The Bishop's Wife (1947)

Cary Grant, David Niven, Loretta Young

Directed by Henry Koster

Available to stream on Amazon Prime

A charming angel (Cary Grant) unexpectedly visits a Bishop (David Niven) one Christmas, disrupting his life and all those around him, especially the Bishop’s wife, Loretta Young.   

Cary Grant, David Niven, and Loretta Young in "The Bishop's Wife"

Why we love it: What a strange idea for a story – but it actually works.  There are so many amusing moments with Cary Grant and David Niven. Other favorite scenes are the boys' choir performance and the Professor’s bottomless sherry bottle. This is one of our favorite classic Christmas movies.

Ad from Screenland 1948

Fun facts:

• Cary Grant and David Niven were originally intended for opposite roles - Grant as the Bishop and Niven as the angel. Grant had complaints about the script and decided it would work better if he was the angel. There were also other problems with the intitial production. After just a few weeks of filming, Samuel Goldwyn (the producer) wasn't happy with how things were going. He shut down production, had all of the sets rebuilt, and replaced the original director with Henry Koster. Filming then continued with Grant as the angel and Niven the Bishop.

• The film was nominated for several Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Editor, and Best Score. It won the Oscar for Best Sound.

Cary Grant decorating the Christmas tree in "The Bishop's Wife"

• The actress who plays the daughter, Debbie, is Karalyn Grimes, also famous for her role in another classic Christmas movie, It's a Wonderful Life, where she plays ZuZu.

• The film didn't have great success when it first came out because some people assumed it was religious. Goldwyn retititled it "Cary and the Bishop's Wife" for some US markets and in other cases added the phrase "Have you heard about Cary and the Bishop's wife?" to ads and posters, which helped to increase its box office appeal.

For reviews from the time, go to the Fan Magazine Reviews page.

Featured cocktail:

Stinger

Invented around 1900, this drink was at its peak of popularity during Prohibition and the following years.

In The Bishop’s Wife, while lunching with Loretta Young at Michel’s restaurant Grant notices three women gossiping, certainly about Young having lunch with a man who isn’t her husband. He orders them each a glass of Benedictine, but quickly changes his order to Stingers.

2 1/2 oz (75 ml) brandy

1/2 oz (15 ml) white crème de menthe (which is clear)

Shake with ice. Strain into chilled cocktail glass.

Cheers to the Classics!