I finally caught up with THE BISHOPS WIFE last night. As one who loves classic Hollywood cinema and quality Christmas films, I have NO IDEA how I missed this over the decades. The crisp new Blu-ray is what got it into my DVD player. What a charming, feel-good film, with the sublime Cary Grant as the most debonair angel God ever dispatched to Earth, Loretta Young looking especially effervescent and lovely, and David Niven as the perfectly milquetoast Bishop whom the angel teaches to get a backbone and to get his priorities right. A bonus for me was to discover it was shot by the greatest black and white cinematographer who ever lived, Gregg Toland (of Citizen Kane, The Grapes of Wrath, and The Best Years of Our Lives). He wonderfully employed the deep focus technique he pioneered in Welles Kane. (It makes everything sharply in focus, not just the near OR the far. Instead of being directed to look at something by focus, you can look at whatever you choose. Its evident in the photo on left.) And who wouldt love the charming ice-skating scene.
Posted on: Tue, 03 Dec 2013 14:46:40 +0000
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