Where Angels Go Trouble Follows! (1968)

An old-line Mother Superior is challenged by a modern young nun when they take the girls of St. Francis Academy on a bus trip across the U.S.A.

Director:

James Neilson

Writers:

Blanche Hanalis, Jane Trahey (characters)

Stars:

Rosalind Russell, Stella Stevens, Binnie Barnes

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Rosalind Russell	...	Mother Simplicia
Stella Stevens	...	Sister George
Binnie Barnes	...	Sister Celestine
Mary Wickes	...	Sister Clarissa
Dolores Sutton	...	Sister Rose Marie
Milton Berle	...	The Movie Director: The 'In' Group
Arthur Godfrey	...	The Bishop: The 'In' Group
Van Johnson	...	Father Chase: The 'In' Group
Robert Taylor	...	Mr. Farriday: The 'In' Group
Susan Saint James	...	Rosabelle
Barbara Hunter	...	Marvel Ann
Alice Rawlings	...	Patty
Hilary Thompson	...	Hilarie (as Hilarie Thompson)
Devon Douglas	...	Devon
Ellen Moss	...	Tanya

Storyline

In this follow-up to "The Trouble with Angels", the wry but wise Mother Superior of St. Francis Academy For Girls accompanies a group of nuns including modern, progressive Sister George, with their high-spirited students on a bus trip across America to a California peace rally. Along the way, they encounter a series of adventures that include multiple bus problems, an overnight stay at a Catholic school for boys run by Father Chase, a Western dude ranch owned by millionaire Mr. Farriday, a flamboyant movie director shooting a Western on location, and a bunch of menacing biker toughs.

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Plot Keywords:

bus | trip | mother superior | nun | catholic | 

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Taglines:

Something new is happening to those Teen-Angels of St. Francis.

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

G

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 January 1969 (Denmark)

Also Known As:

Diabruras dos Anjos Rebeldes

Filming Locations:

Dorney Amusement Park - 3830 Dorney Park Road, Allentown, Pennsylvania, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation, William Frye Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The roller coaster the girls go on is "Thunderhawk". It is the last remaining wooden roller coaster at Dorney Park.

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Goofs

The exterior shots of the school were filmed at St. Mary's Home, an orphanage, in Ambler, Pennsylvania. In the beginning of the film when the nuns come out of the school to meet Sister George, who is getting off a truck from a protest, the St. Mary's mat is clearly visible in front of the doors.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Sister George: [carrying a sign, returning from a protest] Not a single arrest today, Mother!
Mother Superior: [sarcastically] Don't get discouraged, I'm sure you'll do better next time.

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Crazy Credits

In the shot in front of the fun house at Dorney Park, a baby camel and a baby elephant pass across the screen. The first one has a banner draped over itself, saying "Where Angels Go" and the second one has one which reads "Trouble Follows".

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Connections

Referenced in Mystery Science Theatre 3000: Operation Double 007 (1993)

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Soundtracks

"Where Angels Go, Trouble Follows"
Written by Lalo Schifrin, Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart
Recorded by Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart

User Reviews

Seriously weird

Where Angels Go, Trouble Follows, the sequel to The Trouble with Angels, is in sad need of a skilled director like Ida Lupino at the helm. This is a seriously weird movie. It looked as if halfway through the making of the sequel, someone decided the film needed "relevant" elements. "Relevant" always turns out to look hopelessly dated a generation later. It begins with hip Sister George (I wonder if this was an in joke about The Killing of Sister George, a contemporary play about lesbians) picketing a large institution. You never get to see what she opposes, only that she is for Peace and Involvement. Nowadays, she'd be blocking abortion clinics, but in the 1960's nuns were hip and anti-war. Think Mary Tyler Moore and Sister Sourire.

Anyway, George really is a pain, constantly complaining about anything and everything that doesn't pass her standards for Contemporary Meaning. Clothes are a big problem. The sisters wear antiquated habits, while the girls' gym outfits are designed for use in the 1940's, which means they have to be tossed into the dustbin of history. By the end of the film, the girls are frugging in miniskirts, and the nuns are wearing knee length midis that enable them to stride about with a sense of purpose.

A moment of high camp is achieved on a desert highway similar to the one Captain America and Billy were to roar up and down the following year. The bus breaks down, and the first passersby turn out to be Hell's Angels. They seem to have been on every Interstate between California and the Mississippi in those days. One of the bikers insults Sister George by calling her a penguin, then threatens her with a switchblade. Later, the leader of the pack asks if she was frightened. "Let's just say I never feared for my immortal soul." To which the biker replies, "Crazy," and moved by her spiritual depth, fixes the bus for her. Presumably we are all seeking the same higher truths, only some do it on Harleys. When asked how she pulled the bikers over to her side, George smirks, "We communicated."

The strangest part is that the object of the nuns' cross-country trip, a "youth rally" in Santa Barbara, is never actually shown. The girls do turn on in a psychedelically lit gymnasium at an all boys' school, and perform this weird tribal dance with the boys that looked group frottage. The producers may have worried that the rally would require too many extras, but the zillions of Indians in the Milton Berle sequence could have easily been converted to Catholic hippies. Anyway, the film ends with the bus roaring down the highway, and a cut to the sisters' "Change of Habit," those knee length skirts which they show off crossing a campus that now looks like The Harrad Experiment. What a disappointment.