The Nun's Story (1959)

The Nun's Story - 1959

Our next film is 1959's "The Nun's Story" in which we follow the story of a nun from her entrance to the religious order, through her various experiences, to her eventual exit.

The film's cast includes Audrey Hepburn, Peter Finch, Edith Evans, Peggy Ashcroft, Dean Jagger, Mildred Dunnock, Beatrice Straight, Rosalie Crutchley, Ruth White, Barbara O'Neil, Margaret Phillips, and Colleen Dewhurst.

A new life awaits Gabrielle Van Der Mal as she goes to become a nun.  Her father, renowned surgeon Dr. Hubert Van Der Mal, makes sure this is her wish before turning his daughter over to the nuns.

After she bids her father goodbye, the door between Gabrielle's old life and the new is closed and locked.  She is now a postulant.

Right away Gabrielle observers her surroundings, watching all the goes on as the nuns have their chapel services.  It's not what she's expected to do, and a superior sister gives her a chastising look.

Gabrielle is in for a steep learning curve as she struggles to obey the rules that govern a nun's life.  Obedience will be one of Gabrielle's chiefest shortcomings.

She fills her days with work as a nurse, something she enjoys very much.

Following completion of her postulancy, Gabrielle begins the ceremony to become a novitiate.

Her hair is cut, and she's given the habit of a novitiate.  She's also given the religious name Sister Luke.

After taking her vows, she begins work at the school of tropical medicine.  Her status as a doctor's daughter gives her some knowledge of medicine.  It also earns her the envy of a particular nun in the class.

Sister Luke is asked to fail the class as an act of humility.  After thinking it over, she decides to go ahead and take the final examination to the best of her ability.  She places fourth in the class.  Her goal is to go to the Congo to work among the nursing sisters there.

Instead of the Congo, Sister Luke is sent to a mental hospital.  She meets a particularly violent and dangerous patient who calls herself the Archangel Gabriel.  Sister Luke is instructed that there must always be two if her door is to be opened.

When she is on duty alone one day, the Archangel tricks her into opening the door and violently attacks her.  Sister Luke must face the humiliation of being disobedient once again.

Over the course of time, Sister Luke takes her solemn vows and becomes a fully fledged nun.

Her wish to go to the Congo is granted.  She excitedly sets off for the Belgian mission there.

She meets surgeon Dr. Fortunati, whom she is to assist.  The two form a tense working relationship.  She is forbidden to linger and discuss cases with him.  He is a relentless workaholic who expects the same of his assistants.

There's a bit of an attraction on both sides.  "Do you realize that every time you talk to me like this, I should go down on my knees before my sisters and proclaim my fault?" Sister Luke asks.  Dr. Fortunati has doubts about her career as a nun, thinking her personality doesn't suit it.  "You seem so sure of your religious strength, but I'm not," he tells her.

The long hours of work and the stressful spiritual struggle that Sister Luke endures result in her contracting tuberculosis.  Dr. Fortunati refuses to send her back to Belgium, claiming she's the best assistant he's ever had.

He devises a course of treatment that will allow her to stay in the Congo.  He tells the other nuns to spoil her, because she deserves it.  The Revered Mother even allows her a pet monkey.

Eventually, she recovers.  However, she is ultimately forced back to Belgium when Dr. Fortunati asks her to escort a mentally ill patient, as she is the only one qualified to do so.  Her world comes crashing down around her, as the Congo is the only place she wants to be.

Back in Belgium, Sister Luke contemplates her life as a nun.  She thinks about all Dr. Fortunati has told her, and what the other nuns have observed in her.

Eventually, Europe is in the grip of World War II and Sister Luke's father is killed by the Germans.  Because of the war, she will not be able to return to the Congo as she had planned.  Unable to come to terms with the way she's forced to compromise her principles, Sister Luke makes a difficult decision.

She goes to the Revered Mother and tells her of her decision to leave the life of a nun.  After a lot of counsel, she is allowed to return to the life she left behind.

She leaves the convent as Gabrielle Van Der Mal.  She is now able to fight for her principles in a much freer way than she could as a nun.

Cast rundown:

   Audrey Hepburn..............................Sister Luke/Gabrielle

   Peter Finch.....................................Dr. Fortunati

   Edith Evans.....................................Revered Mother Emmanuel

   Peggy Ashcroft................................Mother Mathilde

   Dean Jagger....................................Dr. Hubert Van Der Mal

   Mildred Dunnock..............................Sister Margharita

   Beatrice Straight..............................Mother Christophe

   Rosalie Crutchley..............................Sister Eleanor

   Ruth White......................................Mother Marcella

   Barbara O'Neil..................................Mother Didyma

   Margaret Phillips..............................Sister Pauline

   Colleen Dewhurst.............................Archangel Gabriel

And that's all for The Nun's Story.  The role of Sister Luke was originally intended for Ingrid Bergman.  Bergman felt herself too old for the part and suggested Audrey Hepburn.  Hepburn considered this among her favorites of the films she took part in.

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