Product Details

• Actors: Gilbert Roland, Angela Clarke, Audrey Hepburn, Peter Finch, Anthony Quinn
• Directors: Fred Zinnemann, John Brahm, Michael Anderson
• Writers: Crane Wilbur, James Kennaway, James O'Hanlon, John Patrick, Kathryn Hulme
• Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 1.0), French (Dolby Digital 1.0)
• Subtitles: English, Spanish, French
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 3
• Rated: G (General Audience)
• Studio: Warner Home Video
• DVD Release Date: April 4, 2006
• Run Time: 416 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000E1MXSM
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #46,070 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Films of Faith Collection (The Nun's Story / The Shoes of the Fisherman / The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima)" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Fred Zinnemann's epic 1959 drama The Nun's Story is a splendid showcase for Audrey Hepburn, who stars as the young nun Sister Luke, who is deeply spiritual yet conflicted about whether or not she can conform to convent life. Though the film is a mesmerizing--and quite leisurely--two and a half hours, its plot is fairly simple--young Gabrielle (Hepburn) enters the convent pledging her life to God, learns the disciplines associated with the life, receives her dream assignment of going to the Congo as a missionary nurse, and once there, is forced to face whether she is meant for the rigorous life of poverty, chastity, and most difficult of all, obedience. The film does a marvelous job of portraying the challenges of cloistered life without being either off-putting or overly romantic. And Hepburn, sometimes with only her eyes, communicates all the drive, faith, and conflict of a young woman so torn.

If you find during the 160-minute running time of The Shoes of the Fisherman (1968) that you don't like the plot, wait 10 minutes. It will surely change and there will be another story thread to entice you. The screenplay is literally all over the map: Siberia, where Archbishop Kiril Lakota, played splendidly by Anthony Quinn, has been exiled to a work camp in the oppressive Soviet regime; Moscow, where a genially scene-chewing Laurence Olivier plays a Soviet ruler with history with Lakota; China, where famine threatens to bring the world of the late '60s to the brink of World War III; and Rome, where Lakota travels after being freed (and where dissolute reporter David Janssen does his best to groove on the Swinging Sixties). Yet despite its flaws, the movie's central drama is riveting: the current Pope dies suddenly, and for a good bit of the film, viewers are treated to the Vatican's inner workings on the election of a new Pope. The events unfold at a leisurely pace, which allows you to drink in the spectacle and wonder of the ancient traditions. The Alex North Oscar-nominated score is lovely, and Quinn's performance is the somber-with-a-humble-twinkle glue that holds the film together. Anyone interested in the traditions and rituals of the Vatican will find plenty to savor.

The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima tells the story--through an admittedly Hollywood prism--of one of the most beloved Catholic legends of the 20th century. Three young shepherd children in the remote Portuguese mountain town Fatima reported seeing a vision in 1917 of "a beautiful lady" who spoke to them of strife, war and peace and the love of Jesus. Soon the word spread, and throngs, teetering on mobs, gathered near the site for a glimpse of what they believed to be Mary, mother of Jesus. The children remained steadfast in their account, despite threats from the church and the government, and the final appearance of the lady, on Oct. 13, 1917, was accompanied by strange apparitions in the sky that have yet to be explained by science. The movie is well-made and -acted, especially by a radiant Susan Whitney, who plays the oldest child, Lúcia Abóbora dos Santos. The screenplay takes some liberties with the facts: the lovable jokester-sidekick character of Hugo is fictitious, and one wonders if perhaps a few of Our Lady's cautions about the multitude of evil things happening in 1917 Russia might have been heard through a Cold War filter. But the 1952 film is moving and is a reminder that big studios once routinely, and profitably, released religious-themed movies, to audiences who surely would appreciate some of the same today. --A.T. Hurley

Product Description

Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 11/13/2007 Rating: Nr

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

62 of 65 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally!, December 30, 2005

By 

Frank Miller "FMiller" (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Films of Faith Collection (The Nun's Story / The Shoes of the Fisherman / The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima) (DVD)

This is a GREAT collection for those of us who are into religious films! Warner Brothers has announced the individual release, or a "Films of Faith" Collection in time for Easter 2006! This will include Audrey Hepburn's "The Nun's Story" and the inspiring "The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima".....but most exciting is the inclusion of the Anthony Quinn film of Morris West's book, "The Shoes of the Fisherman" (about the election of a Russian Pope nearly a decade before John Paul II was elected from Poland!). In particular, "Shoes of the Fisherman" is known for its great attention and accuracy of detail in showing the conclave pagentry and process (although in reality this election process has since been updated due to the larger number of Cardinals now eligible to vote in a conclave). For those of us into "churchy" movies, this film has long been considered the Holy Grail of church-themed movies and it is very exciting that it is coming to DVD!

30 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Religiously Inspiring!, March 31, 2006

By 

F. C. Leon Guerrero (Agana Heights Guam) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Films of Faith Collection (The Nun's Story / The Shoes of the Fisherman / The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima) (DVD)

I was very happy to read that these movies were going to be released on DVD. As the saying goes, "they don't make movies like this anymore". These are some of the best religious movies ever made. They capture the struggles and pains of the human person in a challenging world. At the same time, they also express a great sense of hope to a fragile world. Since these movies were made so long ago, I hope our younger viewers will take the opportunity to see these great movies. They will always be truly inspiring.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Films of Faith Collection, January 9, 2007

By 

Pelham (USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Films of Faith Collection (The Nun's Story / The Shoes of the Fisherman / The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima) (DVD)

This is a warm remembrance of Christian witness that will speak to a universal audience. The Nun's Story is a fairly accurate and touching tale of one woman's quest to follow her heart just as the world falls into war. This is a great example of the Catholic Church in the early 20th century. With Shoes of the Fisherman, you have a great story of a Pope from the Slavic World, more than a decade before Pope John Paul II. The turmoil of an ancient church trying to deal with a modern world is very well told and is still quite relevant.