Rosalind Russell is the Mother Superior of a Catholic school invaded by troubled young women Hayley Mills (she's Mary) and her cohort June Harding (she's Rachel). Ms. Mills and Ms. Harding don't want to be in the stuffy convent school; predictably, they become the resident Juvenile Delinquents. Can Mother Superior turn their lives around?
The story is very weak. For 1966, you wonder what all the fuss was about. The girls smoke in the bathroom and boiler room (which is mistaken for a fire). When the girls mention idols Jack Lemmon and Kim Novak, you know the screenplay was not even made contemporary to 1966 (originally, the story took place several decades earlier). And, can you believe a Mother superior plucking and painting her eyebrows quite like Ms. Russell?
But, the movie works. The strength of the players carries you along. Mills and Harding could be smoking pot - it doesn't matter; the message is relayed. Russell's reaction to the girls' band uniforms works for the same reason; the uniforms are not shocking, but you know how Russell feels (note director Ida Lupino's close-up during this scene) . The strength of the performances make "The Trouble with Angels" more successful than it looks on paper.
The theme/ending is very predictable; but, Mother Superior also changes - by the "cocktail dress" scene, her character has become more like her unmanageable twosome.
****** The Trouble with Angels (3/30/66) Ida Lupino ~ Rosalind Russell, Hayley Mills, June Harding
The story is very weak. For 1966, you wonder what all the fuss was about. The girls smoke in the bathroom and boiler room (which is mistaken for a fire). When the girls mention idols Jack Lemmon and Kim Novak, you know the screenplay was not even made contemporary to 1966 (originally, the story took place several decades earlier). And, can you believe a Mother superior plucking and painting her eyebrows quite like Ms. Russell?
But, the movie works. The strength of the players carries you along. Mills and Harding could be smoking pot - it doesn't matter; the message is relayed. Russell's reaction to the girls' band uniforms works for the same reason; the uniforms are not shocking, but you know how Russell feels (note director Ida Lupino's close-up during this scene) . The strength of the performances make "The Trouble with Angels" more successful than it looks on paper.
The theme/ending is very predictable; but, Mother Superior also changes - by the "cocktail dress" scene, her character has become more like her unmanageable twosome.
****** The Trouble with Angels (3/30/66) Ida Lupino ~ Rosalind Russell, Hayley Mills, June Harding