I certainly did. By the end of the movie I was convinced she was a genuine Mother-superior. She delivered a stellar performance. I liked her in all movies, but this one was in a category all its own.
I would have nominated her for the following three scenes alone:
1. When Rachel (for the umpteenth time) is about to pull her disgusting--but funny--trick of smoothing her bangs down with her own saliva, Mother Superior freezes her with a deadly command of "Don't...you...DARE."
2. When Mother Superior is alone in the chapel after Sister Liguori's death, and breaks down in tears over the sister's coffin.
3. When MS is finishing up her repair of Rachel's botched sewing project, she reminisces with Mary about her (Mother Superior's) young days as a fashion designer. When Mary asks her why she didn't forge ahead in that career, MS--with a mystical light in her eyes--says softly, "I found something better."
This movie of course afforded Ms. Russell numerous other occasions to display her acting chops, but those three rank among my favorites.
=============================================== Ah, but I was so much older then; I’m younger than that now.
Definitely the third one. That monologue is still the most moving piece of acting I've ever seen. I have the movie on VHS and I never get tired of watching the whole film, but that scene especially. :-)
"Home is where they don't want you to leave." (Stephen King, Revival)
Ms. Russell never gave a poor performance, a great Actress and from what I can discern a fine woman. While her peers Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, Olivia De Havilland, Ann Sothern, Tallu Bankhead were doing 'horror movies' Ms. Russell kept her stature as a star of the first rank in a big budget film. This movie was a big hit.
Oscar worthy? No. But it was nothing to be ashamed of. She did a great job when all she had to act with was basically her face and her voice. Everything else was hidden inside her habit.