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Wednesday, July 25, 2007

The Trouble with Angels



I found this video of a movie from my Catholic childhood that will always be a favorite about two girls who are sent to a convent school - Hayley Mills and June Harding. It's an endearing film about how their antics try the patience of the Mother Superior - and about spiritual transformation. There are quite a few humorous scenes. In this scene, the girls have to face the music when they're about to take a swimming test after skipping gym for their entire high school career.

There was a sequel to this film called Where Angels Go, Trouble Follows - but I never liked it quite as much. However ,many of the main characters in the first film did appear in the second one so it's worth watching if you like the first. (Hayley Mills did not appear in the second film.)

Enjoy!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I loved that movie, too!
Janet

Elizabeth McClung said...

Poor nuns, they always get painted pretty bleak in kids films (usually joyless beings) and in the Blues Brothers. It seems that in your clip the nun is breaking the laws of nature by not only swimming in full habit (I was sure that was on the "what not to do when going swimming" list) but saving TWO people as well?

Ruth said...

Janet - ahhh kindred spirits :)

Elizabeth: Oh I know, it's so unfair how nuns get portrayed in movies. I received such an excellent education from nuns growing up - and learned much about life and spirituality from them as well. One of the reasons I like this film is that it shows how the students are taught on so many levels by the sisters.

Anonymous said...

I realize you wrote this a while back, but I just saw the movie for the first time last night and it was amazing! I am a student at a Catholic university with the awesome opportunity to live next door to, work with, and have classes with religious sisters (they are even Franciscan, like in the movie) and it is so nice to see a movie that really gets to the heart of who nuns are as people. They had lives before they were nuns, usually very interesting ones, and they continue to have very interesting lives after they enter religious life. Also, I really enjoyed Mother Superior's quote about Mary and her will of iron. Isn't it amazing to see her patience and what that yields in the end?

Ruth said...

Yes it is! I think one of the most important lessons nuns teach is about how they live. I, too, have met some amazing women who have become nuns. Thanks for your comment!