Directed by Henry Koster, the Christmas classic, The Bishop's Wife, tells the tale of an Episcopal Bishop, Henry Brougham played by David Niven, who has been working for months on the plans for a new cathedral, paid for by a selfish and stubborn widow Mrs. Hamilton, (Gladys Cooper).
As a result he begins to lose sight of his wife, Julia, (Loretta Young) and
daughter Debbie (Karolyn Grimes) and of why he joined the church in the first
place, so Dudley, an angel in human form, played by Cary Grant, is sent to help
him, with the task of building a new cathedral and repairing his fractured
marriage.
Dudley
help’s everyone he meets, but not always in the way they would have chosen,
nonetheless everyone liked Dudley, with the exception of Henry.
As Christmas approaches Henry begins to believe that Dudley is there to replace
him, at work, and in his family’s affections.
He
even manages to affect his maid Matilda (Elsa Lanchester) and Secretary Mildred
Cassaway (Sara Haden).
Even
the cynical old atheist family friend Professor Wutheridge (Monty Woolley)
falls under his spell, eventually, but Dudley must be careful not to become too
fond of earthly distractions.
It’s
a gem of a movie which can be appreciated any time of year and has many
memorable scenes, but my favourite is when Sylvester, the taxi driver (James
Gleason) befriends Julia and Dudley and they go ice skating in the park, in
fact the sequence is one of the best things you’ll see in many a film, enjoy.
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