The Singing Nun ** (1966, Debbie Reynolds, Ricardo Montalban, Greer Garson, Agnes Moorehead) – Classic Movie Review 10,238

Director Henry Koster’s 1966 biographical family drama The Singing Nun stars Debbie Reynolds, Ricardo Montalban, Greer Garson and Agnes Moorehead. Apparently Reynolds called it her favourite role: had she forgotten Singin’ in the Rain? Nuns were suddenly in vogue after the success of the previous year’s The Sound of Music.

MGM try to pour all of the studio’s old-fashioned Forties and Fifties virtues and many of its stars into this semi-fictional biopic of Belgian nun cum pop star Sister Sourire [Soeur Sourire], who penned the immortal tune ‘Dominique’ and turned it into an improbable hit in the Sixties, which was a #1 pop hit in America. The movie tells a fictionalised story because the Catholic Church was against Soeur Sourire’s pop career.

Reynolds as the nun (here called Sister Ann) with lots of eye makeup, Montalban as Father Clementi and Garson as Mother Prioress do what they can in the wade through the treacle. There are 12 songs – most of them written by Soeur Sourire – and a clutch of other good players, plus Ed Sullivan (as himself) whose TV show it is Ms Sourire’s ambition (like all good celebrities) to appear on. In the film, Sister Ann writes the song ‘Dominique’ to cheer up a little orphan boy called Dominic (Ricky Cordell) with whom Sister Ann is friends, but in real life the song was dedicated to Saint Dominic, the founder of the Dominican Order.

Also in the cast are Chad Everett, Katharine Ross, Ed Sullivan, Juanita Moore, Tom Drake, Ricky Cordell, Michael Pate, Larry D Mann, Charles Robinson, Monique Montaigne, and Joyce Vanderveen.

After the film, Soeur Sourire [Jeanine Deckers] left the convent, resumed her singing career and changed her name to Luc Dominique. She and Annie Pescher owned and operated a school for autistic children, but ran into financial problems and killed themselves in a drug overdose suicide pact in 1985.

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 10,238

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