Summary
Drama starring Audrey Hepburn and Peter Finch. After entering a convent, a young Belgian girl finds the principle of unquestioning obedience hard to observe when faced with disease, disappointment and the Second World War.
Drama starring Audrey Hepburn and Peter Finch. After entering a convent, a young Belgian girl finds the principle of unquestioning obedience hard to observe when faced with disease, disappointment and the Second World War.
Kathryn C Hulme's popular novel here makes a magnificent vehicle for the luminous Audrey Hepburn, who plays a young Belgian girl battling with her conscience and wondering if she is truly cut out for her religious calling. Hepburn is a marvel, whether flirting with passion (in the guise of Peter Finch, who's terrific as an agnostic doctor) in the Congo or discovering that some nuns (Dames Edith Evans and Peggy Ashcroft) are only human after all. This is arguably director Fred Zinnemann's finest movie; it gained eight nominations, but no Oscars, in the year of Ben-Hur. Unjust, really, as you watch Franz Planer's superb photography, listen to Franz Waxman's haunting score and wonder to what greater heights popular cinema can aspire.
role | name |
---|---|
Sister Luke / Gabrielle Van Der Mal | Audrey Hepburn |
Dr Fortunati | Peter Finch |
Mother Emmanuel | Edith Evans |
Mother Mathilde | Peggy Ashcroft |
Dr Van Der Mal | Dean Jagger |
Sister Margharita / Mistress of Postulance | Mildred Dunnock |
Mother Christophe | Beatrice Straight |
Sister William | Patricia Collinge |
Sister Eleanor | Rosalie Crutchley |
Mother Marcella | Ruth White |
Archangel Gabriel | Colleen Dewhurst |
Dr Goovaerts | Lionel Jeffries |
role | name |
---|---|
Director | Fred Zinnemann |