''The White Sister'' is a 1933 American

pre-Code Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the American film industry between the widespread adoption of sound in film in 1929LaSalle (2002), p. 1. and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorship guidelines, popularly known ...

romantic drama film directed by Victor Fleming and starring Helen Hayes and

Clark Gable William Clark Gable (February 1, 1901November 16, 1960) was an American film actor, often referred to as "The King of Hollywood". He had roles in more than 60 motion pictures in multiple genres during a career that lasted 37 years, three decades ...

. It was based on the 1909 novel of the same name by

Francis Marion Crawford Francis Marion Crawford (August 2, 1854 – April 9, 1909) was an American writer noted for his many novels, especially those set in Italy, and for his classic weird and fantastical stories. Early life Crawford was born in Bagni di Lucca, in th ...

and was a remake of the

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized Sound recording and reproduction, recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) ...

The White Sister ''The White Sister'' is a play in four acts by Francis Marion Crawford and Walter C. Hackett. The play was originally written by Crawford in 1907 and he later adapted the play into a serialized novel which was first published over a six month p ...

'' (1923).

Plot

The banns are called for the third time for the marriage of Italian Princess Angela Chiaromonte (Helen Hayes) and the husband chosen by her father (

Lewis Stone Lewis Shepard Stone (November 15, 1879 – September 12, 1953) was an American film actor. He spent 29 years as a contract player at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and was best known for his portrayal of Judge James Hardy in the studio's popular ''Andy H ...

), Ernesto Traversi. Driving home through streets filled with revelers celebrating a saint's feast day, their limousine is rear-ended by a car full of officers, driven by Giovanni Severi (Clark Gable), a handsome army lieutenant. Traversi, the son of a banker, is 31, rather stuffy, preoccupied with business. Angela is a warm-hearted, impulsive, romantic, innocent young woman, who dreams every night of a handsome man she has never met. Angela persuades her duenna, Mina, to go outside to the Carnival, where they admire the antics of a pantomime horse. The horse approaches Angela, and she asks its name. “Giovanni” it replies, in the voice of the handsome lieutenant, and the horse—or rather the front half—follows Angela through the crowd while Mina is swept away by the revelers. Giovanni seats Angela in a quiet restaurant where they have tea and talk for hours. He tells her he loves her and sees her home, filling her arms with flowers. Giovanni and his Colonel come to a ball given by Prince Chiaromonte. In the garden, Giovanni and Angela kiss for the first time; her father interrupts them. Giovanni declares that he wants to marry her and is forced to leave. Angela tells her father that the kiss revealed to her how much she loves Giovanni; now she knows, she cannot marry a man she does not love. Angela runs away to Giovanni. Her father pursues her and, in a freak accident, their cars collide and her father is killed. Angela disappears, but Father Saracinesca gives Giovanni her address. He comes to her but, wracked by grief and guilt, she sends him away.

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

joins the

War War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

, and Giovanni comes to say goodbye. She gives him the cross she wears around her neck, for luck. He gives her an ivory whistle. Giovanni is shot down and officially declared dead. In fact, he has been taken in by a German woman who is half Italian. Angela tells Father Saracinesca that she will never marry anyone, and that she believes God wants her to serve him as a nun. At the convent, Angela receives her postulant's habit and learns that she will be trained as a nurse. Her first lesson is never to use the word “mine.” Meanwhile, Giovanni leaves his refuge. When he is finally captured, he gives a false name. In the prison camp, there is no way to get word out. Two years later, Giovanni emerges from a long session in solitary confinement to find an epidemic of cholera in the camp. He takes the place of a corpse, steals a plane and flies off into the night. Angela takes her final vows as a bride of Christ. Home again and finding no trace of Angela, Giovanni goes looking for Father Saracinesca at the hospital. The nun who comes out to help him is Angela. She swoons and he catches her in his arms; they almost kiss, but she flees into the convent in horror. She prays for strength and eventually comes out to him. Their conversation is agonizing: She can't speak and says goodbye. Later Angela is sent out to a villa to help a patient, who turns out to be Giovanni. He implores her to give up the order, but she refuses. He tells her she can petition the Cardinal but she holds by her vows. He embraces her, but an air-raid breaks a window and shrouds the room in darkness. He finds Angela kneeling in prayer, repeating her vow. He takes her back to the convent. She says she will remember him and pray for him always. Later, at the hospital, Father Saracinesca brings her to Giovanni's bedside. His plane crashed. He tells her “I'll be waiting,” and dies, holding the little cross she gave him when he went off to war.

Cast

* Helen Hayes as Angela Chiaromonte *

as Giovanni Severi *

as Prince Guido Chiaromonte * Louise Closser Hale as Mina Bernardo *

May Robson Mary Jeanette Robison (19 April 1858 – 20 October 1942), known professionally as May Robson, was an Australian-born American-based actress whose career spanned 58 years, starting in 1883 when she was 25. A major stage actress of the late 19t ...

as Mother Superior * Edward Arnold as Father Saracinesca * Alan Edwards as Ernesto Traversi

Production

Principal photography on ''The White Sister'' began in December 1932 with two units assigned to the production. Director Fleming completed all of the interiors and backlot sequences at the

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 ...

studios at Culver City, California. Second unit director Cullen Tate was in charge of all the aerial sequences filmed in

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the ...

. Aerial coordinator

Paul Mantz Albert Paul Mantz (August 2, 1903 – July 8, 1965) was a noted air racing pilot, movie stunt pilot and consultant from the late 1930s until his death in the mid-1960s. He gained fame on two stages: Hollywood and in air races. Early years Ma ...

gathered all the aircraft required:

Stearman C3 Stearman is a surname. Notable people with the name include: * Lloyd Stearman (1898–1975), American aviation pioneer * Richard Stearman (born 1987), English footballer * William Stearman (1813–1846) English cricketer * William L. Stearman (b ...

Curtiss Fledgling The Curtiss Fledgling, known internally to Curtiss as the Model 48 and Model 51 was a trainer aircraft developed for the United States Navy in the late 1920s and known in that service as the N2C. Design and development The Fledgling was designe ...

and Travel Air J-5 biplanes, leased from the Los Angeles area. All the aircraft were repainted to stand in as Italian and German fighters.Orriss 2013, p. 75.

Reception

''The White Sister'' generally received favorable reviews, with ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' saying, "Helen Hayes is the sorrowing Angela, as solid and satisfying a bit of acting as comes to the screen in a blue moon. Clark Gable is a gallant soldier hero and leaves nothing to be desired.""Review: 'The White Sister."
''Variety'', December 31, 1932. Reviewer

Mordaunt Hall Mordaunt Hall (1 November 1878 – 2 July 1973) was the first regularly assigned motion picture critic for ''The New York Times'', working from October 1924 to September 1934.The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' reflected, "It is a beautiful production, but its scenes never seem as real as those of the old mute work."

Box office

According to MGM records, the film earned $750,000 in the United States and Canada and $922,000 elsewhere, resulting in a profit of $456,000.

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* Orriss, Bruce W. ''When Hollywood Ruled the Skies: The Aviation Film Classics of World War I.'' Los Angeles: Aero Associates, 2013. .

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:White Sister, The 1933 films 1933 romantic drama films American romantic drama films 1930s English-language films Films directed by Victor Fleming Films about Catholicism American films based on plays Films based on adaptations Films based on American novels Films based on works by Francis Marion Crawford Films scored by Herbert Stothart American aviation films American black-and-white films World War I films set on the Italian Front Remakes of American films Sound film remakes of silent films Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films 1930s American films