''Where Angels Go, Trouble Follows'' is a 1968 American

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending ( black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by James Neilson and starring

Rosalind Russell Catherine Rosalind Russell (June 4, 1907November 28, 1976) was an American actress, comedienne, screenwriter, and singer,Obituary '' Variety'', December 1, 1976, p. 79. known for her role as fast-talking newspaper reporter Hildy Johnson in the H ...

Stella Stevens Stella Stevens (born Estelle Eggleston; October 1, 1938) is a American former actress. She began her acting career in 1959 and starred in such popular films as '' Girls! Girls! Girls!'' (1962), '' The Nutty Professor'' (1963), ''The Courtship of ...

and

Binnie Barnes Gertrude Maud Barnes (25 March 1903 – 27 July 1998), known professionally as Binnie Barnes, was an English actress whose career in films spanned from 1923 to 1973. Early life Barnes was born in Islington, London, the daughter of Rosa Enoy ...

. Written by Blanche Hanalis, the film is based on a story by Jane Trahey about an old-line mother superior who is challenged by a modern young nun when they take the girls of St. Francis Academy on a bus trip across the United States. The film is a sequel to '' The Trouble with Angels'' (1966). Russell, Barnes,

Mary Wickes Mary Wickes (born Mary Isabella Wickenhauser; June 13, 1910 – October 22, 1995) was an American actress. She often played supporting roles as prim, professional women, secretaries, nurses, nuns, therapists, teachers and housekeepers, who made ...

and Dolores Sutton all reprise their roles as nuns from the original film.

Plot

The conservative Mother Superior and the glamorous, progressive young Sister George shepherd a busload of Catholic high-school girls across the country to an interfaith youth rally in

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara ( es, Santa Bárbara, meaning " Saint Barbara") is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West ...

. As they debate expressions of faith and the role of the church during the tumultuous times, they must also contend with the antics of two rebellious, troublemaking students, Rosabelle and Marvel Anne. During their journey, their school bus blunders onto the set of an outdoor Western movie, anachronistically ruining an important scene and reducing the director (Milton Berle) to apoplexy. Luckily, benevolent millionaire Mr. Farraday (Robert Taylor) happens along and smooths things over by paying for the damages.

Cast

as Mother Superior *

as Sister George *

as Sister Celestine *

as Sister Clarissa * Dolores Sutton as Sister Rose-Marie *

Milton Berle Milton Berle (born Mendel Berlinger; ; July 12, 1908 – March 27, 2002) was an American actor and comedian. His career as an entertainer spanned over 80 years, first in silent films and on stage as a child actor, then in radio, movies and tel ...

as Film Director *

Arthur Godfrey Arthur Morton Godfrey (August 31, 1903 – March 16, 1983) was an American radio and television broadcaster and entertainer who was sometimes introduced by his nickname The Old Redhead. At the peak of his success, in the early-to-mid 1950s, Godf ...

as The Bishop *

Van Johnson Charles Van Dell Johnson (August 25, 1916 – December 12, 2008) was an American film, television, theatre and radio actor. He was a major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer during and after World War II. Johnson was described as the embodiment ...

as Father Chase * Robert Taylor as Mr. Farraday *

Susan Saint James Susan Saint James (born Susan Jane Miller; August 14, 1946) is an American actress and activist, most widely known for her work in television during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, especially the detective series ''McMillan & Wife'' (1971–1976) and ...

as Rosabelle * Barbara Hunter as Marvel Anne * Alice Rawlings as Patty *

Hilary Thompson Hilary Thompson ( "Hilarie" Thompson) is an American actress, known primarily for her character roles in popular television throughout the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. Early years Born in Birmingham, Michigan, Thompson is the daughter of Elizabet ...

as Hilarie * Devon Douglas as Devon * Ellen Moss as Tanya * Cherie Lamour as Cherie *

June Fairchild June Edna Fairchild (born June Edna Wilson; September 3, 1946 – February 17, 2015) was an American dancer and actress. Fairchild starred or co-starred in more than a dozen film roles before her addictions to drugs and alcohol effectively ended h ...

as June

Production

Development

The film was announced in May 1967.

Casting

Along with Russell, the three featured nuns from '' The Trouble with Angels'' (

as Sister Clarissa,

as Sister Celestine and Dolores Sutton as Sister Rose-Marie) returned for the sequel. Barbara Hunter also reprised her role as Marvel Anne, the cousin of Mary Clancy,

Hayley Mills Hayley Catherine Rose Vivien Mills (born 18 April 1946) is an English actress. The daughter of Sir John Mills and Mary Hayley Bell, and younger sister of actress Juliet Mills, she began her acting career as a child and was hailed as a promising ...

' character. The role of Sister George was originally written for Sister Mary Clancy, but after Mills declined to appear in the film, the part was rewritten. Susan Oliver and

Connie Stevens Connie Stevens (born Concetta Rosalie Ann Ingolia; August 8, 1938) is an American actress and singer. Born in Brooklyn, New York City to musician parents, Stevens was raised there until age 12, when she was sent to live with family friends in r ...

were also considered for the role of Sister George.

Filming locations

Filming began on July 17, 1967 in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

, where many in the film's first half were filmed, including Market Street near 13th Street and City Hall, and a protest scene at the

Philadelphia Museum of Art The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMoA) is an art museum originally chartered in 1876 for the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The main museum building was completed in 1928 on Fairmount, a hill located at the northwest end of the Benjamin ...

. Other scenes were filmed in the

Lehigh Valley The Lehigh Valley (), known colloquially as The Valley, is a geographic region formed by the Lehigh River in Lehigh County and Northampton County in eastern Pennsylvania. It is a component valley of the Great Appalachian Valley bound to the no ...

Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom is an American amusement and water park located between Allentown and Emmaus, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. The park features 64 rides, including six roller coasters, other ad ...

and at St. Mary's Villa, a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

home for troubled youths on

Bethlehem Pike Bethlehem Pike is a historic long road in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania that connects Philadelphia and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. It began as a Native American path called the Minsi Trail which developed into a colonial highway called the King ...

Ambler, Pennsylvania Ambler is a borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. It is located approximately 16 miles (26 km) north of the Center City Philadelphia. History Lenape The historical territory of the Lenni Lenape was in the Delaware River Valley, in a ...

. The boarding school at which the group stops was actually

Germantown Academy Germantown Academy, informally known as GA and originally known as the Union School, is the oldest nonsectarian day school in the United States. The school was founded on December 6, 1759, by a group of prominent Germantown citizens in the Gree ...

, about south of St. Mary's Villa, although the church shown just prior to the boarding school is actually Ft. Washington Baptist Church, which is only about northeast of St. Mary's Villa. A scene prominently displays

Dorney Park Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom is an American amusement and water park located between Allentown and Emmaus, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. The park features 64 rides, including six roller coasters, other adult ...

, an

amusement park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central ...

Allentown, Pennsylvania Allentown ( Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Allenschteddel'', ''Allenschtadt'', or ''Ellsdaun'') is a city in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. The city has a population of 125,845 as of the 2020 census. It is the fastest-growing major city in Pennsylvania ...

. The early bus scenes were filmed in nearby

Fort Washington, Pennsylvania Fort Washington is a census-designated place and suburb of Philadelphia in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 5,446 at the 2010 census. History Prior to the Revolutionary War the Fort Washington area was settl ...

and along the

Pennsylvania Turnpike The Pennsylvania Turnpike (Penna Turnpike or PA Turnpike) is a toll highway operated by the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC) in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. A controlled-access highway, it runs for across the state. The turnpike's we ...

Soundtrack

The theme song was written and performed by singer-songwriter duo

Boyce and Hart Sidney Thomas "Tommy" Boyce (September 29, 1939 – November 23, 1994) and Bobby Hart (born Robert Luke Harshman; February 18, 1939) were a prolific American duo of singer-songwriters. In addition to three top-40 hits as artists, the duo is ...

. Composer

Lalo Schifrin Boris Claudio "Lalo" Schifrin (born June 21, 1932) is an Argentine-American pianist, composer, arranger and conductor. He is best known for his large body of film and TV scores since the 1950s, incorporating jazz and Latin American musical eleme ...

, best known for his work on the television series '' Mission: Impossible'', collaborated with Boyce and Hart on the title song and supplied the incidental score. * "Where Angels Go, Trouble Follows" (Schifrin, Boyce, and Hart) performed by Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart – 1:59 * "Goodbye Baby (I Don't Want to See You Cry)" (Schifrin, Boyce, and Hart) performed by Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart – 2:57

Reception

In a contemporary review for ''

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 ...

'', critic

Vincent Canby Vincent Canby (July 27, 1924 – October 15, 2000) was an American film and theatre critic who served as the chief film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1969 until the early 1990s, then its chief theatre critic from 1994 until his death in ...

called the film a "cute-as-a-button comedy" and wrote: "Considering the apparent success of the original film, to say nothing of the immense popularity of other fantasies about nuns who fly and sing, there is probably a large audience waiting to be gulled into somnambulistic complacency by these new slapsticky and sentimental antics. ... e film must rely on the inventiveness of its comic situations and on the appeal of its players. The comedy, however, is strictly up-dated 'Junior Miss,' and the performances right out of Hollywood stock ..."

References

External links

* * * * {{James Neilson 1968 films 1968 comedy films American comedy films American road movies American sequel films Columbia Pictures films Films scored by Lalo Schifrin Films about Catholic nuns Films about religion Films about Catholicism Films directed by James Neilson Films shot in Allentown, Pennsylvania Films shot in New Mexico Films shot in Philadelphia Nuns in fiction 1960s English-language films 1960s American films