In view of all the pranks she and Rachel pulled and all the trouble they caused, I'd really like to know what Mary said to Mother Superior to convince her that she was sincere about wanting to become a nun, and what reasons she gave.
"Don't let a suitcase full of cheese be your big fork and spoon." ~~~Marie Barone.
I've always wondered that too. We kind of knew she was either showing some interest or mellowing some, like when she was watching things behind the scenes, but I can't think of anything Mother Superior might have seen to make her think she really was serious.
shareWhatever was said it must have been very convincing and most sincere since the real Mary (whose name was Mary Courtney) celebrated her 60th year as a nun this year. A short bio and photo can be found on the website of her order...http://www.sinsinawa.org/09_News/Jubilarians_60.htm...In the opening credits of the movie you'll notice that the screenplay was based on a novel, "Life With Mother Superior," by Jane Trahey. The novel was a compilation of events from Jane Trahey's school days. In the movie the character of Rachel equates to Jane Trahey and Mary Clancey equates to Mary Courtney. If you have not done so I recommend that you find a copy of "Life With Mother Superior" and give it a read (only about 192 pages and an easy read). It was published in the early 1960s and does not seem readily available in libraries and beware not to get the play "The Trouble With Angels" which also was based on the novel. You will notice that the episodic format of the movie is taken directly from the way the novel is presented and the movie actually stayed fairly true to the book (changing of names before arrival at school, cloister tours, death of Sister Ligouri, etc...); very little artistic license was taken. My question, however, is I wonder, given how successful Jane Trahey became in the advertising industry in New York, whether she and Mary remained friends until Jane's death in 2000?
shareThanks for the website. I found her - Sister John Eudes. I too read Life With Mother Superior and loved it. I read it in no time at all. It's a must for any true TTWA fan. It's found on eBay from time to time. That's where I got my copy.
sharethe movie actually stayed fairly true to the book (changing of names before arrival at school, cloister tours, death of Sister Ligouri, etc...); very little artistic license was taken.One very important scene in the movie, though, involved the visit to the nursing home with the elderly women, which seemed to be some kind of turning point for Mary. I don't recall this scene in the book, or am I just forgetting it?
In the book you may recall a chapter entitled "Sister Mary William" where Jane Trahey joined Sister Mary William's Social Action Committee because it would give her the chance to take excursions away from school. In that chapter she rcounts a trip to the county jail and one to Arlington Park Cemtary on Memorial Day where the girls recited "In Flander's Fields." The focus of the chapter was a trip to the unfinished Science Exposition at the Chigago World's Fair on a freezing winter day. In that chapter she also spends about a page and a half telling the story of their trip to, what she called, the Poor House where they had to serve dinner and sing to the "old folks." By the time they were to sing none of the girls "could keep from crying." There is no mention as to whether this was around Christmas as it was in the movie. In the movie, at the end of the scene, Mary says to Mother Superior something like:"I hope I die young and very wealthy." In the book, Jane Trahey wrote: "What Sister Mary William thought we should get from going to the Poor House I'll never know, but if she only accomplished one thing, it was the desire in all of us to be lucky enough to die young and in the bosom of a wealthy family."
shareThanks. The scene just doesn't make as big an impression in the book, I guess.
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http://www.librarything.com/profile/CurrerBell
I read the book in Reader's Digest condensed book section of the magazine in the early '60's when I was around 9 years old. When I saw the movie a few years later I wondered why it sounded so familiar and finally figured it out. Now I will look for the book to read it in its entirety rather than the condensed version.
shareI got both Life With Mother Superior and The Trouble With Angels from eBAY. Just be careful if you do buy The Trouble With Angels from eBay that you get the book. I didn't pay close enough attention to the write-up and I ended up getting the script to the play.
If it's in your budget, try to get both Life With Mother Superior and The Trouble With Angels. You'll love them.
I first saw The Trouble With Angels at the cinema when it was new. I was about five years old at the time and I went to a Catholic school in those years. The sisters' habit in that movie reminded me so much of the design of the habit that my sisters wore.
I have loved the movie for all these 43 years and a few years ago I acquired a treasured copy of Trahey's book, Life With Mother Superior but (true to my own nature) I'm saving it for just the right time. These posts here lead me to believe that this is just the right time.
From the film I could always see that, for all of "Mary Clancy's" rebeliousness as a young girl, Mother Superior would observe her true character on occasion. To me, the best scene that shows Mary's true love and sincerity was the nursing home scene (again, I can't make any comparison to the book because I haven't allowed myself to read it yet!) as Mary moves around among the ladies and listens to their personal stories up to overhearing the exchange with the crying elderly woman and Mother Superior as Mother Superior gently comforts the woman.
Also note that, in the film, we learn that Mother Superior also lost her parents at a young age just as Mary Clancy had so maybe she had better insight into Mary from the start.
May I point out, for the record, that this film was beautifully directed by veteran actress Ida lupino.
John Martin, 48, Fort Worth, Texas, USA
"In view of all the pranks she and Rachel pulled and all the trouble they caused, I'd really like to know what Mary said to Mother Superior to convince her that she was sincere about wanting to become a nun, and what reasons she gave. "
No woman decides to become a Nun and then BANG they are one. It is a long process of devotion and discernment that takes years. A person can give it a go and the the Nuns can let them try. That does not guarantee success. A person can look great on paper and in person and wash out as a Nun.
As for Rachel, pulling pranks requires a thought process. Causing trouble means someone has energy that needs to be guided in a different way.
Perhaps Mother Superior felt with guidance and maturity Rachel could channel her intelligence and energy into more useful pursuits.
When Rachel was hiding behind the pillar in the chapel on Christmas Eve. That's when I think Mother Superior sort of knew that Rachel may have "the calling".
Also I think Sr. Ligoria may have said something to Mother Superior after she gave the pillow for Rachel to kneel on when she was doing penance. Sister must've thought Rachel was sincere, and she probably was though she wouldn't act like it in front of the other girls, let alone a nun!
Can you imagine Rachel and Sr George (from Where Angels Go Trouble Follows) together? What a pair that would be?
I went to a Catholic school grades 7-12 (class of 1980) and there are a lot of similarities between the movie and my own experiences:
The school had the convent on the top floor (forbidden to students), as far as I know no one ever went up there
The school also had that gothic look, once had a bell tower but that was destroyed by a hurricane a long time ago.
Sr Regina also died, but I was in 8th grade, not in high school
The grammar school portion is now co-ed, but the high school is strictly females
When we graduated from high school, we also wore white gowns (now not as conservative when we graduated), and we each got a rose from a junior of our choice
The school was once a boarding school, the students also arrived by train but that went out in the 1960s as well
The sisters used to wear the full habit like those in the movie, but now they wear regular "civilian" clothes
As far as I know, not one student in my class became a religious but there are graduates from other years who did become a nun (technically a sister)
Oh, we did have a "convent dog" too...Tyng...she was 15 when I was in 7th grade and was still alive six years later. Poor thing had arthritis. We weren't allowed to bother her, but sometimes if she was laying by the cafeteria I would pet her...until the bell rang or a sister (the old bat!) shooed me away.
And we had one sister who was drop-dead gorgeous. We used to say that if she wasn't a religious she'd be married and had at least six kids! I think all of our dads secretly had the hots for her.
I just finished watching TTWA tonight (thanks to Netflix) and I've given your question some thought. The best summation I can come up with was that the clincher for Mary to join the order, was the brief but meaningful conversation she had with Sister Constance shortly before Sister Constance was about to leave for the leper colony in the Philippines. Maybe I'm thinking too much into this but perhaps Mary thought since Sister Constance was willing to give of herself to helping others that Mary could too. I think it had a profound effect on how Mary wanted to spend the rest of her life. Mary was an orphaned child who was left to an uncle who didn't seem to care much about her and I don't think she wanted a life of not being able to care for others.
shareHaving been in a VERY similar situation, as a boy in all boys Catholic Schools (both boarding and day schools), I was also in trouble for a lot of minor things.
BUT, I was also very serious about my religion, and when I applied to go to Seminary, I was recommended very highly by my school principal.
It is NOT anything that you say that convinces people that you have a vocation, it is the entirety of your life and your overall behavior. In this film, Mary was a prankster, but never once did she do anything against her Church or its teachings.
Actually, I always thought the scene where both Mary and the Mother Superior start to see the person behind the role was the one where Mary finds the Mother Superior sewing Rachel's cocktail dress while Rachel is sound asleep beside her. That's where we, along with Mary, discover that Mother Superior was also an orphan, that she had a passion for something else before becoming a nun, and that her passion for the church supplanted her original aspirations. The clincher, however, for Mary, I think, was watching Mother Superior give way to her grief after Sister Lagori's death. It was when Mary realized the convent was a family far more real than the one she had been exposed to up to that point, and it was something she wanted to be part of.
shareI don't think Mary had to convince Mother Superior. I think Mother Superior could see that Mary was a young woman who would make a very spirited nun. Even during the movie, Mother Superior talked about Mary's unbreakable spirit and all that.
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Jim Hutton: talented gorgeous hot hunk; adorable as ElleryQueen; SEXIEST ACTOR EVER