Hayes as a young woman was pretty. I notice she was never photographed full face, perhaps because her eyes were so far apart. I'm just guessing.

One would think that by today's standards, the acting would be melodramatic and seem over the top, but it doesn't. Hayes was a great actress - today there is a theater, a hospital, and an award named for her. She gives a lovely performance, soft and fragile.

Clark Gable here is young and handsome and does a solid job. He isn't smooth like Ronald Colman; he has a toughness and a ruggedness that would serve him well over his career.

I really enjoyed the movie. It has a sweetness about it not found in today's films.

I guess if you are someone who really gets off on crying at the movies then you'll enjoy this outpouring of sentimental slop. But for the vast legions of the relatively dry (and clear) eyed it's fairly insufferable stuff. Plus, it features one of my all time least favorite actresses in the lead. I realize that Ms. Hayes is considered a brilliant theatre thesp, and maybe she was, but to watch her in sound films is to watch someone who might as well have a bumper sticker on her limo that reads "I'd rather Be Doing Silent Pics". I guess if I had a voice that sounds like Gracie Allen I'd feel the same way. Add complete and utter lack of chem between her and Gable and you can see how this movie quickly descends into boredom and is only briefly lifted out of the ennui pit by some good aerial battle action that, alas, is too little and way too late. C minus.

PS...Hayes, Gable and Lewis Stone are about as Italian as the 4th of July in Indianapolis.

This version of The White Sister is the third and final one to date that was brought to the big screen. This old fashioned drama with heavy religious overtones is not a likely candidate for a modern remake.

It's that second version that is the most known. Shot in Italy in 1923 it was the breakout picture for Ronald Colman as he starred with Lillian Gish and a cast of Italian players because the film was shot on location in Italy, a very unusual thing for the time.

In the Citadel Film Series book the Films of Ronald Colman, it was mentioned that Colman had a swarthy complexion and that was why this erudite man of the English speaking language was cast in the film. The same could be said for the casting of Clark Gable as the male lead opposite Helen Hayes in this sound version.

The story was updated from the 19th century and the Italian colonial wars in Libya to World War I. Gable is an air ace in the Italian Air Corps and he meets Helen Hayes who is the daughter of the local nobleman Lewis Stone. He's got an arranged marriage with wealthy Alan Edwards who will help this noble, but impoverished family out of debt. But Helen wants Clark after spending a little time with him.

But fates just keep them apart, especially after Lewis Stone is killed in an automobile crash and Gable goes off to World War I. Other than the updating of the time of the story and the elimination of a sister for Hayes, if you've seen the Colman-Gish silent version you know what happens here.

Someone like Tyrone Power who was a few years away from breaking into stardom at another studio would have been far better at handling the mushy romantic dialog. Certainly Ronald Colman might have done well with it even though he was British to the core. Gable is too American for the part though he does his best with it. The female lead is very suitable to Helen Hayes, especially with her Catholic background.

Fans of Clark Gable will still like The White Sister, but it will never be rated among his better films.

You could say this is a sappy romantic picture, but it rises above that. I only know Helen Hayes from her later works on Broadway and contributions to smaller supporting roles. She has a theatre named after her on Broadway. So, it was a pleasure getting to see her talents in this film. Helen Hayes takes us on a journey from naïve girl to a full fleshed out mature woman torn with emotions.

Clark Gable is charming as her romantic leading man. You can easily see why she fell under his spell. Gable knows he has a tough role that other actors would have been annoying in, but Gable makes it his own and adds the boyish charm that brings it all together.

Obviously the title comes from Hayes' choice to become a nun and devote her life to God when she hears Gable has died in the war. After loving Gable, the only next best thing is God.

Lewis Stone is great as her over bearing father. May Robson has a small role and yet she garnered a high billing. This is a remake of the silent film from 1923 starring Lillian Gish that I also strongly recommended.

If you know Helen Hayes' works, you will love seeing her in this film. If you don't know Helen Hayes' work, you will fall for her in this film.

She, and the film, are true classics!

This is my all-time favorite film. A lovely romantic love story with Helen Hayes & Clark Gable. It is not on video so, your only chance to see it is if you get TCM (Turner Classic Movies). They sometimes air it. If it is on...be sure to catch it!