1947’s ‘The Bishop’s Wife’ Captures Season’s Essence

When it comes to Christmas movies, angels dropping from heaven and mucking around in our earthly troubles have always been an easy sell.

The most famous has to be Clarence, the wingless wonder who bumbled about with George Bailey in Frank Capra’s 1946 holiday staple, “It’s a Wonderful Life.”

Just a year later, there was Dudley (played by the ever-sauve Cary Grant), straightening out some messes (and creating some, too) for Loretta Young and David Niven in “The Bishop’s Wife.”

The 1947 film (screening tonight in Mission Viejo as part of the Saddleback College/Edwards Cinemas classics series) is so heavy with sugar glaze that it barely moves; as with most holiday pictures, you have to be a little patient and forgiving.

But “The Bishop’s Wife” does pretty much what it’s suppose to do--capture the seasonal essence and provide us with an escape into Christmas’ own Never-Never Land.

We first meet Dudley on a busy street jammed with shoppers. He doesn’t have any wings, but he does wear a very natty suit. With his vaguely goofy smile (it’s suppose to be beatific), Grant looks a little like a stockbroker after a two-martini lunch.

Anyway, we know Dudley’s an angel because in no time flat he’s miraculously escorted a blind man through heavy traffic and saved a baby carriage from hurtling into the street. This angel is clearly someone to be reckoned with.

Dudley soon catches a glimpse of the fetching Young (she plays the bishop’s wife) and his gaze seems less than angelic. Can a celestial emissary have the hots for a great-looking mortal? That’s really the most interesting aspect of the story, which was written by Robert Benchley and Leonardo Bercovici.

It turns out that the bishop (Niven), a hard-working cleric who’s absolutely no fun, had asked for divine guidance for his plan to build a new cathedral.

Dudley’s the answer, not only to the church’s money problem, but to the bishop’s minor-league marital woes as well.

Director Henry Koster isn’t interested in jazzing up the pace (“The Bishop’s Wife” lacks the zigzag melodrama of “It’s a Wonderful Life”) and instead opts for a soft, occasionally wry touch.

The best moments come when Niven reacts to the oh-so-perfect Dudley; it’s funny to see what happens when a religious man is faced with the incarnation of his moral ideals. This particular bishop gets pretty annoyed by having an angel around.

There are a few ludicrous scenes, though, that make you wonder if Koster and his writers were gulping the eggnog.

The most laughable comes when Grant and Young decide to go ice skating. Their stand-ins, who leap and twirl all over the place, don’t look anything like them.

The performances, on a whole, are engaging enough. Young stands out, giving the wife an attractiveness that is somehow both sensual and chaste. Niven has the right amount of crankiness, although you wish he’d really go off every now and then.

As for Grant, well, he’s as cool as can be but you miss the percolating sense of humor that made him unique, especially in his salad days in the ‘30s.

What: “The Bishop’s Wife.”

When: Thursday, Dec. 3, at 7 p.m.

Where: Edwards Crown Valley cinema, 26862 Crown Valley Parkway, Mission Viejo.

Whereabouts: Take the Santa Ana (5) Freeway to Crown Valley Parkway and head east. The theater is in the Mission Viejo Mall.

Wherewithal: $6.50.

Where to call: (714) 582-4656.