“The Bishop’s Wife” (released Feb. 16, 1948), one of the prominent contenders for best Christmas movie of the century and certainly a film studded with three of the biggest Hollywood stars of all time, is clearly a a forbidden love story. Hold on to your string of pearls.

Egad! You mean the story of how a handsome angel named Dudley (Cary Grant) comes to Earth to help a not-so-handsome Christian Bishop Henry Brougham (David Niven) fulfill his desire to build a great cathedral? That one?

Yes. That one.

We’ve learned over the years since it was released in 1948, that the story was written by Robert Nathan, Robert Sherwood and Leonardo Bercovici, with uncredited help from Billy Wilder and his partner Charles Brackett, to lighten the dialogue.

But it’s clear the heart of the story came from Nathan’s novel of the same name, who also wrote the mystic/spiritual novel “Portrait of Jenny.”

In “Bishop,” Dudley (Michael in the novel) comes to Earth to help Bishop Brougham, but falls in love with Julia, the Bishop’s wife. Who wouldn’t fall for Loretta Young?

Nathan’s novel has a sadder, deeper ending than the movie, but who wants a sadder, deeper Christmas story? Not Sam Goldwyn who was running the studio.

It doesn’t matter these many years later that Grant was hired to play the Bishop, but wanted to play the angel.

Goldwyn needed Grant to carry the film, so Grant got what Grant wanted, thus Niven, younger in the book by Nathan, became the Bishop, staid, disciplined and middle aged.

Cary got the always charming handsome angel with a British accent, and director William A. Seiter was replaced by Henry Koster.

You’ll get the wonderful old gruff, Monty Woolley (“The Man Who Came To Dinner”) who in real life, went to Yale with Cole Porter.

Add the delightfully chipper Elsa Lanchester as the maid, the great James Gleason as Sylvester, the milk man, whom Dudley turns into a midnight ice skating pro.

Throw in the ageless Gladys Cooper, (“Now, Voyager”). Do you really need to know all of this Hollywood backstory?

Of course not. What we all need in these terrible times is a handsome angel coming along, and like a mother saying to your skinned knee, “Let me kiss it and make it better.” Am I right? So tune in and merry Christmas.

Watch it on The Roku Channel, Tubi, Pluto TV, Plex, Prime Video, Watch TCM, Spectrum TV, Vudu or Apple TV.

 

JP Devine of Waterville is a former stage and screen actor.

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