AC20: Random Movie Review - The Bishop's Wife

 

Now we look at another classic film set around Christmas and has similar themes and such as It's a Wonderful Life. Religion has certainly been a big thing for Christmas films, and it's often a gold mine for a lot of different things. But for as long as I can remember, religion has never truly been a major feature in a Christmas film. It's popped up now and again, but never really gone well into. This film is the same, but as its to do with a bishop, expect some religious things to happen. So let's get to it:

The film is about a bishop called Henry Brougham (played by the late David Niven) who is finding trouble with funding his new cathedral. He begs and prays for divine guidance and gets some in the form of an angel called Dudley (played by the late Cary Grant). His mission however isn't to do with the cathedral at all, but instead to spiritually guide Henry and the surrounding people. Because of Henry's focus on the cathedral, his relationship with his wife Julia (played by the late Loretta Young) and his daughter Debby (played by the still alive Karolyn Grimes) becomes strained. With Dudley's work cut out for him, he seems to win over everyone but Henry as he works to help him get through this difficult time and possibly other problems that linger within.

This one is a fun, sweet little film whose moral is to remember what your priorities are in life. Its well acted, got good set pieces, and it probably would've been better in colour (the one I saw on Prime Video was in black and white) if only to be that little bit more magical. But for what it is, its good and that's all I can say on that. 8/10