The Trouble with Angels (1966)

Director:

Ida Lupino

Writers:

Blanche Hanalis (screenplay)
Jane Trahey (novel)

Release Date:

30 March 1966 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

It's the habit forming comedy the whole family can enjoy!

Plot:

Two high-spirited young students at St. Francis Academy For Girls keep things hopping for the challenged Mother Superior and her staff of bewildered Sisters.

Plot Keywords:

Mother Superior | Student | School | Nun | Convent

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Rosalind Russell	...	Mother Superior (Rev. Mother)
Binnie Barnes	...	Sister Celestine
Camilla Sparv	...	Sister Constance
Mary Wickes	...	Sister Clarissa
Marge Redmond	...	Sister Liguori
Dolores Sutton	...	Sister Rose Marie
Margalo Gillmore	...	Sister Barbara
Portia Nelson	...	Sister Elizabeth
Marjorie Eaton	...	Sister Ursula
Barbara Bell Wright	...	Sister Margaret
Judith Lowry	...	Sister Prudence
Hayley Mills	...	Mary Clancy
June Harding	...	Rachel Devery
Barbara Hunter	...	Marvel-Ann Clancy
Bernadette Withers	...	Valerie

Also Known As:

Life with Mother Superior (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG for mild thematic elements.

Runtime:

112 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:U | Finland:S | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Eaves Movie Ranch - 105 Rancho Alegre Road, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

The exterior shots were filmed at St. Mary's Home, an orphanage, in Ambler, Pennsylvania. The main building looks like a stone castle and is still standing. It was featured prominently in the film but all the interior shots were done in a studio in California.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Rachel knocks over the bust in the art room, there is already debris on the floor from something else (probably another bust used in a take) and when Rachel goes to pick up the pieces of the newly broken bust, she picks up the stuff that was already there.

Quotes:

Rachel Devery: [while washing pots for punishment] Reverend Mother says that the detergent might help wash away my sins.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Kids in the Hall: (#1.3)" (1989)

Soundtrack:

First Warning

Great Movie!

I absolutely love this movie. It is absolutely charming. Haley Mills does a great job as Mary Clancy, an orphaned teenage girl who is sent to a convent school by an uncle who thinks the nuns will "straighten her out" and who, in reality mostly doesn't want to be bothered by Mary or his own daughter. June Harding is a bit annoying as Rachel Devery, but I suspect that the character is supposed to be annoying (she's clumsy, a bit whiny and has a weird habit of licking her fingers and slicking down her bangs.) Her story is that her father was sick of the progressive school she was attending (aptly named "New Trends Academy"). The girls become friends immediately and a begin a four year "reign of terror" at the convent. And Rosalind Russell is great as Mother Superior, who in spite of her aggravation with Mary, comes to know that Mary NEEDS the convent school, whether Mary herself knows it or not.

What I like best about this movie is that the pranks the girls play and the scrapes that they get themselves into are funny without being malicious, violent or dangerous. My six year old has recently fallen in love with the original "The Parent Trap" and "Pollyana" and I plan to show her this soon. I was born the year this came out, so I don't know for sure, but I would guess that it was not marketed as a "kid" movie, and yet it is totally appropriate movie for young girls. The same certainly can't be said for most movies today that are marketed as "kid flicks". While I don't shield my daughter from all these movies today, it is nice to know that I can pop this movie in and she and I can snuggle up together and enjoy a movie with no violent or mean humor (Home Alone, Dennis the Menace), no vulgarity and really nothing offensive at all. I also find it refreshing that the characters grow and mature into better and wiser people by the end, which is rare in movies.

I'd just like to add that I have heard complaints that Haley Mills was too old to play the role of Mary. While it is true that Mary was probably supposed to be about 13 at the opening of the film, and around 17 or 18 at the end, and Haley was 20 when it was made, this never bothered me. When I first saw it, I didn't know her age, and she didn't look 20 to me!