The Song Of Bernadette (1943)

In the small village of Lourdes in 1858, an ignorant 14 year old girl (Jennifer Jones) claims to see a vision of a "beautiful lady" (Linda Darnell). While the lady never identifies herself as such, the villagers assume it is the Virgin Mary and it isn't long before the town's authorities attempt to silence her out of embarrassment. Based on the novel by Franz Werfel (which uses dramatic license which results in some historical inaccuracy rather than a non-fiction approach) and directed by Henry King (CAPTAIN FROM CASTILE). One doesn't have to be religious or perhaps even spiritual to appreciate the qualities of THE SONG OF BERNADETTE. Innocence and purity aren't easy traits to portray without often seeming insincere or treacly. Jennifer Jones's Oscar winning performance is near remarkable in this respect. The film works principally because of her, it is a guileless performance and in direct contrast to the many high strung women she would later portray in her career. The film is as much about one's strength of convictions as it is faith. The film isn't a slam dunk for Jones's Bernadette. It offers two important doubting characters, both impeccably played: Vincent Price as a government prosecutor and Gladys Cooper as a resentful nun. The shimmering Oscar winning score is by Alfred Newman. With Charles Bickford, Lee J. Cobb, Anne Revere, William Eythe, Patricia Morison, Blanche Yurka, Marcel Dalio, Charles Dingle, Jerome Cowan and Mary Anderson.