Review of The Bishop's Wife (1947) by Mark F — 10 Dec 2011

Charming, well made, and with a great heart, The Bishop's Wife is a fantastic film that's great to watch during the Christmas season as well as long after.

The Bishop's Wife stars Cary Grant as an angel named Dudley sent to help the people of a small town in America. One night, a pastor named Henry Brougham (David Neven) prays for guidance during the planning of a new church commisioned by a rich widow named Ms. Hamilton. Dudley arrives and begins to help Henry and his family through small miracles, but spurns jealousy from Henry when his neglected wife Julia (Loretta Young) starts to fall in love with Dudley and his daughter, staff, and co-workers also fall for Dudley's angelic charm, making him start to question if Dudley's prescence is causing more harm than good, as well as if he's truly what he states he is.

I was surprised by this film by how well it blended romance and comedy together and still is touching and has good meaning in the end. Cary Grant is brilliant as he usually is as an angel, though some of his dialogue raises a couple of questions but it's not that big of a deal. Loretta Young's character is not as developed as I might have hoped, but she's still enjoyable to watch and has great chemistry with Cary. David Niven's performance is pretty good as well, but unfortunately nothing to write home about. I think what really sells this film is the good hearted nature to the whole thing, it's not trying to sell anything nor does it dump everything Christmas-y on you. This film could take place at any other time and it could still work, it didn't need to take place during the holidays. Yeah, it does show its age at times (me and my family would joke around during the skating scene, pointing out whether Cary Grant or "Mexican Cary Grant" was skating since I don't think he was a champion figure skater, as well as the dated effects for the close up shots of Cary and Loretta skating.), but that's not the point. It has a load of heart and is a rare film that works despite not being extremely special.

Definitely give this one a look. It's a great film for the whole family and a good break from the kiddie films like "Rudolph" or "Frosty the Snowman". A good film for the family, or if it's just you and a loved one this Christmas season. (Real rating: 84%).