So, I just finished watching all of THE BELLS OF ST. MARY'S on YouTube -- the first time I had seen the film in about 50 years. I'll keep this brief because it's off-topic (except as it relates to THE DIVINE SISTER), but I almost literally could not believe how jaw-droppingly bad it is in terms of the writing and direction. Idiotically hokey, with ridiculously false characters and one plot point after another that stretches credibility way beyond the breaking point, plus the whole sensibility and worldview of it is incredibly offensive by present-day standards.
One moment in the movie that I had remembered despite not having seen it in half a century: When the children in a classroom scene towards the beginning recite the Pledge of Allegiance, they say "one nation, indivisible," but they don't say "under God," because those two words hadn't been added yet. Which I guess is a valuable reminder that our society regresses in some ways even as it moves forward in others. |
