Review of The Bells of St. Mary's (1945) by Jim H — 14 Aug 2012

A priest and a nun run a struggling school and try to convince a businessman to give them a neighboring building.

I don't see much conflict between the two main characters. Their differences are pedestrian, and the few differences that wind up as plot points aren't all that compelling. In fact, I was uncomfortable with the film's approval of Father O'Malley's handling of a schoolyard fight; he declares a bully "the winner" of a fight, and the "loser," a boy who did nothing to start the fight, ends up getting pugilism lessons from a nun. The episode is meant to accentuate O'Malley's worldliness, but shouldn't priests - at the very least - not embrace violence? O'Malley's attitude not only belies verisimilitude; it makes the character less appealing.

I've always liked Ingrid Bergman, but there's not a lot to this character for such a great actress to sink her teeth into. Bing Crosby has the voice of God even though the situations that allow his character to sing feel contrived.

Overall, I have trouble understanding why this film gets universal accolades because a lot of the film didn't work for me.