{"id":45521,"date":"2019-11-04T21:42:40","date_gmt":"2019-11-05T04:42:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=45521"},"modified":"2022-02-21T15:04:55","modified_gmt":"2022-02-21T22:04:55","slug":"song-of-bernadette-the-1943","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=45521","title":{"rendered":"Song of Bernadette, The (1943)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;She <em>sees<\/em> this lady; no one else does.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Song-of-Bernadette-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Song-of-Bernadette-Poster-207x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"207\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-45547\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Song-of-Bernadette-Poster-207x300.jpg 207w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Song-of-Bernadette-Poster-88x128.jpg 88w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Song-of-Bernadette-Poster.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 207px) 100vw, 207px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nA devout Catholic girl (Jennifer Jones) in 19th century France sees a vision of a beautiful woman (Linda Darnell) in a grotto, and soon the entire town is transfixed by Bernadette&#8217;s visits with &#8220;the beautiful lady&#8221; (presumed to be the Virgin Mary). Among those who remain at least temporarily skeptical of Bernadette&#8217;s visions are her hard-working mother (Anne Revere), a cynical nun (Gladys Cooper), the local priest (Charles Bickford), a doctor (Lee J. Cobb), and a prosecutor (Vincent Price) determined to show that rationality will triumph over faith.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Character Arc<\/li>\n<li>Charles Bickford Films<\/li>\n<li>Christianity<\/li>\n<li>Henry King Films<\/li>\n<li>Historical Drama<\/li>\n<li>Jennifer Jones Films<\/li>\n<li>Lee J. Cobb Films<\/li>\n<li>Linda Darnell Films<\/li>\n<li>Nuns<\/li>\n<li>Religious Faith<\/li>\n<li>Strong Females<\/li>\n<li>Vincent Price Films<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nPeary doesn&#8217;t review this adaptation of <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Song_of_Bernadette_(novel)\">Franz Werfel&#8217;s novel<\/a> in his <em>GFTFF<\/em>, but he discusses Jennifer Jones&#8217; Oscar-winning performance in <em>Alternate Oscars<\/em>, where he writes: &#8220;As was surely the case with Best Actor winner Paul Lukas [in <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=45148\"><em>Watch on the Rhine<\/em><\/a>], the Academy probably voted as much for her noble character [Bernadette] as they did for her.&#8221; He argues that Jones &#8220;wasn&#8217;t really given a chance to act&#8221; but rather &#8220;had to play every scene identically, with a kind, simple smile but little emotion&#8221;. He asserts that &#8220;the scenes themselves are repetitive, with her character refusing to alter her story despite interrogations by one stern person after another&#8221;, and notes that he much prefers Jones&#8217;s &#8220;later, hot-blooded temptresses.&#8221; I&#8217;m not in agreement with Peary&#8217;s assessment, instead concurring with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/dvdsavant\/s4133song.html\">DVD Savant&#8217;s<\/a> statement that the film remains &#8220;an unimpeachably good production, with an intelligent script, fine direction and performances by actors that don&#8217;t behave as if told to, &#8216;hurry up and be enlightening.'&#8221; In terms of Jones&#8217;s performance, Bernadette is nothing if not steadfast: great pains are taken to establish this from the outset, and to emphasize the critical role it plays in what transpires. While Jones does consistently present a &#8220;kind, simple smile&#8221;, she also displays enough authentic emotion to carry us steadily through her travails, and we root for her the entire time. Indeed, Jones&#8217;s performance grounds this character-rich film, with Bernadette&#8217;s unwavering faith allowing or prompting countless others to experience profound shifts in their own assumptions and beliefs.<\/p>\n<p>The lengthy film merits its 156 minute running time. We&#8217;re first introduced to Jones (part of a large family) living in extreme poverty, with her mother (Revere) and father (Roman Bohnen) scarcely knowing where the next meal will come from &#8212; thus making it all the more powerful when Bernadette&#8217;s visions bring about both a seeming-miracle of healing AND a gift of plentiful food from neighbors. Time is taken to establish Bernadette&#8217;s lack of spiritual knowledge in school (due to asthma-induced absences), which leads to her stern nun-teacher&#8217;s (Cooper&#8217;s) refusal to allow her to accept a beautiful &#8220;miracle card&#8221; from the local priest (Bickford); could Bernadette&#8217;s later vision be a manifestation of this simple gift taken so quickly and cruelly from her? We simply don&#8217;t know, and to the film&#8217;s credit, we&#8217;re not asked to necessarily believe one version of reality over another. The film&#8217;s final &#8220;act&#8221; come as a bit of a surprise, given that a logical denouement has already occurred &#8212; but we soon learn that a sideline involving Cooper&#8217;s character (who becomes unexpectedly pivotal to the plot) must be given time to mature, and that Bernadette herself <\/p>\n<p>SPOILER ALERT <\/p>\n<p>will be given more than a simple send-off to a nunnery. Price gives a notably powerful performance as Bernadette&#8217;s primary foil, who earnestly believes that &#8220;To wipe out an epidemic, you must eliminate the cause&#8221; &#8212; but the entire cast is uniformly excellent (as is Arthur Miller&#8217;s cinematography). <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Jennifer Jones as Bernadette Soubirous<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Song-of-Bernadette-Jones.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Song-of-Bernadette-Jones.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"960\" height=\"720\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-45556\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Song-of-Bernadette-Jones.png 960w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Song-of-Bernadette-Jones-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Song-of-Bernadette-Jones-300x225.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Song-of-Bernadette-Jones-768x576.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Vincent Price as Prosecutor Vital Dutour<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Song-of-Bernadette-Price.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Song-of-Bernadette-Price.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"960\" height=\"720\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-45548\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Song-of-Bernadette-Price.png 960w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Song-of-Bernadette-Price-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Song-of-Bernadette-Price-300x225.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Song-of-Bernadette-Price-768x576.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Gladys Cooper as Sister Maria Theresa<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Song-of-Bernadette-Cooper.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Song-of-Bernadette-Cooper.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"960\" height=\"720\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-45555\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Song-of-Bernadette-Cooper.png 960w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Song-of-Bernadette-Cooper-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Song-of-Bernadette-Cooper-300x225.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Song-of-Bernadette-Cooper-768x576.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Anne Revere as Louise Soubirous<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Song-of-Bernadette-Revere.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Song-of-Bernadette-Revere.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"960\" height=\"720\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-45549\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Song-of-Bernadette-Revere.png 960w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Song-of-Bernadette-Revere-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Song-of-Bernadette-Revere-300x225.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Song-of-Bernadette-Revere-768x576.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Charles Bickford as Father Peyramale<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Song-of-Bernadette-Bickford.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Song-of-Bernadette-Bickford.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"960\" height=\"720\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-45551\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Song-of-Bernadette-Bickford.png 960w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Song-of-Bernadette-Bickford-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Song-of-Bernadette-Bickford-300x225.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Song-of-Bernadette-Bickford-768x576.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Convincingly atmospheric sets<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Song-of-Bernadette-Sets.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Song-of-Bernadette-Sets.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"960\" height=\"720\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-45550\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Song-of-Bernadette-Sets.png 960w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Song-of-Bernadette-Sets-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Song-of-Bernadette-Sets-300x225.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Song-of-Bernadette-Sets-768x576.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Arthur Miller&#8217;s luminous cinematography<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Song-of-Bernadette-Cinematography2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Song-of-Bernadette-Cinematography2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"960\" height=\"720\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-45553\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Song-of-Bernadette-Cinematography2.png 960w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Song-of-Bernadette-Cinematography2-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Song-of-Bernadette-Cinematography2-300x225.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Song-of-Bernadette-Cinematography2-768x576.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px\" \/><\/a><\/a>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes, as a fine spiritual drama. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?page_id=1784#goodshow\">Good Show<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0036377\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/90836\/the-song-of-bernadette#articles-reviews?articleId=81404\">TCM Article<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/dvdsavant\/s4133song.html\">DVD Savant Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thespinningimage.co.uk\/cultfilms\/displaycultfilm.asp?reviewid=12295&#038;aff=13\">Spinning Image Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1944\/01\/27\/archives\/the-screen-the-song-of-bernadette-a-devout-film-version-of-the.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/fantasticmoviemusings.com\/2015\/12\/15\/the-song-of-bernadette-1943\/\">Fantastic Movie Musings Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;She sees this lady; no one else does.&#8221; Synopsis: A devout Catholic girl (Jennifer Jones) in 19th century France sees a vision of a beautiful woman (Linda Darnell) in a grotto, and soon the entire town is transfixed by Bernadette&#8217;s visits with &#8220;the beautiful lady&#8221; (presumed to be the Virgin Mary). Among those who remain at least temporarily skeptical of Bernadette&#8217;s visions are her hard-working mother (Anne Revere), a cynical nun (Gladys Cooper), the local priest (Charles Bickford), a doctor&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=45521\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45521","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45521","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=45521"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45521\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":81512,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45521\/revisions\/81512"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=45521"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=45521"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=45521"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}