Of course everyone thinks of SISTER ACT and they think of Whoopi Goldberg, who was very funny in the movie of course.
But Maggie Smith is awesome too as the Reverend Mother. She and Whoopi work together remarkably well...really they have amazing comedic timing together.
What an unlikely pairing that paid off well. Maggie Smith is hysterical in some of her films...she's supposed to play it straight here but even when she plays it straight she's funny.
I so agree! Maggie Smith is my favorite actress ever, and she was hilarious. She's also great in the sequal, which she has my favorite line "Go with God Crispy!" I love it!
shareI agree.
Sister Act was a good movie choice for Dame Smith, where she could play the traditionalist Mother superior w/o coming off as a narrow minded headmistress in a girls dorm.
She played her role with reserve and poise, and that really floored me when I saw it again recently.
Personally speaking, I prefer Whoopi Goldberg's acting compared to some of her modern contemporaries. She can really ham it up on cue, and she can tone down her performance when the scene requires it.
That, I think , is a sign of a good actor. Knowing when to temper your performance.
Personally, Maggie Smith is my favourite actress, followed closely by Dame Julie Andrews (I knew I shouldn't have watched Princess Diaries... now I'm obsessed), and I think that she did a great job! I laughed so hard when Woopie said "You are a formidable woman!"
Has anyone seen her in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie? I love that movie!
Cammie
"Personally, Maggie Smith is my favourite actress, followed closely by Dame Julie Andrews (I knew I shouldn't have watched Princess Diaries... now I'm obsessed)"
Hey, I'm the other way around. Dame Julie Andrews is my favorite actress, followed closely by Maggie Smith!
"It looks like a flamingo threw up in here!"~Beaches
Right now, Maggie Smith is the actress that appeals to me the most. I mean, her filmography rocks! There are very few of her movies that I can't enjoy.
Please excuse typos/funny wording; I use speech-recognition that doesn't always recognize!
I agree, Maggie Smith is simply superb in this role. Every sentence she utters is so perfectly delivered, and her facial expressions are priceless. I love the line where she says to Whoopi: "Someone is trying to kill you. Anyone who's met you I imagine." I always laugh during that scene.
The thing about Maggie Smith is that she didn't become such a great actress overnight. Look at her in any of her movies from the sixties, she is so stiff and formal, and rather ungainly. She seems uncomfortable with her body. But something happened to her in the late 60s, early 70s, she blossomed into a wonderful actress. I think a turning point would be her role in Murder By Death, she seems to be much more at ease with the other actors, her role, and the dialogue. But I'll watch any movie if she's in it, she even makes the boring Gosford Park watchable.
For an excellent example of Maggie Smith flexing her comedic muscles, watch "Murder By Death" (with Peter Sellers and Peter Falk, aka. Colombo). Brilliant satire comedy, and Maggie demonstrates impeccable timing - not to mention delivery.
shareI am so glad to finally find a thread regarding the beautifully understated work of Maggie Smith in this film. Her performance in this film is absolute perfection and next to the broadness of Whoopi's Mary Clarence, it's so easy to overlook how superb Smith is. A lot of Mary Clarence's clowning would not have been nearly as funny as it was if she hadn't had Smith's steely authority figure to play against. It would have been like Eddie Murphy's Reggie Hammond in 48 HOURS not having Nick Nolte's Jack Cates. You can't be funny without a straight man and Smith was a brilliant straight man here.
shareit takes skill to have that deadpan face with such funny lines ;)
------------------------
OOOOH MATRON!
I just watched it on ITV and as Maggie Smith is my favourite actress everi had to post here! I loved the way she said "I lied" when the priest told her that she had taken a vow to help everyone! LOL. I also thought her facial expressions in the movie were just so great..especially at the end when the guy nearly shot Dolores.
Has anyone seen her in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie? I love that movie!
I think she is great as mother Superior, stern yet loveable
She is great as Professor McGonagall too
When I started Watchin the Harry Potter series, Iknew she looked and sounded farmiliar, it didnt take me long to discover it waws Maggie Smith
Still has a lot of the seriousness and sterness but its in an appaeling way
I laughed too when she said"I Lied"
I love when she walked in and say Deloris for the first time and said..."that is not a person you can hide, that is a conspicuous person designed to stick out"....and "girl groups, boogie woogie on the piano"
shareAny time an old British woman says "boogie-woogie", I laugh :-)
Supermodels...spoiled stupid little stick figures mit poofy lips who sink only about zemselves.
Yep, Dame Maggie's delivery of her lines was brilliant.
One of my favourites, when she's talking to Dolores:
"People are trying to KILL you! Anyone who's met you, I should imagine."
The woman's a classic.
There's a British made-for-TV series of dramatic monologues called "Talking Heads" (written by master playwrite Alan Bennett), that Dame Maggie appears in -- in an episode called "A Bed Among the Lentils" -- where she plays a drunkard parson's wife who's having an affair with the Pakistani grocer down the street. It's both very funny and incredibly emotionally affecting -- I recommend it to anyone interested in great acting, if you get a chance to catch it.
i wrote to maggie smith last year and mentioned sister act and her perfect comic timing, i got a really nice autograph back
Thunderbirds Aren't Slow
that's great, freefall! Maggie Smith was great as Mother Superior. She made the character likable as she evolved from the beginning of the movie till the end. And yes her and Whoopi worked really well together (like in the scene with the penguin remark)
sharei wrote to maggie smith last year and mentioned sister act and her perfect comic timing, i got a really nice autograph backThat's very nice! I know I'm replying to an old post, but I'm just wondering, did you actually request a picture from her, or did she take it upon herself to send one? And did you include postage for a reply, or no?
it takes skill to have that deadpan face with such funny lines ;)Oh yes, I think that almost every time I watch her. I would have cracked up for sure! Would love to see some Maggie Smith SISTER ACT bloopers.
Maggie is awesome.
shareMaggie can play humour and pathos in the same scene and always be convincing!!
Some Favorites:
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
A room With A View
Murder By Death
California Suite
Sister Act
Evil Under The Sun/Death on the Nile
The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne
And many more.
Simply a GREAT actress
Dorothy stop that, Mr. Ha Ha`s lookin at you!!
Both actresses have fantastic comedic timing. Maggie Smith has a way in films where she can just look a certain way or not say very much and it's still hilarious. Her cutting comebacks and somewhat deadpan delivery at times is also hysterical. I'm surprised she wasn't nominated for a Golden Globe for her role in Sister Act.
ROCK STARS HAVE KIDNAPPED MY SON
Whoopi is such a strong comedic actress, but her character in The Sister Act only works with Maggie Smith as her foil. In large part the story is as much about how these two characters go from hating and doubting each other to loving and deeply respecting one another. That doesn't work if you don't have strong actors on both sides. Kids from 2000 on know her as Professor McGonagall but she's always Reverend Mother to me.
-------
Seek freedom and become captive of your desires. Seek discipline and find your liberty.