Movie Type: Religious Comedy, Family-Oriented Adventure
Themes: Members of the Clergy, High School Life
Main Cast: Rosalind Russell, Hayley Mills, Binnie Barnes, Gypsy Rose Lee, Camilla Sparv, June Harding
Release Year: 1966
Country: US
Run Time: 112 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
The Trouble With Angels opens on the first day of school for a new batch of students at St. Francis Academy, run by a very strong-willed Mother Superior (Rosalind Russell). She is used to having things her way, but she may have met her match in the headstrong and independent Mary Clancy (Hayley Mills) and her newfound friend, Rachel Devery (June Harding). Mary, easily bored and ready to rebel at the drop of a hat, comes up with an endless series of "scathingly brilliant" schemes designed either to amuse her and Rachel, torture insufferable schoolmate Marvel-Ann, or in some way help them get ahead. Rachel, who would never come up with such ideas on her own, is delighted to go along with them. The duo starts right away by convincing several of the girls to join them in giving fake names to the sisters that register them. Future escapades include guided tours of the nuns' living quarters, illicit cigarette smoking that brings about the fire brigade, replacing sugar with soap bubbles, and many others. Several times the Mother Superior is on the brink of expelling the girls, but she relents, knowing something of their home lives and that they will benefit from the more nurturing environment of the school. By the end of the film, the girls have indeed grown, and Mary, in particular, has developed a special love for the Academy. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Review
The Trouble With Angels is in the tradition of such Catholic-themed Hollywood films as Going My Way, but its take is slightly different. Here, the emphasis is as much (or more) on the students than on the adults, and while these students are deep down as good-hearted as their cinematic forebears, these adults have much less tolerance for them. The story is episodic and essentially silly, but director Ida Lupino handles it with loving care. She takes the time to create small moments and telling details, fleshing out the characters beyond their stereotypical roles. As a result, the audience genuinely cares and roots for everyone involved. The cast is very good, with Hayley Mills playing effectively against type as a spoiled-and-looking-for-attention rich girl and June Harding believable as the shyer, more reluctant partner who exults in being drawn into Mills' plots. Rosalind Russell is her usual dependable self, bringing a heft and authority to the role which works well against Mills. She also knows when to let the Mother Superior's softer side show through. And, as always, Russell is an expert at sending a line home. The rest of the cast, including Marge Redmond, Gypsy Rose Lee, and Mary Wickes, is solid and reliable. Not a great film, The Trouble With Angels is surprisingly entertaining and affecting. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Mary Wickes - Sister Clarissa; Marge Redmond - Sister Liguori; Dolores Sutton - Sister Rose Marie; Margalo Gillmore - Sister Barbara; Marjorie Eaton - Sister Ursula; Barbara Bell Wright - Sister Margaret; Judith Lowry - Sister Prudence; Barbara Hunter - Marvel-Ann; Patty Ann Gerrity - Sheila; Ronne Troup - Helen; Jim Boles - Mr. Gottschalk; Kent Smith - Uncle George; Pat McCaffrie - Mr. Devery; Mary Young - Mrs. Eldridge; Harry Harvey - Mr. Grissom; Jim Hutton - Mr. Petrie; Portia Nelson - Sister Elizabeth
Credit
John Beckman - Art Director, Helen Colvig - Costume Designer, Ida Lupino - Director, Robert Jones - Editor, Jerry Goldsmith - Composer (Music Score), Ben Lane - Makeup, Lionel Lindon - Cinematographer, William Frye - Producer, Victor A. Gangelin - Set Designer, Blanche Hanalis - Screenwriter, Jane Trahey - Book Author
The movie is set in a fictional all-girls Catholicboarding school operated by an order of nuns. Russell plays the Mother Superior, who spends the movie at odds with Mary Clancy (Hayley Mills), a rebellious teenager, and her misery-loves-company friend Rachel Devery (June Harding). The episodic storyline follows the young women through their high-school years.
Background
The Trouble with Angels was based on the memoir, Life with Mother Superior by Jane Trahey about her own high-school years at a Catholic school near Chicago in the 1930s. While in the novel the school was portrayed as a boarding school outside the city, Trahey actually attended what is now Providence-St. Mel's High School, which was only a day school. Many of the incidents mentioned in the book were actually based on Trahey's experiences at Mundelein College in Chicago, Illinois. The character of Mary Clancy (Mills) was based on Jane's actual friend, Mary, who later became Sister John Eudes, a Sinsinawa Dominican nun.
Production
The Trouble with Angels was filmed from September to December 1965. The St. Francis Academy in the film was filmed on location at St. Mary's Home for Children in Ambler, Pennsylvania. All interior shots were filmed at Columbia Studios at Sunset & Gower in Hollywood. The film was budgeted at $2 million.[1]
Impact
The film marked a departure for Mills, who was attempting to emerge from her juvenile leads in Walt Disney-produced teen comedies as a comedic actress. It would be the last successful film of her career, as her next film, The Family Way, would spark controversy in England due to a nude scene with Mills. Though the incident was minor, it effectively hurt Mills' blossoming career as a young actress.
The Trouble with Angels enjoyed mediocre to good reviews and enough success to warrant a sequel (Where Angels Go, Trouble Follows). However, Mills opted not to reprise her role as the progressive protagonist and was replaced by Stella Stevens, who played Sister George, foil to Rosalind Russell’s Mother Superior. Variety magazine said "An appealing story idea...hip Mother Superior nun who outfoxes and matures two rebellious students in a Catholic girls' school...has lost impact via repetitious plotting and pacing, plus routine direction".[1]
Uncharacteristically, Russell criticized Mills' professionalism in her memoirs, stating that the young actress was difficult to work with (the only co-star to work with the beloved Mills to publicly gripe). Russell credited her Catholic-school education as inspiration for her role as Mother Superior.
Cameo
Burlesque performer Gypsy Rose Lee appears in a small role. Previously, Rosalind Russell played Lee's mother in the 1962 film Gypsy.
Rachel (June Harding) and Mary (Hayley Mills) watch in disbelief as their smoking leads to the arrival of the fire department in The Trouble with Angels.
