The Bells of St. Mary's (1945)

After making the popular and lovable Going My Way with Bing Crosby as a priest, director Leo McCarey got letters suggesting that he make a movie humanizing the ladies of the cloth as well. So he decided to make a sequel, with Crosby's counterpoint this time a nun. The film was The Bells of St. Mary's, and the sister was Ingrid Bergman, at the peak of her popularity. The dynamic between Bergman and Crosby was light and sweet, and McCarey -- one of the originals of movie comedy -- keeps everything fresh, fun, and sentimental. While Going My Way had won seven Oscars the year before, The Bells of St Mary's won just one (for best sound) despite eight nominations. Bergman, lovely as always, had deservedly won her Oscar the year before in Gaslight. In just five short years, she would be a pariah in Hollywood, following her notorious affair with Italian director Roberto Rossellini. Following a string of quality movies and high output, McCarey's career would taper off after St. Mary's. He directed only five movies in the next seventeen years, most notably An Affair to Remember in 1957 (which was actually a scene for scene remake of his own Love Affair). Crosby made at least four dozen movies in the next three decades, but he rarely, if at all, achieved the sort of popularity that he had playing Father O'Malley. ~ Brendon Hanley, All Movie Guide