I am wondering if this movie inspired the TV series, The Flying Nun which aired only a year later. There are a lot of similarities in the general plots only in the Flying Nun it is a novice nun that creates headaches for the Mother Superior. Also, Marge Redmond who played Sister Ligouri in The Trouble with Angels, played Sister Jacqueline in The Flying Nun.
shareI don't think so. The fact is, THE SOUND OF MUSIC made "nun projects" look like a good investment in the 60s. At one time, playing a nun only meant possible Oscar nominations (THE BELLS OF ST. MARY'S, COME TO THE STABLE, THE NUN'S STORY, LILIES OF THE FIELD, etc.), but Julie Andrews & company came along & made them big business! Suddenly you had THE SINGING NUN, THE TROUBLE WITH ANGELS, WHERE ANGELS GO... and eventually THE FLYING NUN. If the latter was inspired by anything, it was that story about a novice named Maria who caused headaches for her Mother Superior in Salzburg.
There was lots of nun crossover casting in the 60s. Portia Nelson, who played the disapproving Sister Berthe in THE SOUND OF MUSIC, moved on to play the avant-garde Sister Elizabeth in THE TROUBLE WITH ANGELS. I think the casting director for THE FLYING NUN grabbed Marge Redmond because she was so likable and engaging as Sister Liguori.
Redmond was incredible - she was Angela Lansbury's standby in the original Broadway production of SWEENEY TODD
THE FLYING NUN was based on the novel THE FIFTEENTH PELICAN which was about a nun who could fly. I read it years ago (probably 25 years) beyond that I remember nothing about it.
Dorothy stop that, Mr. Ha Ha`s lookin at you!!
That's right! It was written by Tere Rios; I used to see her name on the FLYING NUN credits. I wonder if the book had a casino owner named Carlos and lines of dialogue like "When lift plus thrust is greater than load plus drag"...
In 1969, Dinah Shore did a TV special entitled "Like Hep." In one comedy skit, The Flying Nun and Mary Poppins were both zooming through the sky and crashed BANG! right into each other. Guest star Lucille Ball (playing a cigar-smoking Good Fairy) watched in delight and exclaimed, "Now, that's funny!"
I read "The Fifteenth Pelican" some years ago, and the author lived in Puerto Rico at the time. The religious order she used for inspiration, the Daughters of Charity, used to have unusual head wear very similar to the sisters in the TV show. (They modernized their habits about the same time the TV show began.) You can find more information on this elsewhere on the Internet. The book is very enjoyable, but may be hard to find. Your public library may be able to borrow it for you from another library.
shareThank you murph and mit for your replies.
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