I am certain that when Sister Camille and the girls gather at the Mother House in Glendale, one way they relax is by watching the 1947 Michael Powell classic, "Black Narcissus!!!!!!!!!!!"
And the main reason for that is for Kathleen Byron's scene stealing turn as Sister Ruth! This is about as far from the reverence of "The Song Of Bernadette" as you can get!
Oh, that Sister Ruth! One wonders if she should have become a nun in the first place!
Someone should have given her a copy of "The Well Of Loneliness" by Radclyffe Hall! It might have saved her life! And, while I can understand being attracted to Deborah Kerr, she was hidden by all that nun finery! I would have thought she would be more drawn to Jean Simmons as the Indian Princess!
But love was blind, when it came to Sister Ruth, and her heart went to Deborah! It certainly didn't go to the convent--the most gorgeous one in film history!!!!!!!!! Those prayers are not pious, but those of a crazed nymphomaniac!
Which is my take on Sister Ruth! I think she displayed nymphomaniacal tendencies in adolescence, and her parents thought the convent would be the perfect cure! Of course, they had no idea that by putting her in an all female environment, it would feed her craving!
And that is why she descends into madness, which Byron plays so gloriously over the top it goes into the realm of Camp!!!!!!!!! When it is time for her Big Scene, and she goes flying over that cliff, I bet Sister Camille and the others all shout, "Theeeeeeeeeeeeeeeere she gooooooooooooes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Darlings, I am telling you, you just gotta love Sister Ruth! Byron's performance has to be seen to be believed!
And, so, too, should "Black Narcissus," which even has Sabu!!!!!!!! Yes!!!!!!!!!!
This is what should be turned into a Broadway musical! Not "Finding Neverland!"
I want to play Sister Ruth! With a show stopping number sending me over that cliff, and guaranteed to win me a TONY Award!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I really need to watch this again. It was one of my faves as a youth, but I haven't seen it since a "Film Forum" revival 20 years ago.
ReplyDeleteYour description of Sister Ruth being drawn to Deborah Kerr differs from my memory: I thought Sr Ruth was jealous that David Farrar liked Kerr instead of her, because Ruth was obviously down for sex while Kerr was too sanctimoniously pure to succumb.
Anyway, thanks for prompting me to dig it out of my archives!
ReplyDeleteYou may be right. I forgot about the David Farrar character, but she could have been drawn to both. She was so sexually desperate it still amazes me she did not fall for Jean Simmons!