Customer Reviews

The Bells of St. Mary's - SPECIAL EDITION

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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.