Oldie but Goodie | Bishop's Wife [VHS] | Cary Grant, Loretta Young

Heaven Can Wait in this Christmas Classic | Bishop's Wife [VHS] | Cary Grant, Loretta Young

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	• Bishop's Wife [VHS] Cary Grant, Loretta Young Hbo Home Video, 1995 average customer review:based on 158 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

A Christmas Classic

"The Bishop's Wife" is right up there with "It's a Wonderful Life," "A Christmas Carol (1938, 1954)" and "Christmas in Connecticut" as a must-see movie when the weather outside is frightful and the love af your family is so delightful.

Cary Grant is at his best in his role as the angel. David Niven must have taken a bite from a lemon before those scenes where had to be so sour. Loretta Young is so kind and beautiful in the title role.

The character actors, however, steal the show. Monty Wooley is wonderful as the Professor. The scene where the angel keeps filling his glass of wine ranks high in cinema history. Elsa Lanchester is superb as the maid, and how about James Gleason as Sylvester the cab driver.

I saw the movie on some new channel (THIS Network?) and they cut out the cab ride scene complete with the beautiful scene at the skating rink. I was mortified. Now, it is part of my collection, just waiting to be viewed on that cold night around Christmastime every year -- with James Gleason and his cab waiting to pick me up.

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Oldie but Goodie

My husband and I love this movie. We look forward to seeing it at least once a year during the Christmas season. Unfortunately, if we can find it shown on TV, it is interrupted by commercials, and sometimes complete scenes are cut out. This degrades the movie and makes is less enjoyable to watch. So recently I purchased the DVD through Amazon.com. The quality of the film is great. The only problem, which was minor, was that sometimes we had to turn up the volume to hear it better. Cary Grant is so charming as the Angel, and Loretta Young is so sweet, beautiful and naive, what Angel wouldn't fall in love with her! I recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys reminiscing about the good old days and appreciates good character and goodwill toward men. It's an oldie but a goodie! I had difficulty finding this DVD at the stores, so I purchased it on Amazon.com and was glad I did. The price was right, and I received it quickly.

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Heaven Can Wait in this Christmas Classic

Heaven can wait!

Even though it does not come close to capturing the Christmas spirit as its contemporary, It's a Wonderful Life, It's a Wonderful Life (60th Anniversary Edition) The Bishop's Wife does have some charming parts to it. Not withstanding the fact that it was nominated Best Picture in 1947, I felt the story went a bit slow, the whole "tempted angel" thing didn't fly, and David Niven was relegated to a jealous husband "comedy."

David Niven plays the bishop of this parish -- not fully explained. I would have liked to have seen more back-story. Some of that is furnished through Loretta Young's character, who plays the wife, who pines for the good old days when her husband was more concerned with the parishioners and less concerned with kowtowing the local wealthy biddies for money to build his cathedral.

The only way he will get a cathedral is by making it in honor of his wealthy patron, Mrs. Hamilton, who keeps rubbing it in that he became bishop in the first place because of her.

Cary Grant appears on the scene and though he does a few interesting tricks, it's not super outlandish (as in a Mr. Topper ghost-type movie -- Topper Returns) but does talk to a typewriter which dutifully records a Christmas sermon.

The skating sequence is a bit much, and you can tell the stunt doubles were probably Olympic skaters -- can't imagine Loretta Young doing a few spins around the lake and Dudley jumping about -- with a taxi cabbie for company!

The story does not center a lot on the bishop as Cary the Angel (Dudley of all names) starts making time with his wife. They go skating together, he charms her in a taxi, he gets boys to sing Christmas songs and little girls to swoon at the story of David and the Lion.

The bishop getting jealous and hateful, of not taking the high ground and groveling the rich widow was a bit much. The Angel was making time with his wife and she had no clue? Even in 1947 I think that was a bit of a stretch.

[SPOILER] The ending was unusual: The Angel does not get the girl, the bishop does not get a cathedral, but he does realize that his family is more important than money. OK, fine. Not super satisfying, but could be on your holiday DVD list of movies to watch.

The DVD only had a trailer and scene selection. Sad.

Better holiday fare from the Forties:

It's a Wonderful Life (60th Anniversary Edition)
Holiday Inn (Special Edition)

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Lovely Film.

This is a lovely film set during Christmas time and centered around the troubles of a Bishop maintaining his work/life balance. Suffice it to say, the Bishop fails miserably at maintaining the balance and focuses far too much on fund raising for his glorious new chapel that he has in mind. In the meantime, his wife (aptly portrayed by Loretta Young) is increasingly unhappy and his young daughter rarely ever sees him. In an unexpected answer to a prayer, Cary Grant appears as an angel sent to help. And several lovely scenes ensue where he helps people. However, the Bishop starts to get jealous as Cary Grant "Dudley" spends so much time with his wife. Eventually, we are treated to a lovely Christmas Eve sermon scene and a lovely feeling of warmth and happiness towards the end.

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Simply heavenly!

They just don't make clean-cut movies like this one any more. Grant, Niven and Young were wonderful as the lead characters. (If you want to know how to hold yourself and walk, watch Loretta Young, she ever graces the camera with her finesse.) This film transports viewers from the high tech frenzy of the 21st Century, and gently sets us in the 1940s -- a time when cussing, nudity, violence and vulgar jokes weren't considered necessary for entertainment. It's not the best film in the world, but it has an innocent iridescence that makes this film a lovely classic.

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A harassed bishop's prayers are answered when an angel (played by Cary Grant) is sent from heaven to help him raise money for a new church. The heavenly agent performs a number of miracles on his behalf, restoring hope to all. A delightful comedy which was remade in 1996 by Penny Marshall as "The Preacher's Wife." Academy Award Nominations: 5, including Best Picture and Best Director. Academy Awards: Best Sound Recording....Cary Grant, Loretta Young