The Bells of St. Mary's

What has always attracted me to the oldest films starring Bing Crosby as a priest has been the ability he had to transfer to the viewer a tremendous warmth and tenderness. Certainly, his lines were written, but they were more than mere lines, for he embodied the attitude and intent of them so noticeably that it is hard not to end such a film without wanting to emulate such a man.

From his son, Gary, from his book "Going My Own Way," one can read a different story of his father. He claimed that Bing was cruel, cold, remote, and both physically and psychologically abusive -- such hard words to take in when one can be so deeply moved by his performances, especially as a priest.

His son, Philip, disputed his brother's claims, writing, " I loved him very much. He loved all of us too, including Gary. He was a great father." It is Philip's words I prefer to believe, for no man could give as much as his father did on the screen and it not come from his soul.

Ingrid Bergman's face in TBOSM was very beautiful, as though she came from heaven herself. Truly, she was one of the most gorgeous women that ever graced yesterday's films, and she too portrayed remarkably well the gentleness and kindness we envision God to be.

Watch this film and be blessed.

I had the opportunity to watch both "Going My Way" and "Bells of St Mary's" one after the other the other night on cable. Without a doubt `Bells' was of the few sequels better than the original. The only other ones that comes to mind are "Godfather II" and possibly "Indy III" The only thing missing from this sequel was Barry Fitzgerald, but the pure grace of Ingrid Bergeman, more than made up for the lack of Barry's Irish charm. Bells seemed to flow more easily, had some honest conflicts to resolve (social promotion is still being argued today) and an ending I felt was just perfect. It's not that I disliked "Going My Way" on the contrary, but to me it was just a warm up to "Bells". Maybe after the tremendous success of the former, Bing became more confidant in his portrayal of a priest and was able to play it to perfection. A great movie.

At a big city Catholic school, Father O'Malley (Bing Crosby) and Sister Benedict (Ingrid Bergman) indulge in friendly rivalry, and succeed in extending the school through the gift of a building.

Although generally associated with Christmas, there is really only about five or ten minutes directly related to the holiday season. Of course, being a feel-good movie, it is appropriate to watch at that time of the year, just the same. Especially with Bing Crosby in the lead... who captured Christmas in the 1940s and 1950s more than he did? This is also a great performance from Ingrid Bergman during her Hollywood years. The boxing scene is incredible and make the whole film worth watching.

As the companion piece to "Going My Way", "The Bells of St. Mary's" shares the same pleasant, upbeat tone, and it has a similar story that, though stylized, has some worthwhile and thoughtful material. Besides Bing Crosby, the cast here features Ingrid Bergman and several solid supporting players such as Henry Travers and Rhys Williams.

As Sister Benedict, Father O'Malley's foil here, Bergman gives this movie its own feel, with themes somewhat different from those in O'Malley's debates with Barry Fitzgerald's character in "Going My Way". Everyone has their own preference between the two movies, but as fine an actress as Bergman is, it's really hard to match - much less top - the dimension that Fitzgerald added in the other film.

Probably each of the two Father O'Malley movies should just be enjoyed for its own merits. While the story here is hardly anything weighty, "The Bells of St. Mary's" offers good entertainment and some worthwhile, positive thoughts.

This was a just a plain, nice story, one of those kind I tend favor simply they don't have any "bad guys" in them and still keep the story interesting.

I expected Ingrid Bergman's character, "Sister Mary," from what the liners notes on the video box said, to be a sort-of villain portraying a hard-line rigid nun but that wasn't the case at all. In fact, in her several philosophical disputes the priest "Father Chuck O'Malley" (Bing Crosby) I sided with her because Crosby was a little too liberal regarding punishment. (He never wanted to scold or punish any misbehaving kid., for example. No discipline is not a good idea, as parents know.)

The story is a little unrealistic in that a strong-willed business tycoon would not abandon all his business plans and hand over a brand-new million-dollar (today it would be many millions) building to a church. However, it's nice to see! These kind of old-fashioned films are almost collector's items today but they are pleasant to watch and pretty good entertainment.