The White Sister (1933)

Set in Italy, a young woman (Helen Hayes) is promised in marriage to a banker (Alan Edwards) when she meets a dashing soldier (Clark Gable) and falls in love despite her father's (Lewis Stone) disapproval. But WWI pulls them apart. Based on the novel by Francis Marion Crawford (previously filmed in 1923) and directed by Victor Fleming (GONE WITH THE WIND). There have been changes from the 1923 film. Gone are the wicked stepsister and the erupting Vesuvius finale has been jettisoned. Hayes' heroine isn't as dainty as Lillian Gish, she's stronger and has more of a backbone. I found the first part of the movie agreeable enough but once Hayes decides to become a nun, it becomes a bit of a slog. Gable cuts a raffish figure though both he and Hayes are about as Italian as Coca Cola. Unlike the 1923 film which was filmed in Italy, this version was filmed on the MGM backlot. The movie was a modest hit. With Edward Arnold, May Robson and Louise Closser Hale.