Product Details

• Actors: Ingrid Bergman , Bing Crosby
• Format: Black & White, Sega
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Republic Pictures
• Run Time: 126 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• ASIN: B000HX5JS8
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #465,789 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Flat Bells, June 13, 2010

By 

Annie Van Auken (Planet Earth) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Bells of St. Mary's - SPECIAL EDITION (VHS Tape)

THE BELLS OF ST. MARY'S was a rarity at the time: a true feature-length sequel. The story picks up exactly where we left off at the end of GOING MY WAY (1944), with Father O'Malley's arrival at his new parish. The initial humor, some business with a kitten in O'Malley's hat, vanishes as fast as the cats do.

Then we have a boy whose face was pounded by a bully, all for the sake of Mother Sister Benedict's advice to "turn the other cheek." The sequence of a guilt-ridden nun trying to teach young Eddie to box plays poorly, like a Mama's boy sparring in the kitchen with mother just before he dries the dishes.

The main flaw is, O'Malley, who's just a garrulous regular Joe with a collar, has no real male friends, no monsignor's shared drink from a secret book, no best buddy to shoot a stolen round of golf with. He's reduced to observing the nuns and kids with detached amusement and staying out of the way. Or so it seems to me.

The troubled girl with a single mom doesn't work as well as street kids that are organized into a choir in the first film, there's no truly great music to savor, like the Carmen "Habenera," and the pathos of Sister Benedict's TB spot doesn't strike the heart the way old Fitzgibbon's reunion with his doddering mother does.

I really wanted to like the movie, too. Oh well.