The Trouble With Angels

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Call Number: DVD Comedy Trouble
On Shelf At: Traverwood Branch

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Traverwood Adult A/V 1-week checkout	DVD Comedy Trouble	1-week checkout	On Shelf
Downtown 1st Floor 1-week checkout	DVD Comedy Trouble	1-week checkout	Due 04-29-2024

Originally released as a motion picture in 1966 by William Frye Productions.
Based on a novel by Jane Trahey.
Rosalind Russell, Hayley Mills, June Harding, Binnie Barnes, Gypsy Rose Lee, Camilla Sparv, Mary Wickes, Jim Boles.
Two mischievous students turn convent school upside down with their pranks. During Christmas break, Mary remains at the school and is touched by the Sisters' celebration of the Yule. Their graduation is both a relief and a celebration for the Mother Superior.
DVD, Region 1.
Contents: Trouble with angels.

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

Absolutely Hilarious submitted by andreahubert on June 30, 2012, 10:14pm This movie was hilarious. Rosalind Russell and Hayley Mills are great to watch in this movie all about tricks being played. Definitely worth watching over and over.

Amazing submitted by maureenannarbor on June 25, 2022, 10:48am This was an absolutely amazing movie

The Trouble with Angels submitted by leighsprauer on March 11, 2023, 10:04am This is a fun little movie. Two friends, Mary and Rachel, sent to Catholic boarding school against their wishes, are all-around pests and troublemakers, incurring endless punishments and almost getting expelled, until the quiet calm and good-naturedness of the sisters finally win them over. They do all sorts of stupid little things, some of which are stereotypical teenage rebellion stuff, like smoking and skipping class, and some of which are things that only a Catholic school girl would think to do: giving secret tours of the cloisters, and disrupting Silent Sundays.
Hayley Mills and June Harding are wonderful as Mary and Rachel. Mills' Mary is mischievous without being mean or unlikable. Even though she's egregiously disrespectful toward the sisters, there's enough playfulness to show that she's not completely irredeemable. Harding's Rachel is not quite as good; we are supposed to believe that Rachel is a bit dim and generally incompetent, but Harding's eyes seem too intelligent for Rachel. The other characters, primarily the sisters, are very well done. The film really highlights the individuality of each sister (even though I couldn't actually tell them apart due to my mild-to-moderate face blindness), as well as their back stories. They are certainly not a monolith of stereotypical nuns, punishing harshly and without reason. Since it's a comedy, and from the 60s, it's even more surprising that the sisters are shown in such a positive light. I would guess that the writer or director really knew nuns, or was taught by them. (One of the best scenes was when Mother was arguing with the principal of a local progressive school. She argued that all his modern methods didn't actually work: the kids weren't really learning anything. He hesitated and stammered, flustered by her self-assured authority, and finally said, "The finest educational minds in the country happen to be on our side!" to which she quickly responds "God is on ours!" Truly radical for 1966!)
The plot is funny at times, although maybe not laugh-out-loud funny, the acting is good, the characters are good. One flaw - maybe fatal? - is that Mary's "conversion" from naughty school-girl to calm new novice is really hard to explain. Well, maybe not: she falls in love with the community. Their kindness and mercy certainly help, but what really seems to convince her is when she begins to realize that they are real people who are really happy in this life they've chosen. They could have had other careers - model, fashion designer - but have chosen this life that gives them real joy. Knowing that she knows this is a bit rough - mostly inferred from quiet gazes and thoughtful pauses. You could see her decision to enter the community from a mile away, but still it wasn't quite convincing. The drama was sewn clumsily onto the comedy, rather than stitched nicely.
Finally, although it was easy to see why she would have fallen in love with this charismatic, gracious group of women, it was not clear at all why they would have chosen that life, or what would have made them stay despite its hardships. There was very little mention of Jesus or God, or St. Francis, or even their vows, although those were part of the culture and background of their lives, of course. But really they seemed more like a secular commune: just a group of really nice ladies who love to teach and life together. Which is much better than how most nuns are portrayed - much better! - but hardly a complete picture.