• Rating:
• Genre: Drama
• Movie Type: Religious Drama
• Themes: Obsessive Quests
• Director: Henry Koster
• Main Cast: Loretta Young, Celeste Holm, Elsa Lanchester, Thomas Gomez
• Release Year: 1949
• Country: US
• Run Time: 94 minutes

Plot

A Christmastime TV perennial, Come to the Stable is the gentle saga of two French nuns (Celeste Holm with accent, Loretta Young without) who come to America in hopes of raising funds for a children's hospital. Travelling to a small New England town presciently named Bethlehem, the nuns befriend eccentric painter Elsa Lanchester, who allows them to use her studio (actually a stable) for their base of operations. Utterly ingenuous when it comes to American mores and customs (they tear up a parking ticket, assuming it to be an advertisement), the sisters raise money in a variety of amusing fashions. One of their "agents" is outwardly tough gambler Mike Mazurki, who gets his equally raffish pals to invest in the hospital. And towards the end, the nuns even play a little professional tennis to raise money. Careful not to overwhelm the viewer with sentiment and religiosity, Come to the Stable (based on a story by Clare Booth Luce) is ideal holiday film fare. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Cast

• Loretta Young - Sister Margaret
• Celeste Holm - Sister Scholastica
• Elsa Lanchester - Miss Potts
• Thomas Gomez - Luigi Rossi

Dorothy Patrick - Kitty; Basil Ruysdael - Bishop; Dooley Wilson - Anthony James; Regis Toomey - Monsignor; Mike Mazurki - Heavy Man; Henri Letondal - Father Barraud; Walter S. Baldwin - Jarman; Tim Huntley - Mr. Thompson; Louis Jean Heydt - Mr. Newman; Pati Behrs - nun; Nan Boardman - nun; Loulette Sablon - Nun; Ian MacDonald - Mr. Matthews; Jean Prescott - Mrs. Matthews; Gary Pagett - Johnnie; Nolan Leary - Station Master; Wally Brown - Sheldon; Dan Jackson - George; Edwin Max - Whitey; Russ Clark - Policeman; Marion Martin - Manicurist; Robert Foulk - Policeman; Gordon Geberl - Willie; Virginia Kelly - Mrs. Thompson; Hugh Marlowe - Robert Mason

Credit

Sally Benson - Screenwriter; Samuel G. Engel - Producer; Mack Gordon - Songwriter; Henry Koster - Director; Joseph La Shelle - Cinematographer; Oscar Millard - Screenwriter; Cyril Mockridge - Composer (Music Score); Kay Nelson - Costume Designer; Alfred Newman - Composer (Music Score); Alfred Newman - Songwriter; Lionel Newman - Musical Direction/Supervision; Ben Nye, Sr. - Makeup; Fred Sersen - Special Effects; William H. Reynolds - Editor; Bernard Freericks - Sound/Sound Designer; Roger Heman - Sound/Sound Designer; Clare Boothe Luce - Screen Story