The Five Best Movies About Nuns

There are a number of memorable films about nuns or featuring nuns in prominent roles. They include warbling nuns (e.g., The Sound of Music, The Singing Nun, Airport 1975), maternal nuns (The Trouble With Angels), and nuns who play sports (Come to the Stables, The Bells of St. Mary's). There are serious films (Black Narcissus, The Nun's Story), comedies (Bedazzled), and biographies (Song of Bernadette, Therese). There's even an Elvis Presely movie with nuns (Change of Habit). Of course, one must be careful in listing nun movies, because in some cases the nuns turned out not to be nuns at all (Two Mules for Sister Sara). The list below is limited to films from the classic era only. As with all the "Five Best" lists, recommended additions are welcomed!

Sister Ruth, not looking like a nun here,
approaching the bells.

1.  Black Narcissus - This Powell & Pressberger masterpiece stars Deborah Kerr as a nun sent to a remote village in the Himalayas to start a hospital and a school. A thematically rich film, it features brilliant performances and is enhanced by the most glorious color photography ever captured on celluloid.

2.  Lilies of the Field - A group of German nuns in a small Arizona town convince a wanderer (Sidney Poitier) to do a roof repair—which eventually results in him building a chapel for them. Yes, Poitier won the Oscar for this and he’s terrific—but he’s matched by Lilia Skala as the Mother Superior. The language difference is the source of much unexpected humor. This is a lovely little film about faith and perseverance.

Ingrid Bergman earned a Best Actress
nomintation for her performance.

3.  The Bells of St. Mary’s - Bing Crosby recreated his Oscar-winning role as Father O’Malley (“Just dial ‘O’ for O’Malley”) in this sequel to Going My Way. But this film belongs to Ingrid Bergman, who anchors it with her captivating, warm performance as Sister Mary Benedict. It’s an incredibly natural performance and her climatic scene with Crosby may be Ingrid’s finest moment on film.

4.  Come to the Stable - Loretta Young and Celeste Holm play French nuns who settle in the New England town of Bethlehem with the goal of building a children’s hospital—but they have no money, no land, and no one to help. A charming film that works its magic in subtle ways, even if the outcome is never in doubt.

Audrey Hepburn was also
nominated for Best Actress.

5.  The Nun’s Story - Aubrey Hepburn gives one of her best performances in this tale of the hardships faced by a young nun. The heart of the film takes place in the Belgian Congo, where Sister Luke assists a physician (Peter Finch) in treating lepers. However, it’s the opening and closing scenes that linger the longest with me.


Honorable Mentions: The Sound of Music (a culture phenomenon in the 1960s...it played for my hometown for a year!); The Trouble With Angels (with Rosalind Russell plays Mother Superior of a girls’ boarding girl and Hayley Mills as the resident troublemaker, and Bedazzled (with Dudley Moore as a nun).