The Trouble with Angels

They don't make 'em like this anymore, alas. There was a time when you could see great "B" movies, like this one, in theaters. They were entertaining pieces, produced for less money, but with just as much fun as their "A" siblings. You don't find many "B" movies anymore (at least good ones) and it's a shame. Even cable and tv movies don't live up to some of these classics.

Hayley Mills and Rosalind Russell are the two opposing forces in this battle of wills, and they're pretty evenly matched. Russell sees some of herself in young Mills, as she comments to Marge Redmond. Mills comes to realize that Russell represents something she has been looking for, but has been unable to define, a sense of community and purpose. Both are orphans who were raised by relatives, with dreams of fashion and glamour, but longing for something greater.

The film treats the Catholic Church and work of the nuns with far greater respect than most films, particularly more modern examples, like Sister Act. We see the depth of their faith and their commitment to serving their fellow human beings. I was raised Protestant and have little experience with the Catholic Church, but have always found a deeper respect for the less glamorous work that the nuns often carry out, compared to their male brethren.

The film is full of great character moments and some laugh-out-loud gags. It has a warmth and charm that grows with age. It's a shame that Haley Mills didn't perform in more films like this, as an adult; she had a real flair for comedy and could shift to drama just as easily. It's understandable for an actress to want to move into more serious parts, but I really think she passed up some great opportunities.

This was a film that deserved a sequel. Too bad that the one it got didn't live up to it's predecessor. It would be interesting to see Haley Mills return as Mary, carrying on the tradition of Rosalind Russell's Reverend Mother, with some "scathingly brilliant" ideas. Unfortunately, I doubt Hollywood would be up to the task.

I absolutely love this movie. It is absolutely charming. Haley Mills does a great job as Mary Clancy, an orphaned teenage girl who is sent to a convent school by an uncle who thinks the nuns will "straighten her out" and who, in reality mostly doesn't want to be bothered by Mary or his own daughter. June Harding is a bit annoying as Rachel Devery, but I suspect that the character is supposed to be annoying (she's clumsy, a bit whiny and has a weird habit of licking her fingers and slicking down her bangs.) Her story is that her father was sick of the progressive school she was attending (aptly named "New Trends Academy"). The girls become friends immediately and a begin a four year "reign of terror" at the convent. And Rosalind Russell is great as Mother Superior, who in spite of her aggravation with Mary, comes to know that Mary NEEDS the convent school, whether Mary herself knows it or not.

What I like best about this movie is that the pranks the girls play and the scrapes that they get themselves into are funny without being malicious, violent or dangerous. My six year old has recently fallen in love with the original "The Parent Trap" and "Pollyana" and I plan to show her this soon. I was born the year this came out, so I don't know for sure, but I would guess that it was not marketed as a "kid" movie, and yet it is totally appropriate movie for young girls. The same certainly can't be said for most movies today that are marketed as "kid flicks". While I don't shield my daughter from all these movies today, it is nice to know that I can pop this movie in and she and I can snuggle up together and enjoy a movie with no violent or mean humor (Home Alone, Dennis the Menace), no vulgarity and really nothing offensive at all. I also find it refreshing that the characters grow and mature into better and wiser people by the end, which is rare in movies.

I'd just like to add that I have heard complaints that Haley Mills was too old to play the role of Mary. While it is true that Mary was probably supposed to be about 13 at the opening of the film, and around 17 or 18 at the end, and Haley was 20 when it was made, this never bothered me. When I first saw it, I didn't know her age, and she didn't look 20 to me!

"The Trouble With Angels" starts out as a fairly standard Hayley Mills teen comedy. She and June Harding play the roles of two reluctant students at St. Francis, a Catholic school run by nuns. Rosalind Russell is excellent in the role of Mother Superior as is the rest of the cast.

The story is fairly simple so there isn't much to say about it. The girls are rebellious and play many pranks on the sisters, but gradually, as the movie progresses and the girls reach their final year at St. Francis it transitions gently and believably into a very touching and poignantly bittersweet ending. It never fails to get to me emotionally.

I'm a sucker for a good tear-jerker and in terms of sheer lachrymosity this one rates right up there with "My Dog Skip", "The Return of the King", "The Bishop's Wife", "It's a Wonderful Life", "Born Free" and "The Family Way" and the final episode of "The Flame Trees of Thika" (the last two also starring Hayley Mills). Something about kids and animals and saying goodbye - it always starts the waterworks going for me.

The secret, as always, is to create characters that you really get to know and care about. It also helps to have good music and Jerry Goldsmith wrote a very memorable score for this film.

I highly recommended this movie for kids who haven't yet been jaded by the rubbish that Hollywood produces these days.

"The Trouble With Angels" is truly a gem. Ostensibly a comedy about the efforts of two slightly disgruntled, high spirited teenage girls (Hayley Mills and June Harding) to turn a convent school upside down, it combines lighthearted pranks with dry humor, most of the latter supplied by the splendid Rosalind Russell. As the worldly and wise Mother Superior, Rosalind is both amused and unsettled at the stunts her two incorrigible charges pull. The supporting cast is well chosen, with Mary Wickes ("Sister Act") and Marge Redmond ("The Flying Nun") standing out among the faculty nuns. Despite the unexpected appearance of legendary stripper Gypsy Rose Lee, cast as (what else?) a teacher of interpretive dance, both nuns and students are believable. Mills sparkles in her role as devilish Mary Clancy, as does June Harding as Rachel Devery, her neophyte partner in crime. Aided tremendously by a truly beautiful score by the great Jerry Goldsmith, (which has the remarkable ability to blend in with the film AND stand alone as a pleasurable listening experience) and directed with a sure hand by actress/director Ida Lupino, "The Trouble With Angels" is both funny and moving, one of the best family films ever made. Strangely enough, reviews were decidedly mixed (when not downright negative) back when the movie was released in 1966. But it was a sizable hit, and spawned an agreeable sequel ("Where Angels Go, Trouble Follows") two years later. Today, it remains as fresh as ever, and head and shoulders above most of the contemporary family films which followed it.

A tour de force for Hayley Mills, the most gifted juvenile actress of her generation. She makes the contrived material about adolescent escapades in a Catholic girls' boarding school look believable. It's a rarity for a Hollywood comedy to show a teenage girl who is intelligent and sensitive, and director Ida Lupino should be applauded for it.

Mills is ably assisted in her antics by her comrade-in-arms played by June Harding, who shows how to put the awkwardness in adolescence. They also have a truly touching scene together near the end.

The movie is also notable for the best latter-career work of high-strung movie star Rosalind Russell, who gives a restrained performance for a change as the Mother Superior. She uses quite a few arched eyebrows, however.

Watch for a rare cameo by the great Burlesque queen Gypsy Rose Lee, who plays a dotty instructor of dance and ladylike comportment.