The Bishop 's Wife - wikipedia The Bishop 's Wife The Bishop 's Wife ( Cary and the Bishop 's Wife ) Theatrical release poster Directed by Henry Koster Produced by Samuel Goldwyn Screenplay by Leonardo Bercovici Robert E. Sherwood Billy Wilder ( uncredited ) Charles Brackett ( uncredited ) Based on The Bishop 's Wife by Robert Nathan Starring Cary Grant Loretta Young David Niven Music by Hugo Friedhofer Cinematography Gregg Toland Edited by Monica Collingwood Production company Samuel Goldwyn Productions Distributed by RKO Radio Pictures Release date December 9, 1947 ( 1947 - 12 - 09 ) ( Premiere - New York City ) February 16, 1948 ( 1948 - 02 - 16 ) ( U.S. ) Running time 109 minutes Country United States Language English Box office $3 million ( US rentals ) The Bishop 's Wife, also known as Cary and the Bishop 's Wife, is a Samuel Goldwyn romantic comedy feature film from 1947, starring Cary Grant, Loretta Young, and David Niven in a story about an angel who helps a bishop with his problems. The film was adapted by Leonardo Bercovici and Robert E. Sherwood from the 1928 novel of the same name by Robert Nathan, and was directed by Henry Koster. It was remade in 1996 as The Preacher 's Wife starring Denzel Washington, Whitney Houston, and Courtney B. Vance. Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Production 4 Awards and honors 5 Adaptations to other media 6 References 7 External links Plot Bishop Henry Brougham ( David Niven ), troubled with funding the building of a new cathedral, prays for divine guidance. His plea is seemingly answered by a suave angel named Dudley ( Cary Grant ), who reveals his identity only to the clergyman. However, Dudley 's mission is not to help construct a cathedral, but to spiritually guide Henry and the people around him. Henry has become obsessed with raising funds, to the detriment of his family life. His relationships with wife Julia ( Loretta Young ) and their young daughter are strained by his focus on the cathedral. Everyone, except for Henry, is charmed by Dudley, even the non-religious Professor Wutheridge ( Monty Woolley ). Dudley persuades the wealthy parishioners, particularly widowed Agnes Hamilton ( Gladys Cooper ), to contribute needed funds, but not to build the cathedral. He coaxes Mrs. Hamilton to donate her money to feed and clothe the needy -- much to Henry 's chagrin. To save time, Dudley also redecorates the Broughams ' Christmas tree in a few seconds, saves an old church by restoring interest in the boys ' choir, and dictates to a typewriter to magically produce Henry 's new sermon -- without Henry 's knowledge. When Dudley spends time cheering up Julia, though, an unexpected development occurs : Dudley finds himself strongly attracted to her. Sensing this, Henry becomes jealous and anxious for his unwelcome guest to finish and depart. He reveals Dudley 's true identity to Professor Wutheridge, who urges him to stand up and fight for the woman he loves. Dudley indicates a willingness to stay, but Julia, sensing what he means, tells Dudley it is time for him to leave. Dudley tells the bishop it is rare for an angel to envy a mortal. Henry wants to know why his cathedral plans were derailed. Dudley reminds the bishop he prayed for guidance, not a building. With his mission completed and knowing that Julia loves her husband, Dudley leaves, promising never to return. All memory of him is erased, and later that Christmas Eve at midnight, Henry delivers the sermon that he believes he has written. Dudley observes from the street, satisfied that his work is done. Cast Cary Grant as Dudley Loretta Young as Julia Brougham David Niven as Bishop Henry Brougham Monty Woolley as Professor Wutheridge James Gleason as Sylvester, a sympathetic taxi driver Gladys Cooper as Mrs. Agnes Hamilton Elsa Lanchester as Matilda, the Broughams ' housekeeper Sara Haden as Mildred Cassaway, the Bishop 's secretary Karolyn Grimes as Debby Brougham, the Broughams ' daughter Tito Vuolo as Maggenti Regis Toomey as Reverend Miller ( credited as Mr. Miller ) Sarah Edwards as Mrs. Duffy Margaret McWade as Miss Trumbull Anne O'Neal as Mrs. Ward Ben Erway as Mr. Perry Eugene Borden as Michel Eugene Turner, ice skating double for Cary Grant Bobby Anderson as Defence Captain Niven was originally cast as the angel, Dana Andrews as the bishop, and Teresa Wright as his wife. However, Wright had to bow out due to pregnancy. According to Robert Osborne, Andrews was lent to RKO in order to obtain Loretta Young. Koster then brought in Cary Grant, but he wanted to play the angel, so the role of the bishop was given to Niven. Production In markets where the original title was kept, the posters had a black text box added In some US markets, the film was retitled `` Cary and the Bishop 's Wife '' Production was not without troubles. Producer Samuel Goldwyn replaced director William A. Seiter with Henry Koster to create a completely new film. In early previews, audiences disliked the film, so Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett made uncredited rewrites. Even so, and even though the premiere of The Bishop 's Wife was accompanied by critical success, the film did n't do very well at the box office at first. Market research showed that moviegoers avoided the film because they thought it was religious. So, Goldwyn decided to re-title it Cary and the Bishop 's Wife for some US markets, while adding a black text box with the question `` Have you heard about CARY AND THE BISHOP 'S WIFE ? '' on posters in markets where the film kept the original title. By adding Grant 's first name to the title the film 's business increased by as much as 25 per cent. Location filming was done in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In the scene in which Dudley conducts the boys ' choir, the Charles Gounod composition ' Noël : Montez à Dieu ' ( ' O Sing to God ' ) was performed by the Robert Mitchell Boys Choir. The song `` Lost April '' featured in the film had lyrics written for it by Nat King Cole, who also recorded it. Awards and honors The film won the Academy Award for Best Sound ( Gordon Sawyer ), and was nominated for Best Director, Best Film Editing, Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture and Best Picture. The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists : 2002 : AFI 's 100 Years... 100 Passions -- Nominated 2006 : AFI 's 100 Years... 100 Cheers -- Nominated Adaptations to other media The Bishop 's Wife was dramatized as a half - hour radio play on the March 1, 1948 broadcast of The Screen Guild Theater with Cary Grant, Loretta Young and David Niven in their original film roles. It was also presented on Lux Radio Theater three times as an hour - long broadcast : first on December 19, 1949, with Tyrone Power and David Niven, second on May 11, 1953, with Cary Grant and Phyllis Thaxter and third on March 1, 1955, again with Grant and Thaxter. The soundtrack has been released on compact disc. References ^ Jump up to : `` The Bishop 's Wife : Detail View ''. American Film Institute. Retrieved May 8, 2014. Jump up ^ `` Top Grossers of 1948 '', Variety 5 January 1949 p 46 ^ Jump up to : The Saturday Evening Post, February 19, 1949 ; page 22 : How Grant Took Hollywood Linked December 24, 2013 Jump up ^ Peter E. Dans : Christians in the Movies : A Century of Saints and Sinners, page 93 Linked December 24, 2013 Jump up ^ Filming locations for The Bishop 's Wife at the Internet Movie Database Jump up ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgIvJl2P3JI Jump up ^ `` The 20th Academy Awards ( 1948 ) Nominees and Winners ''. oscars.org. Retrieved August 18, 2011. Jump up ^ `` AFI 's 100 Years... 100 Passions Nominees '' ( PDF ). Retrieved August 18, 2016. Jump up ^ `` AFI 's 100 Years... 100 Cheers Nominees '' ( PDF ). Retrieved August 18, 2016. Jump up ^ Kirby, Walter ( May 10, 1953 ). `` Better Radio Programs for the Week ''. The Decatur Daily Review. p. 50. Retrieved June 27, 2015 -- via Newspapers.com. Jump up ^ `` The Bishop 's Wife ( 1947 ) ''. SoundtrackInfo. Retrieved October 10, 2009. External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Bishop 's Wife ( film ). The Bishop 's Wife at AllMovie The Bishop 's Wife at the TCM Movie Database The Bishop 's Wife on IMDb Streaming audio The Bishop 's Wife on Screen Guild Theater : March 1, 1948 The Bishop 's Wife on Lux Radio Theater : May 11, 1953 Films directed by Henry Koster Thea Roland ( 1932 ) Das häßliche Mädchen ( 1933 ) Peter ( 1934 ) Little Mother ( 1935 ) The Affairs of Maupassant ( 1936 ) Catherine the Last ( 1936 ) Three Smart Girls ( 1936 ) One Hundred Men and a Girl ( 1937 ) The Rage of Paris ( 1938 ) Three Smart Girls Grow Up ( 1939 ) First Love ( 1939 ) Spring Parade ( 1940 ) It Started with Eve ( 1941 ) Between Us Girls ( 1942 ) Music for Millions ( 1944 ) Two Sisters from Boston ( 1946 ) The Unfinished Dance ( 1947 ) The Bishop 's Wife ( 1947 ) The Luck of the Irish ( 1948 ) Come to the Stable ( 1949 ) The Inspector General ( 1949 ) Wabash Avenue ( 1950 ) My Blue Heaven ( 1950 ) Harvey ( 1950 ) No Highway in the Sky ( 1951 ) Mr. Belvedere Rings the Bell ( 1951 ) Elopement ( 1951 ) Stars and Stripes Forever ( 1952 ) My Cousin Rachel ( 1952 ) The Robe ( 1953 ) Désirée ( 1954 ) A Man Called Peter ( 1955 ) The Virgin Queen ( 1955 ) Good Morning, Miss Dove ( 1955 ) D - Day the Sixth of June ( 1956 ) The Power and the Prize ( 1956 ) My Man Godfrey ( 1957 ) Fräulein ( 1958 ) The Naked Maja ( 1958 ) The Story of Ruth ( 1960 ) Flower Drum Song ( 1961 ) Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation ( 1962 ) Take Her, She 's Mine ( 1963 ) Dear Brigitte ( 1965 ) The Singing Nun ( 1966 ) The films of Samuel Goldwyn 1920s Slave of Desire ( 1923 ) Potash and Perlmutter ( 1923 ) The Eternal City ( 1923 ) Cytherea ( 1924 ) In Hollywood with Potash and Perlmutter ( 1924 ) A Thief in Paradise ( 1925 ) His Supreme Moment ( 1925 ) The Dark Angel ( 1925 ) Stella Dallas ( 1925 ) The Winning of Barbara Worth ( 1926 ) Partners Again ( 1926 ) The Night of Love ( 1927 ) The Magic Flame ( 1927 ) The Devil Dancer ( 1927 ) Two Lovers ( 1928 ) The Awakening ( 1928 ) Condemned ( 1929 ) The Rescue ( 1929 ) This Is Heaven ( 1929 ) Bulldog Drummond ( 1929 ) 1930s Raffles ( 1930 ) Whoopee ! ( 1930 ) The Devil to Pay ! ( 1930 ) One Heavenly Night ( 1931 ) Street Scene ( 1931 ) Palmy Days ( 1931 ) The Unholy Garden ( 1931 ) Arrowsmith ( 1931 ) Tonight or Never ( 1931 ) The Greeks Had a Word for Them ( 1932 ) The Kid From Spain ( 1932 ) Cynara ( 1932 ) The Masquerader ( 1933 ) Roman Scandals ( 1933 ) We Live Again ( 1934 ) Nana ( 1934 ) Kid Millions ( 1934 ) The Dark Angel ( 1935 ) The Wedding Night ( 1935 ) Barbary Coast ( 1935 ) Splendor ( 1935 ) These Three ( 1936 ) Dodsworth ( 1936 ) Come and Get It ( 1936 ) Strike Me Pink ( 1936 ) Beloved Enemy ( 1936 ) Woman Chases Man ( 1937 ) Stella Dallas ( 1937 ) Dead End ( 1937 ) The Hurricane ( 1937 ) The Adventures of Marco Polo ( 1938 ) The Cowboy and the Lady ( 1938 ) The Goldwyn Follies ( 1938 ) They Shall Have Music ( 1939 ) Wuthering Heights ( 1939 ) The Real Glory ( 1939 ) 1940s The Westerner ( 1940 ) The Little Foxes ( 1941 ) Ball of Fire ( 1941 ) The Pride of the Yankees ( 1942 ) They Got Me Covered ( 1943 ) The North Star ( 1943 ) Up in Arms ( 1944 ) The Princess and the Pirate ( 1944 ) Wonder Man ( 1945 ) The Kid From Brooklyn ( 1946 ) The Best Years of Our Lives ( 1946 ) The Bishop 's Wife ( 1947 ) The Secret Life of Walter Mitty ( 1947 ) A Song Is Born ( 1948 ) Enchantment ( 1948 ) Roseanna McCoy ( 1949 ) My Foolish Heart ( 1949 ) 1950s Our Very Own ( 1950 ) Edge of Doom ( 1950 ) I Want You ( 1951 ) Hans Christian Andersen ( 1952 ) Guys and Dolls ( 1955 ) Porgy and Bess ( 1959 ) Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Bishop%27s_Wife&oldid=820944359 '' Categories : 1947 films English - language films 1940s fantasy films 1940s romantic comedy films American films American Christmas films American fantasy - comedy films American romantic fantasy films American black - and - white films Films shot in Minnesota Films about angels Films based on works by Robert Nathan Films directed by Henry Koster Films that won the Best Sound Mixing Academy Award RKO Pictures films Samuel Goldwyn Productions films Screenplays by Billy Wilder Screenplays by Charles Brackett Hidden categories : Use mdy dates from August 2017 Pages using div col without cols and colwidth parameters Talk Contents About Wikipedia Català Deutsch Ελληνικά فارسی Français Italiano Nederlands Polski Português Română Русский Suomi Svenska Українська Edit links This page was last edited on 17 January 2018, at 14 : 42. 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Question: who played the bishop in the bishop's wife
Answer: David Niven