{"id":23038,"date":"2015-08-23T03:08:10","date_gmt":"2015-08-23T09:08:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/?p=23038"},"modified":"2015-08-23T00:17:36","modified_gmt":"2015-08-23T06:17:36","slug":"ten-things-you-did-not-know-about-the-bishops-wife","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/x\/ten-things-you-did-not-know-about-the-bishops-wife\/","title":{"rendered":"Ten Things You Did Not Know About The Bishop’s Wife"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Bishop\u2019s Wife<\/em> (1947) is a Christmas<\/a> classic that demonstrates not only the enduring backdrop that Christmas<\/a> can be to a story but it is also a peek back in time to an America that probably never will exist again. <\/p>\n

The film landed smack in the middle of a critical period of both film making and of the history of the world. It perhaps could be considered one of the last great black and white films of Hollywood\u2019s golden era. <\/p>\n

The story revolves around three key characters: The Bishop, an Angel and the Bishop\u2019s wife. <\/p>\n

\"824-2\"<\/a>The Bishop is a driven, hard-working man on a quest to build a new church cathedral. His laser sharp focus and the trouble he faces in meeting his goal have caused him to neglect other parts of his life. <\/p>\n

Desperate to overcome, he prays and is rewarded with the help of an angel. <\/p>\n

The angel is not what anyone expects or can explain. He\u2019s handsome, suave and prone to making every woman swoon \u2013 including the Bishop\u2019s Wife, who is tortured over what has become of her marriage. <\/p>\n

How does this all become a Christmas<\/a> movie? That\u2019s the magic and it is the reason why it is a Christmas<\/a> classic. <\/p>\n

Here are ten things you don\u2019t know about the film:<\/p>\n

1. The film is based on a book published in 1928 by author Robert Nathan. The book gets far more carried away with the relationship between the Angel and The Bishop\u2019s Wife. The movie never caries it beyond flirtatious banter and wishful thinking. After all, in 1947 there were still film censors to please. <\/p>\n

2. David Niven was never supposed to be the Bishop. He was cast at first to be Dudley, the angel. Roles were re-cast as Cary Grant came on board the project and he was not fond of the Bishop\u2019s dialogue as written in the script. Being Cary Grant he saw the magic in the role of the angel and being Cary Grant he got his way. It was, in the end, an inspired choice. <\/p>\n

3. The movie was made just a year after It\u2019s A Wonderful Life<\/em> \u2013 to which it has been compared for decades since. After all, it features an angel (without wings) and a central character fighting a miserly opponent and a bummer of a situation. Like It\u2019s a Wonderful Life<\/em> the movie is not expressly about Christmas<\/a> \u2013 but has been considered a classic of Christmas<\/a> for decades. <\/p>\n

4. The movie was nominated for five Oscars and won one. It was not a big success at the box office. But like It\u2019s A Wonderful Life<\/em> it gained in popularity decades after it was made through constant Christmas-time replays on television. Working against The Bishop\u2019s Wife<\/em> at both the box office and in the Oscar race was another movie destined to become a Christmas<\/a> classic: Miracle on 34th Street<\/em>. <\/p>\n

\"the-bishops-wife\"<\/a>5. Cary Grant was a persnickety perfectionist on the set \u2013 and this clashed with an equally difficult-to-get-along with Loretta Young. In fact, they really couldn\u2019t stand each other. It is a wonder that their chemistry bubbled up to the final film product. In one scene set in the Bishop\u2019s office Cary grant stopped the filming when he declared that \u201csince it\u2019s supposed to be winter shouldn\u2019t the windows look like it?\u201d The cast had to wait to resume filming until the prop guys could quickly frost the windows. <\/p>\n

6. Tragedy struck in the personal lives of both Niven and Grant just before film began. Cary Grant was famously close to the wealthy Howard Hughes, who at this time was hospitalized and not expected to live (he survived). But Niven\u2019s task in filming came on the heels of even greater tragedy having lost his young wife unexpectedly due to an accident at a Hollywood party, leaving him a widower with two young children. <\/p>\n

7. The film has strong Christian messaging and is considered by some to be the Protestant answer to the Catholic leaning films of Going My Way<\/em> and The Bells of St. Mary\u2019s<\/em>. In fact, The Bishop\u2019s Wife<\/em> quotes scripture as Dudley tells of the 23rd Psalm and the Bishop\u2019s closing sermon is frequently used even today in many churches for its moving text:<\/p>\n

Tonight I want to tell you the story of an empty stocking.<\/em><\/p>\n

Once upon a midnight clear, there was a child\u2019s cry, a blazing star hung over a stable, and wise men came with birthday gifts. We haven\u2019t forgotten that night down the centuries. We celebrate it with stars on Christmas<\/a> trees, with the sound of bells, and with gifts.
\n<\/em>
\nBut especially with gifts. You give me a book, I give you a tie. Aunt Martha has always wanted an orange squeezer and Uncle Henry can do with a new pipe. For we forget nobody, adult or child. All the stockings are filled, all that is, except one. And we have even forgotten to hang it up. The stocking for the child born in a manger. It\u2019s his birthday we\u2019re celebrating. Don\u2019t let us ever forget that.<\/em><\/p>\n

Let us ask ourselves what He would wish for most. And then, let each put in his share, loving kindness, warm hearts, and a stretched out hand of tolerance. All the shining gifts that make peace<\/a> on earth.<\/em><\/p>\n