Seems like it'd be a classic, old harmless family movie, but has some adult themes because he's in love with the wife. So... an adulterous angel, I guess? Not quite, but close. I was mad at the character for that, but you're supposed to like him, apparently. Apart from that, decent classic movie.
Bar none, my favorite Christmas movie and probably my favorite Cary Grant film. I feel joy every time I see this film. This is how I hope angels are.
Extremely classic American-style comedy of the time. Perhaps the screenplay was not too cohesive.
The Cary Grant classic The Bishop’s Wife is a delightful film that’s full of Christmas cheer. A struggling bishop who’s working to build a new cathedral gets the surprise of his life when he receives a visitation by an angel. Co-starring Loretta Young and David Niven, the casting’s pretty good and so are the performances. However, some of the character development is poorly done; particularly the bishop, whose redemption arch is underserved. Yet Grant lights up the screen, giving the material a charm that overcomes the weaknesses in the script. The Bishop’s Wife may be a little too lighthearted, but for a holiday film it works.
Another movie I only discovered a few years ago which I decided to add to this Christmas' rewatching. This is a great script which reminds us to reassess what is most important in life. Cary Grant may seem a strange choice for an angel and a formidable challenge to David Niven's leading man status but the tension works and the finish raises the whole story to a different level. A shout out to the creative vision of Samuel Goldwyn. Great performances, great chemistry, great storytelling. It's not surprising I would rate this an 8 (great) out of 10. [Christmas Fantasy Drama]
Review by IHateBadMovies.comVIP 8BlockedParent2019-01-02T13:05:23Z
This movie was a recommendation by my good friend David. David and I had a running debate over the summer about how the quality of films in the last 20 or 30 years as opposed to films of a half century ago. While I believe that 95% of what is made today is utter drivel (and you have to search hard to find the quality 5%), I also believe that movies of long ago are often given more credit than they really deserve. If finding a quality movie is difficult, finding a Christmas-themed movie is almost impossible. I must say, this movie was a joy from beginning to end. I learned on the TCM pre-show that this movie was remade a few years ago under a different name and I watched the movie with that in the back of my head. I couldn't help but think how Hollywood would have ruined this film. One of the things that I liked most about it is that there was a subtlety to Carey Grant's angel and I can only imagine how this would be lost in a modernized movie. I think that this is particularly true in the end of the movie where there would be a more drawn-out final scene with Grant and Lorretta Young that wouldn't have been true to the movie. Maybe David is more right than I had previously realized. I look forward to finding out!
see my other Christmas Movie reviews: https://ihatebadmovies.com/movie-reviews/?tx_post_tag=christmas