Director: Henry King
Distributor: Twentieth Century Fox
Top Billed Actors: Jennifer Jones, Charles Bickford, William Eythe
Won 4 Oscars:
Best Actress - Jennifer Jones
Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture - Alfred Newman
Best Art Direction - Interior Decoration, Black-and-White - Art Direction: James Basevi and William S. Darling; Interior Decoration: Thomas Little
Best Cinematography, Black-and-White - Arthur C. Miller
Nominated for 8 more:
Outstanding Motion Picture - 20th Century-Fox
Best Director - Henry King
Best Supporting Actor - Charles Bickford
Best Supporting Actress - Gladys Cooper
Best Supporting Actress - Anne Revere
Best Screenplay - George Seaton
Best Sound Recording - E. H. Hansen
Best Film Editing - Barbara McLean
Plot: A naive young girl claims to have seen a lady at the village dump so the whole town freaks out.
Distributor: Twentieth Century Fox
Top Billed Actors: Jennifer Jones, Charles Bickford, William Eythe
Won 4 Oscars:
Best Actress - Jennifer Jones
Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture - Alfred Newman
Best Art Direction - Interior Decoration, Black-and-White - Art Direction: James Basevi and William S. Darling; Interior Decoration: Thomas Little
Best Cinematography, Black-and-White - Arthur C. Miller
Nominated for 8 more:
Outstanding Motion Picture - 20th Century-Fox
Best Director - Henry King
Best Supporting Actor - Charles Bickford
Best Supporting Actress - Gladys Cooper
Best Supporting Actress - Anne Revere
Best Screenplay - George Seaton
Best Sound Recording - E. H. Hansen
Best Film Editing - Barbara McLean
Plot: A naive young girl claims to have seen a lady at the village dump so the whole town freaks out.
The Song of Bernadette (1943) concludes the Best Picture nominees for the 16th Academy Awards. Although Casablanca (1942) was the Best Picture winner, Bernadette was the film that garnered the most wins on the night with four in addition to the ceremony's high twelve nominations. It also cleaned house at the 1st Golden Globes Awards with Best Picture, Director, and Actress. Jennifer Jones stars as the young girl who sees a vision of the Virgin Mary. To go with that inaugural Golden Globe win, she would also win her sole Oscar. This started a run of four consecutive years in which she would be nominated (one would be in the Supporting category). The girlfriend of producer David O. Selznick at the time, Jones took some time off before joining the cast for this ambitious picture. She acted under her real name before this but came back with a bang and an "Introducing" credit to mark the occasion. I also want to draw attention to the film's poster. Like a prior year's Best Picture nominee, The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), this poster was designed by Norman Rockwell. He's done several posters throughout his career but it's not something I normally associate with the illustrious illustrator. Another master from another field to work on this film was composer Igor Stravinsky. He wrote music before he officially got the job so when he was unwilling to change it after a screening, his music was dropped in favor of Alfred Newman, who went on to win the Oscar for Best Scoring.
The Song of Bernadette was the film that I was most anxious to see from the 16th Awards batch. Knowing it won the four Oscars plus the inaugural Best Picture at the Globes, my expectations were very high. I am happy to say that they were met. Jones' performance is positively sincere and innocent. There could be no scenario that I could angry with Bernadette despite every other character doing so. I typically don't take to characters that are that naive and pure but it absolutely works under these miraculous circumstances. Perhaps why it works is the incredibly strong supporting cast playing skeptics-turned-believers. Charles Bickford and Gladys Cooper stand out but Vincent Price and Anne Revere also support Jones' performance through and through. If the Screen Actors Guild Awards were around in this era, this would be my pick for Best Ensemble. Although I always say I am not religious, I did grow up Catholic so there must be something buried in me that locks me into these types of stories. Whenever Jesus appears in an epic, say Ben-Hur (1959), I still get shivers. Questioning faith and looking for absoluteness in Bernadette's claims is such a strong theme to play on that the long runtime is justified. I especially got a kick out of the politicians and officials trying to pass the buck to other agencies in order to quell the gatherings. It almost felt like an episode of The Wire when seeing all of the ways they try to stop the girl. But when we see Jones look longingly at her vision, the Newman score kicks in and all is right with the world. I wonder what Stravinsky had in mind for these sequences but Newman's score is glorious. It almost sounds like a Mahler symphony and it makes those scenes really stand out. In my last review, I questioned how Madame Curie (1943) would play against this film in the art direction department. Although I appreciate the laboratories in Curie, the design of the 19th century town of Lourdes and the splendor of the Virgin Mary sequences gives this film the edge. The cinematography is exquisite as well but I still prefer Casablanca in that category.
There isn't much to nitpick with this film so I will take this space to discuss the controversy surrounding this film as it relates to religion. Showing the Virgin Mary was contentious enough but 20th Century-Fox went even further and used "party girl" Linda Darnell to play the part. What's more, she was pregnant during the film shoot. Some critics at the time lamented that Mary was even shown on screen. That had me questioning if this film could have been improved by omitting the visual of the "lady." The audience could have played along and questioned their own faith. The movie doesn't tell you this, but Bernadette's vision and the subsequent miracles that followed led to her canonization (she is an official Saint). However, there will always b doubt and if the story left the vision open to interpretation, it might have been even more effective in the thematic development of faith and proof. Again, I am not a religious man but this quote is powerful: "For those who believe in God, no explanation is necessary. For those who do not believe in God, no explanation is possible."
Overall, the exploration of faith in this stunning biographical picture about a girl who is able to see the Virgin Mary is adequate and successful. Jennifer Jones enters the Academy canon with an exceptional performance, Alfred Newman's score elevates the pivotal vision sequences, and the town of Lourdes is expertly crafted. The runtime may exceed one's appetite for a story like this, but it does place a significance on these events.
My Score: 8/10
The Song of Bernadette was the film that I was most anxious to see from the 16th Awards batch. Knowing it won the four Oscars plus the inaugural Best Picture at the Globes, my expectations were very high. I am happy to say that they were met. Jones' performance is positively sincere and innocent. There could be no scenario that I could angry with Bernadette despite every other character doing so. I typically don't take to characters that are that naive and pure but it absolutely works under these miraculous circumstances. Perhaps why it works is the incredibly strong supporting cast playing skeptics-turned-believers. Charles Bickford and Gladys Cooper stand out but Vincent Price and Anne Revere also support Jones' performance through and through. If the Screen Actors Guild Awards were around in this era, this would be my pick for Best Ensemble. Although I always say I am not religious, I did grow up Catholic so there must be something buried in me that locks me into these types of stories. Whenever Jesus appears in an epic, say Ben-Hur (1959), I still get shivers. Questioning faith and looking for absoluteness in Bernadette's claims is such a strong theme to play on that the long runtime is justified. I especially got a kick out of the politicians and officials trying to pass the buck to other agencies in order to quell the gatherings. It almost felt like an episode of The Wire when seeing all of the ways they try to stop the girl. But when we see Jones look longingly at her vision, the Newman score kicks in and all is right with the world. I wonder what Stravinsky had in mind for these sequences but Newman's score is glorious. It almost sounds like a Mahler symphony and it makes those scenes really stand out. In my last review, I questioned how Madame Curie (1943) would play against this film in the art direction department. Although I appreciate the laboratories in Curie, the design of the 19th century town of Lourdes and the splendor of the Virgin Mary sequences gives this film the edge. The cinematography is exquisite as well but I still prefer Casablanca in that category.
There isn't much to nitpick with this film so I will take this space to discuss the controversy surrounding this film as it relates to religion. Showing the Virgin Mary was contentious enough but 20th Century-Fox went even further and used "party girl" Linda Darnell to play the part. What's more, she was pregnant during the film shoot. Some critics at the time lamented that Mary was even shown on screen. That had me questioning if this film could have been improved by omitting the visual of the "lady." The audience could have played along and questioned their own faith. The movie doesn't tell you this, but Bernadette's vision and the subsequent miracles that followed led to her canonization (she is an official Saint). However, there will always b doubt and if the story left the vision open to interpretation, it might have been even more effective in the thematic development of faith and proof. Again, I am not a religious man but this quote is powerful: "For those who believe in God, no explanation is necessary. For those who do not believe in God, no explanation is possible."
Overall, the exploration of faith in this stunning biographical picture about a girl who is able to see the Virgin Mary is adequate and successful. Jennifer Jones enters the Academy canon with an exceptional performance, Alfred Newman's score elevates the pivotal vision sequences, and the town of Lourdes is expertly crafted. The runtime may exceed one's appetite for a story like this, but it does place a significance on these events.
My Score: 8/10