God Is the Bigger Elvis

Dolores Hart was an actress in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Then, just like that, she gave up acting in favor of a cloistered life. She has been a nun ever since. Rebecca Cammisa's Oscar-nominated "God Is the Bigger Elvis" focuses on Hart's life in the Benedictine order at the Abbey of Regina Laudis, with some clips of her movie roles. Hart is the only nun who is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

I can understand why a person would want to leave Hollywood, but I can't imagine adopting a religious lifestyle. I guess that if it's made Dolores Hart happy, then more power to her. She was a real hottie in her movie roles. The only credit of hers that I've seen - besides this documentary - is an episode of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents". I wonder if she talks to the abbey's other nuns about her encounters with Elvis Presley and Montgomery Clift.

In the end, it's not a great documentary, but worth seeing.

This documentary isn't quite perfect because really it should have been longer and more in depth, in my opinion. Its brevity creates a tantalizing space where too many questions remain unanswered.

However, I loved the weight of the content - the reality of nuns being former Hollywood actresses or CEOs with drinking problems, women who had doubts and flaws who simply never felt right getting married to a man or living in the world.

They also touch on how it's not easy, how all of their problems aren't magically solved by choosing this vocation. I think more real-world information about the lives of cloistered people in religious life should exist.

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LOVE the title and LOVE this short documentary!

Had heard for MANY years the story of Ms. Hart and how she, like Grace Kelly, had left it all behind, but often wondered what her life must have been like after leaving Hollywood.

And now, I KNOW !!

Also appreciate GREATLY that they didn't feel the need to go on for another hour, simply because most "serious" documentaries tend to run anywhere from 90 minutes to two hours, just like most feature films!

This one VERY directly gives all the background info., where, and how Dolores Hart is today, and a brief idea of what her life was like in the intervening 50 years.

No muss, No fuss, and that's it !!

A job, I might add, that is well done, and leaves the viewer NOT wanting any more........simply because nothing more needs to be said !!

Well Done !!

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The amazing and unusual life of former Hollywood actress Dolores Hart is exposed in this short film. In 1963 at the age of 25, Hart was a star having acted with superstars like Elvis Presley and was in love and engaged to architect Don Robinson. Despite having what most could only conceive in dreams, she gave it all up to her calling to live as a nun in a benedictine abbey in Connecticut where she has lived ever since.

With modesty, Hart explains the need for a deeper spiritual connection in her life as the reason for her life-changing decision. The film explores her history of living at the abbey and interviews other nuns and how they reached the same decision. A few nuns were idealists during the 1960s and 1970s - a time when idealism was popular. While the society around them changed, they found the monastic life suitable to the ideals they wanted to keep.

Most amazing is the continuous connection Hart and Robinson had maintained during Hart's life in the convent. This is best exposed in the final scene which is deeply moving in a quiet way. It can remind one of the sadness we feel when we have visited loved ones from far away and might not see again for a long time. It was quite touching and it's worth noting that Robinson died shortly after the film's completion.

The monastic life is described as quite difficult yet many interviewees have found the experience to be more than worth the hard times. While there are no "dropouts" interviewed, "God is the Bigger Elvis" could make one at least think about what monastic life might be like - whatever the spiritual philosophy. - dbamateurcritic.

This is the improbable story of Dolores Hart, Hollywood starlet turned cloistered nun. Best know for "Where The Boys Are", Ms. Hart in 1963 seems to have the perfect life: she is young, beautiful, talented, sought after and about to marry the love of her life. But there is something missing...how she finds that missing piece and where it leads her is the substance of the film. Inter-cutting scenes from her 60's film career with her very different life in the past 50 years and in the present makes for a compelling story. The last ten minutes of the documentary will absolutely haunt you as you realize the full implications of her decision to walk away from her former life.