Come to the Stable

Unless you have a positive aversion to nun movies, there's a great deal of pleasure to be had from watching Loretta Young and Celeste Holm as they arrive in the New England town of Bethlehem and set about their charitable work, initially aided by Elsa Lanchester as a bohemian artist. (All three actresses were Oscar-nominated for their work in this film.) Director Henry Koster handles the tale well, keeping it delightfully warm and sentimental without lapsing into schmaltz, which rarely occurred at 20th Century-Fox, anyway. Bear with it, because hidden among all the religiosity is a gem of a pop song, Through a Long and Sleepless Night, revived by Bobby Darin, and here rendered touchingly by Holm. Incidentally, Henry Koster's last movie was The Singing Nun, 17 years after he directed Come to the Stable.