Movie Cosmos - The Trouble with Angels

Description:

Mary and her friend, Rachel, are new students at St. Francis Academy, a boarding school run by the iron fist of Mother Superior. The immature teens grow bored and begin playing pranks on both the unsuspecting nuns and their unpleasant classmates, becoming a constant thorn in Mother Superior's side. However, as the years pass, Mary and Rachel slowly mature and begin to see the nuns in a different light.

Top Cast >

Hayley Mills

As Mary Clancy

June Harding

As Rachel Devery

Rosalind Russell

As Mother Superior

Binnie Barnes

As Sister Celestine

Camilla Sparv

As Sister Constance

Mary Wickes

As Sister Clarissa

Marge Redmond

As Sister Liguori

Dolores Sutton

As Sister Rose Marie

Margalo Gillmore

As Sister Barbara

Portia Nelson

As Sister Elizabeth

Marjorie Eaton

As Sister Ursula

Barbara Bell Wright

As Sister Margaret

Judith Lowry

As Sister Prudence

Barbara Hunter

As Marvel-Ann

Bernadette Withers

As Valerie

Vicky Albright

As Charlotte

Patty Ann Gerrity

As Sheila

Vicki Draves

As Kate

Wendy Winkelman

As Sandy

Jewel Jaffe

As Ginnie-Lou

Gail Liddle

As Priscilla

Michael-Marie

As Ruth

Betty Jane Royale

As Gladys

Ronne Troup

As Helen

Catherine Wyles

As Brigette

Gypsy Rose Lee

As Mrs. Mabel Dowling Phipps

Jim Boles

As Mr. Gottschalk

Kent Smith

As Uncle George Clancy

Pat McCaffrie

As Mr. Devery

Harry Harvey

As Mr. Grisson

Mary Young

As Mrs. Eldridge

Jim Hutton

As Mr. Petrie (uncredited)

Mews Small

As Nun (uncredited)

Madge Blake

As Meddling Train Passenger

Jesslyn Fax

As Retirement Home Resident

Kathryn Minner

Mews Small

Dee Carroll

As Saleslady (uncredited)

Top Crew >

Ida Lupino

Director

Victor A. Gangelin

Set Decoration

Sybil Connolly

Costume Design

John Beckman

Art Direction

Robert J. Schiffer

Makeup Artist

Frank De Vol

Music

J.S. Westmoreland

Sound Designer

Charles J. Rice

Sound Supervisor

Blanche Hanalis

Screenplay

Jane Trahey

Novel

Robert C. Jones

Editor

William Frye

Producer

Lionel Lindon

Director of Photography

Jerry Goldsmith

Original Music Composer

Reviews:

Wuchak (6/10)

A couple of troublemaking girls at a Catholic school/nunnery

Mary (Hayley Mills) is sent to a Catholic school in Pennsylvania where she constantly causes problems along with her “follower” Rachel (June Harding). Can Mother Superior (Rosalind Russell) & the other nuns tame these troublemakers before they enter society as adults?

"The Trouble with Angels" (1966) was based on the 1962 biography “Life with Mother Superior” by Jane Trahey, which chronicled her years at an all-girls Catholic high school near Chicago. This explains the low-key approach to the episodic material. In other words, this is a generally realistic drama with several fun moments, but not a zany comedy.

While not in the same league as “The Parent Trap” (1961) and “Pollyanna” (1960), this is still a worthwhile Hayley Mills drama with a few amusing bits. Hayley was 19 during shooting and it’s interesting seeing her in the role of a rebel teen in contrast to her bubbly preadolescence of those other flicks. There’s still some bubbliness, but she’s more cynical here with a wicked sense of humor.

Stunning Camilla Sparv appears as one of the nuns while former burlesque entertainer Gypsy Rose Lee shows up as a dance instructor.

The film runs 1 hour, 51 minutes, and was shot in Ambler and Willow Grove, Pennsylvania, just north of Philadelphia, with establishing shots of Merion Train Station. Other sequences were done in Southern Cal as follows: Los Angeles (school pool), Beverly Hills (courtyard and other outdoor scenes) and Monrovia (train station scenes).

GRADE: B-/C+

2020-12-13