- Film Review
- Reviewed By David Parkinson
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5 out of 5
Winner of Oscars for art direction and cinematography, this adaptation of Rumer Godden's simmering novel by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger is one of the most striking examples of studio-controlled artifice in film history. Jack Cardiff's incredibly lush colour images not only enhance the beauty of the stylised Himalayan scenery, but also bring a certain grandeur to the melodramatic events at a remote mountain mission where the visit of English agent David Farrar causes passions to run dangerously out of control among the nuns. Kathleen Byron's eye-rolling jealousy awakens the occasionally sleepy plot and her scene with Deborah Kerr on the bell tower is a true classic. Sabu as a wealthy local general and Jean Simmons as the nubile native girl who attracts his attention provide a little eastern spice.
Plot Summary
Classic drama starring Deborah Kerr as one of five Anglo-Catholic nuns who establish a school and hospital in a disused harem perched on a mountain pinnacle in the Himalayas. As the nuns struggle to cope with the sensuous atmosphere of their surroundings, the intrusive male presence of the local English agent brings further disquiet.
Cast and crew
Cast
- Sister Clodagh
- Deborah Kerr
- Dilip Rai, the Young General
- Sabu
- Mr Dean
- David Farrar
- Sister Philippa
- Flora Robson
- The old General
- Esmond Knight
- Kanchi
- Jean Simmons
- Sister Ruth
- Kathleen Byron
- Blanche, Sister Honey
- Jenny Laird
- Sister Briony
- Judith Furse
- Angu Ayah
- May Hallatt
- Con
- Shaun Noble
- Mother Dorothea
- Nancy Roberts
Crew
- Director
- Michael Powell
- Director
- Emeric Pressburger
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