If the real Jeanne Deckers had never made that recording in 1963 she probably would have been a much happier person, probably still in blessed obscurity in a convent somewhere on the globe. Only probably though because she was in conflict with the church she gave her life to.
At the time the film The Singing Nun came out I well remember the critical roasting it got. Like Going My Way this is how the Roman Catholic Church likes to see itself portrayed. This film was such a ode to the faith, I'm wondering how the most famous Catholic lay person in the world, Bing Crosby, didn't get involved in it.
Young Sister Anna, in real life known as Sister Sourire enters a convent in Belgium presided over by Mother Prioress Greer Garson and is part of the parish where Father Ricardo Montalban presides. The young nun with her guitar is played by Debbie Reynolds and her combination of music and faith wins over just about everyone around her.
Including young recording executive Chad Everett who has her cut and album that becomes a worldwide phenomenon. I still remember her record of Dominique played right around the same time the Fab Four from Liverpool were bursting on the American consciousness. But as soon as she arrived, The Singing Nun went back into the convent, in the film she and fellow sister Juanita Moore go off to Africa as missionaries. By the way Moore has the best performance in the film.
Debbie Reynolds performs the songs of The Singing Nun well and the musical numbers are well staged. Would that The Singing Nun did have a happily ever after life after fame.
She didn't in fact. During the film Reynolds of course takes a strong anti-abortion position as per the Church teachings. In real life she did leave the convent and became an activist for birth control. She also had tax problems from our government, hardly the last celebrity to deal with that. She and a woman who had been her life companion for 10 years committed a double suicide together in 1985. She seems to have gone against her faith in any number of ways.
Read the Wikipedia article on The Singing Nun, it will be quite an eye opener. It's a story that definitely needs telling and maybe one day someone will tell it.
At the time the film The Singing Nun came out I well remember the critical roasting it got. Like Going My Way this is how the Roman Catholic Church likes to see itself portrayed. This film was such a ode to the faith, I'm wondering how the most famous Catholic lay person in the world, Bing Crosby, didn't get involved in it.
Young Sister Anna, in real life known as Sister Sourire enters a convent in Belgium presided over by Mother Prioress Greer Garson and is part of the parish where Father Ricardo Montalban presides. The young nun with her guitar is played by Debbie Reynolds and her combination of music and faith wins over just about everyone around her.
Including young recording executive Chad Everett who has her cut and album that becomes a worldwide phenomenon. I still remember her record of Dominique played right around the same time the Fab Four from Liverpool were bursting on the American consciousness. But as soon as she arrived, The Singing Nun went back into the convent, in the film she and fellow sister Juanita Moore go off to Africa as missionaries. By the way Moore has the best performance in the film.
Debbie Reynolds performs the songs of The Singing Nun well and the musical numbers are well staged. Would that The Singing Nun did have a happily ever after life after fame.
She didn't in fact. During the film Reynolds of course takes a strong anti-abortion position as per the Church teachings. In real life she did leave the convent and became an activist for birth control. She also had tax problems from our government, hardly the last celebrity to deal with that. She and a woman who had been her life companion for 10 years committed a double suicide together in 1985. She seems to have gone against her faith in any number of ways.
Read the Wikipedia article on The Singing Nun, it will be quite an eye opener. It's a story that definitely needs telling and maybe one day someone will tell it.