Well over 100 years since his birth,Cary Grantis still the moment.
Dudley’s celestial mission involves helping a struggling family.
This movie offers more meaty elements than one might expect from its openly religious slant.
Image via RKO Pictures
It’s also a cozy holiday fable rocking thatquintessential old Hollywood magic.
(Her husband’s a jerk, it’s fine.)
The charismatic actor became Hitchcock’s most important collaborator.
Image via RKO Pictures
The basic circumstances are almostIt’s a Wonderful Lifefrom the angel’s perspective.
Henry, desperate to rebuild his tiny church into a grandiose cathedral, implores God for help.
The clergy should serve those in need.
Henry forsakes everything and everyone to improve a building.
Enter Dudley, a literal answered prayer.
(And cue a bad joke about praying for Cary Grant.)
Image via RKO Pictures
For Dudley, an angel earning his wings,Grant tempers his elegance into something benevolent.
“), yet the selfless Dudley is beatific.
He’s chipper, calming,a little sneaky, and corrective without malice.
Image via RKO Pictures
Dudley considers attending to people a privilege, and Grant exudes confidence in his skin.
Dudley twists fate to ensure that the small things that matter the most win over humanity’s worst instincts.
He also makes sure Debby joins a snowball fight and the boys' choir arrives on time.
Sweeping moments of revelation aside, the tiniest moments pile up and heal hearts over time.
If you’re of a certain disposition, however,nothing bests Dudley falling in love with Julia.
Julia’s most empathetic moments show she has every right to feel heartbroken about her marriage.
Dudley’s crush starts inoffensively poignant: staring up the stairs after a distraught Julia.
Grant lends Dudley a sense of astonished wonder.
To facilitate Julia’s happiness, Dudley misbehaves.
He drinks in her joy.
Cary Grant retired, but this Hitchcock film got him back on screen.
I suppose it’s impressive Henry wants to fisticuffs a celestial being for his wife.
But theHays Codewouldn’t allow even angelic adultery.
Julia tells Dudley to leave.
Once Dudley’s job is done, he honors her request.
He remains selfless even after pouring his heart out to Julia in a speech worthy ofJane Austen.
The family won’t remember him, and his watchful stare is now yearning.
Just earnest, genial, and kind without guile.
There are contradictory testimonies about how the two men wound up swapping roles.
The rest of this film is an indictment and a half.
Such money could provide food and shelter to countless individuals.
Such assertions never compromise the cozy Christmas atmosphere viewers seek; they enhance it.
It was Henry’s choice to embrace or ignore his personalized divine wake-up call.
Modern viewers can take as much or as little as they want fromThe Bishops Wife.
Any of those is enough.
