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| Cary Grant, Loretta Young, & David Niven |
Okay, so I watched The Bishop's Wife (1947) last night on TCM for the first time and despite the fact that I enjoyed the movie immensely, one thing stood out and really unnerved me about the film: am I the only one who found it REALLY weird that Dudley the angel fell in love with Julia? I just found that kind of -- creepy?
It's not that I don't find Loretta Young attractive and endearing (because I do!), it's just that I always thought angelic beings were above having any human emotions. Like, can you imagine Dudley having sexual thoughts about the Bishop's wife??!!
Oh man, this blog entry just got really weird, really fast!
Yes, I liked the movie and the overall sentimentality of the film. After seeing it once, I'm probably going to want to watch it again, every Christmas, from now on. I think the two most poignant scenes that stood out for me were when Dudley was relating the "Lord is my shepherd" story to little Debby and the last shot of the movie when Dudley turns his back to us and walks away from the camera leaving his footprints in the snow. You'd think that angels wouldn't leave footprints, that they'd float away or something, but not this angel! Dudley proves to us that he did indeed have an impact on the characters' lives and yes, he did leave his mark on the world. Thus, the footprints in the freshly fallen snow.
*sigh*
Gladly they don't push this 'admiration' too much. You get a sense that he has special feelings for her (at least I think of it this way.)
ReplyDeleteStill a great Christmas movie.
Right, they definitely didn't go overboard in terms of illustrating Dudley's feelings for Julia - the audience was just given the mere hint of affection between the two of them. But still, I just found it really weird and unsettling.
DeleteThe Bishop's Wife is also a favorite of mine, though I couldn't watch it this year, alas (by next Christmas I'll have to either buy the DVD or figure out the wiring behind my entertainment center to see why the image from my laserdisc player isn't getting through to the monitor!). I also love that final shot of Dudley; I particularly like the subtle touch in the framing of it: Dudley not only walks away from the church, but he literally rises up and goes out the top of the screen. Another small moment that I especially like comes as Henry (David Niven) is reading his Christmas Eve sermon; a little look of perplexity crosses his face and he glances at the next page of his text, as if to say, Did I write this? Hmmm...
ReplyDeleteYes! I noticed that too! (That the camera doesn't follow Dudley as he walks away & that he sort of drifts to the top of the screen).
DeleteI giggled a bit when Henry pulled that confused face at the end, at the Christmas Eve mass XD Good ol' Dudley.