User Reviews

Debbie Reynolds portrays the Singing Nun based on a true story, Ricardo Montalban also stars. The music is light and lilting and completely enjoyable with Debbie Reynolds singing many songs throughout the film. At several points you question whether the order is the right place for Sister Ann as several intriguing opportunities are available. Enjoyable music and film.

If you want to know about the story of the only singer who got a huge hit in the French language in 1963-64 in the USA,this is not the place to look ; you should rather take "Soeur sourire " (=sister smile) (2009) starring Cécile De France which tells the whole bio,warts and all.

Soeur Sourire was not the person depicted in this vehicle for Debbie Reynolds ;she was a tomboy and enjoyed football games (you see her playing in the movie) ,but she loved girls -she became a nun because of that-, she was deprived of her income by her covent , she was released of her vows ,she fell prey to the gossip papers ; she was a clever woman ,who tried to resume her career and she wrote songs much superior to her famous "Dominique"but attacking the Catholic Church ; she ended her life with a woman ,coming to terms with her homosexuality ;both were ruined and committed suicide.

When she entered the covent,Soeur Sourire was a fan of American rock and roll ,and she considered music as a way to get religious messages across :why not ?Presley, Dion , Harrison , Van Morrison ,Aretha Franklin, to name but five, had their God songs too ....This side (with Ricardo Montalban as the priest who stands by her ) is only skimmed over.

If you consider the movie pure fiction ,it's pleasant to watch :nice colors ,lilting voices,delightful cast and credits in which the nun rides on the staves ,scenes a la "sound of music" , and it's a pleasure to see Greer Garson as mother superior , Agnès Moorehead and the rare Juanita Moore (the unforgettable black mom in Sirk's "imitation of life" )as nuns and Ed Sullivan as himself in a for once true event of the singing nun's short-lived career .

But all that concerns Katherine Ross and her kid brother Dominique (sic) comes from the screenwriters' imagination! So is Reynolds' and Moore's last scene.

Hot on the heels of the real French musical sensation Soeur Sourire, hyped internationally as The Singing Nun, comes this Hollywood version of her life story, with none other than Debbie Reynolds in the lead role singing "Dominique." Hollywood greats Greer Garson, Agnes Moorehead, and Ricardo Montalban make this movie a treat to watch, but after you watch it, check out the real Singing Nun on YouTube. Her story is not so sweet. ---from Musicals on the Silver Screen, American Library Association, 2013

I was a very young Catholic school student when this movie came out (see my comments about the TV show "The Flying Nun"). At the time, it was STRONGLY suggested by the sisters teaching us that we go to see this movie. It was playing right down the street. At the time, it seemed so light and breezy, and the music was so in tune with what we were being taught. Of course, since then, A LOT has happened, and the true-life story of the real "Singing Nun" took such a bizarre turn and ended in such weird fashion, that I think I'd have a hard time watching this version now.

BEWARE OF FALSE REVIEWS & REVIEWERS. SOME REVIEWERS HAVE ONLY ONE REVIEW TO THEIR NAME. NOW WHEN ITS A POSITIVE REVIEW THAT TELLS ME THEY WERE INVOLVED WITH THE MOVIE. IF ITS A NEGATIVE REVIEW THEN THEY MIGHT HAVE A GRUDGE AGAINST THE FILM . I HAVE REVIEWED OVER 200 HOLIDAY FILMS. I HAVE NO AGENDA!

The Singing Nun is a 1966 American semi-biographical film about the life of Jeanine Deckers, a nun who recorded the chart-topping hit song "Dominique". It starred Debbie Reynolds in the title role. The film also stars Ricardo Montalbán, Katharine Ross, Chad Everett, and Ed Sullivan as himself. It was Henry Koster's final directing job.

Harry Sukman was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Music, Scoring of Music, Adaptation or Treatment. Randy Sparks wrote the English translations of Jeanine Deckers' songs as well as writing a couple of original songs for the film.

As for the film itself its "Worth Watching". It come across like a Disney movie from the 1960's. However in reality its about as good as a "Hallmark Christmas Movie".

Debbie Reynolds does keep the film moving along. The story seems a little far fetched. I have a feeling the writer took major creative license with the facts. The story starts off as Sister Ann enters a new place of residence. Her singing catches the ear of a priest. The priest knows a record producer. Before you know Sister Ann is a huge recording artist. This spotlight however doesn't blind Sister Ann to her calling. Debbie Reynolds was an ideal choice to play sister Ann. However Agnes Moorehead plays a Nun Version of Endora.

Now I am not a Catholic and I not a "Born Again Christian" but I like the film but not enough to want to see it again for a long time.

It was nice however to see Nuns in a positive light.

As a fictional picture it works plenty on Hollywood formulaic offers, based on a true sad story of real Nun who committed suicide years later with her lover, in the sixties probably it won't sell instead this alternative production driven to self-called adjusted families, the delusional plot dovetails in a far-fetched stereotyped concept of religion, whatever might be, aside all this The Singing Nun is a great family entertainment in every aspect, upon the positivism look, the people needs a fantasy in their lives, this proposition is fulsomely achieved with Debbie Reynolds, first by her natural charisma and great proficiency to sing all those marvelous tunes, also the movie asserts a social morality explicit, letting the audiences uphold it plenty, for me an easy going and harmless presentation, with a great cast, mainly by beauty Greer Garson as angelic kind as Mother Prioress and of course the grumpy Agnes Morehead as Sister Cluny, the miscasting stays to Ricardo Montalban, even in very convincing act is hard to believe him as a priest, fully enjoyable for all ages and religions!!!

Resume:

First watch: 2020 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 7.25

Sister Ann (Debbie Reynolds) leaves the Dominican convent near Antwerp for her new assignment at Samaritan House in a poor area of Brussels run by Father Clementi (Ricardo Montalbán). She takes an interest in young Dominic Arlien and his older sister Nicole (Katharine Ross) but they have a troubled home life. The demure nun becomes a singing sensation and an unconventional pop star known as The Singing Nun.

Of course, this has the iconic hit song but it does not have the true story which is so much more complicated. Her later life is even more complicated which is more worthy of a biopic. In fact, her life changes in 1966 and beyond. This is sanitized version of her life up to that point. Even without knowing much about her, one can tell that this has been fictionalized. In a way, it's a fitting movie for her. The image is always bigger than the real person.

In the early 60's, a nun, calling herself The Singing Nun, released an album of musical hymns and religious songs that turned out to strike a chord with the public. Just about everyone alive in that era still can recognize the strains of Dominique. Naturally, Hollywood chose to make her story into a movie. What they actually did was make an idealized story into a movie, pretending it is the true story. As such, the story comes off as syrupy and too much everyone's fantasy of the perfect nun. She wants only to work with children; she thinks of nothing but her service to the church, she actually rails against abortion in the film. This makes the movie plodding and very boring in places. It also projects a too-virginal image that gets old very quickly. And, for some reason they felt the need to have an old flame to the pre-habit days around to spice things up just a bit, though she remains true to her faith throughout.

The true story is of Jeanine Deckers, known to the world mostly at Soeur Sourire ("Sister Smile"), who called the film "a film of fiction". In the convent she was known as Sister Luc-Gabrielle and did not like the Sister Smile moniker the record company came up with. In contrast to the perfection of the movie, Jeanine Deckers was a very conflicted personality who did not like the attention of the world and definitely did not hold an attraction to a male record producer as shown in the film. In fact, she left the order in 1965, accompanied by her lover, Annie Pescher, whom she stayed with until their mutual suicide pact in 1985. Gee, if you were an old Dominique fan, I probably burst a few bubbles there.

What I think is interesting is that the true story would probably be the Hollywood choice were it made today. The 1965 film portrayed perfection and idealism. I'm sure a 2002 film would search for the seediest of details and revel in her contradictions. What is sad is that neither version would make a very good film. The excessively sweet Debbie Reynolds/Recardo Montalban version is mostly pretty dull and the true story would undoubtedly resemble yet anther VH1 Behind the Music.

Watch for Katherine Ross in her first year as an actress as about the only real character in the film. The Ed Sullivan cameo is rather interesting as well.

The film is somewhat syrupy and a bit simplistic, but correct in most essentials and, after all, quite entertaining. The music, of course, is the best thing about it...quite uplifting. "Raindrops" is my particular favorite, but the duet on "Beyond the Stars" is excellent as well. Miss Reynolds' voice is more than adequate to do justice to the music, most of which (I see from the Soundtrack listings) Sister Sourire wrote herself.

This movie is basically a family movie. Although children under the age of ten probably would not appreciate it. The Singing Nun will leave you with positive messages and upbeat feelings. Wholesome Debbie Reynolds is perfect for a nun. Other great actors such as Greer Garson, Ricardo Montalban, Agnes Moorehead, and Katharine Ross further lead to the enjoyment of the film. It is hard to picture Ricardo Montalban as a priest. He is totally handsome and debonair in whatever he does. However, it is Debbie Reynolds who is the star. The Singing Nun has picturesque scenes and you feel warm and fuzzy throughout the film. The music is very good as well. It's a film that the whole family can watch together. Sit back, relax and enjoy. I give it four thumbs up.

Despite the best efforts of the actors, this movie is awful. The screenplay can only be described as moronic. I appreciate that it is the songs that draw people to watch it, but if so, do stick to the record.

It's a shame too because Debbie Reynolds, Greer Garson, Ricardo Montelban, Katherine Ross, Agnes Moorehead, Chad Everett all do as well as can be expected - and I am reminded of how wonderful a singing voice Debbie Reynolds has. Moreover, Montelban is truly believable as a priest - as are Garson and Reynolds as nuns. Ross is just fine.

But this is more saccharine than most of the Flying Nun episodes. It's strange too - because most movies about nuns have for some reason been quite good - Black Narcissus, Heaven Knows Mr. Allison, The Nun's Story, The French movie, Therese, The Song of Bernadette, even The Trouble with Angels (which bowled me over with how affectingly it evolved).

Most movies succeed in the writing - this one had a great real story to tell - even without emphasizing the astonishingly grim post-convent life of its protagonist -- from her family's life in Paris during W.W.II (her father a figure in the Resistance) to the fascinating relationship with music. (Think of how fantastically the movie Hilary and Jackie showed a woman's conflicts about having her life revolve around music).

When I was a boy, Sister Soeur's songs were the leitmotif of our Catholic grade school - we all had to learn them in French, sing them in Christmas concerts for our parents, etc. It's such a shame that such an awful movie celebrates such light, cheery music. It's truly not worth watching.

She sings, she's feisty, she rides a scooter, she plays guitar! Debbie Reynolds dimples her way through super simplistic comedy-drama about a nun who inadvertently becomes a pop star. Based on a real-life Belgian nun who had a hit with "Dominique" (and subsequently left the church and took her own life), the film is so forgettable, your mind may flush it away before it is even over. Solid cast includes Katharine Ross, Chad Everett and Agnes Moorehead, but the "spiritual notes" are terribly phony--phonier than those in "The Sound of Music" (which it hopes to emulate). It's obviously not as good as that film, nor "The Trouble With Angels", nor TV's "The Flying Nun". ** from ****

the singing nun is a refreshing trip back in time -- when movies were uplifting and you left the theater feeling good about yourself and inspired.

any commenter can check off a list of flaws, unbelievable characters, improbable plot lines, etc. the fact that this story is based on a real-life nun is irrelevant. it's an inspiring story in it's purest form. real-life has a way of intruding on our dreams no matter what our intentions or who we are. same with the real singing nun. if you watch this movie with an open mind and check your cynicism at the door, you'll be rewarded with an uplifting experience.

debbie reynolds is in fine voice, as all the other comments seem to point out. the cast is strong and good. the music, if you grew up in the catholic church or any number of protestant churches in the 60's and 70's, will be familiar.

as a bonus, my 9 year-old daughter watched it with me recently on tcm and loved it. i didn't have to worry about any questionable scenes, a refreshing change nowadays.

so, there you have it from a rock and roll dad, still no saint, but touched nonetheless by a simple movie with a simple message. helping people less fortunate than us. what a concept.

Actually, this is not really as bad a movie as some would say it is. I think that it would have been more appreciated if it hadn't come out on the heels of the super-money maker "Sound of Music" which saved 20th Century Fox from going down-under into bankruptcy because of the very flopish Cleopatra which starred Liz and Dicky-Boy! We, here we have the Aba Daba Honeymoon girl Debbie Reynolds, who converted to the Jewish Religion because of her marriage to Eddie Fisher, playing a Christian Catholic Nun! Debbie Reynolds had really come a long way in there career from the days of playing Maureen the sister of the Daughter of Rosie O'Grady with June Haver to playing Helen Kane in Three Little Words; Three Weeks With Love, with Jane Powell who was also born on April Fools Day same as Debbie was, having a record hit with her and Carleton Carpenter singing Aba Daba Honeymoon. Then she later went to game in Singing in the Rain, playing a dog reincarnated into a female human form, and later in the wonderful Unsinkable Molly Brown, but to Debbies credit, n The Singing Nun she does some of her finest singing and it's incredible to hear her since she really never had one singing lesson exact for some coaching in her M.G.M. days, and coaching is not the same as taking singing lessons. Her singing is wonderful to hear! Then we have the rest of the cast trying to not look embarrassed for agreeing to appear in this film. You sometimes think that Ricardo Montalban is looking around thinking, "Where's Esther Williams to throw me in a swimming pool to do a water ballet to save this turkey!" Agnes Moorehead looks like she's trying to still play Endora on Bewitched. Tom Drake looks like he's looking around to see if Judy Garland will save him by doing some kind of singing duet. Greer Garson is playing the Mother Superior trying to still be Mrs. Minever. Chad Everett is still acting like Dr. Gannon in which he could say, as he did almost every Medical Hospiital show he was on "It's an aneurysm!" I wonder if that's what he thought of the movie? Debbie Reynolds was in an interview on Turner Classics and even though she and Gene Kelly hated each other in the making of Singing In The Rain, she did say that if it wasn't for what she learned from him she wouldn't have lasted in this business for 60 years. So, put it all together, The Singing Nun is not that bad of a movie, and you should see it in a movie theater with it's wide-screen and stereophonic sound to really appreciate it for what it is which is a great entertainment package for the whole family to enjoy together. Wonder what ever happened to that kind of movie? But, again, to give her credit, Debbie Reynolds does her finest singing ever, and she is a real joy to watch in this film!

I agree that Debbie sings some of the best musical numbers of her career, and between the songs in "Bundle of Joy" and "The Singing Nun" I'll take "The Singing Nun".

Just as the film "Jeannie Eagels" is a fantasy very loosely based on the life of ill-fated actress Jeannie Eagels and as such basically only got one or two facts straight, so does "The Singing Nun" stretch reality and we wretch. Stretch and Wretch.

On the other hand, if we accept these films as the fiction they are, then they become good "moral" stories. And so "The Singing Nut" Debbie Reynolds sings and dimples her way through a film that resembles reality in only the fact that a nun named "Sister Smile" actually put out an album of her songs and it caused a big flurry of worry for the Sister.

Maybe some of the songs in the film were actually written by Jeanne-Paul Marie Deckers but the words for "Dominique" seem to not be the same words shown in the English translation of the song on my copy of the original album. There is a song called "Sister Adele" about her Spanish guitar which is also not the same song as the one played in the film, and another funny item is the guitar Debbie Reynolds wields happens to be a Nylon Stringed Classical guitar- A Spanish Guitar does not have a round hole, a Spanish Guitar happens to have F-Holes and steel strings.

Even though this film is fiction and fantasy and ideology, I do not cringe when I see it like I do "The Sound of Music" or "My Fair Lady"- where I do not know why they bothered to write dialogue when they could have just sung those movies all the way through with no dialogue whatsoever. although the music and song in those films is overwhelming, the fact that they are nonstop though the films is also overwhelming and can only be enjoyed in very small doses. On the other hand, "The flying, er, Singing Nun" has some good acting by Anges Moorehead who is my favourite Red Headed Actress and Bey**ch, oh I just loved Agnes, she could do anything including all kinds of ethnic parts, Ricardo Montal-Khan dons a priestly habit rather than a pair of swim trunks or 23rd Century Barbarian Garb, and Katherine Ross is very good: Almost to the point that she does not resemble a girl who is heading toward prostitution, she is too squeaky-clean. Someone made a comment that all this film was missing was Bing Crosby and I agree, where was he when this was made? The main reason I like this film is because I loved the song "Dominique" as a small child - Everyone loved that song, and I mean it was everywhere when it came out. This film- Although getting the life of Soeur Sourire totally wrong, does NOT get wrong the feeling o the early 60's which I happen to remember because "I was there". I do not mean in Belgium, but in 1963, and although I grew up in southern California and not Belgium, the outdoor scenes in this film make me remember things I have forgotten for decades.

One thing the film is accurate about: That a nun could write a song, record it, and it becomes not just a local hit that was apparently originally intended to be sold only locally to help the Convent, but by a set of extremely lucky circumstances this song would also become an International hit, a worldwide hit and a song of comfort after the assassination of JFK. The film does not exaggerate the impact the song had on the world, as a matter of fact, it waters that impact down a bit.

Sister Anne had a different fate other than the one shown at the end of the film, but that does not matter to me: This film is fantasy, not reality: Because I want to think it could have been good like that for the real Singing Nun, but life is sometimes not as simple as shown in movies.

I am looking at the artwork on and in the Album Cover and there is even a set of lithographed prints... And ultimately that art speaks about a faith that is simple, and that is the only thing that matters really, and I wish that could have been brought out in this film- But it is not, it is not even mentioned at all, and he artwork was just as important as the music.

As I've been told, when the big boys at 20th Century Fox first saw The Sound of Music in their studio projection room, they said, "This is going to bomb all over the place, so let's get it out in the theaters, make as much money as we can off this fiasco and pull it back in. So, remember that in those days, you didn't know what the preview would be until the film started rolling in the movie theater, and if my memory serves me correct, it was given a sneak preview in Minneapolis, and after the first half played, everyone screamed, clapped and whistled, and after the second half it sounded like the roof of theater was caving in because of the positive response, so Fox said, "Now wait a minute! Maybe we've got something here that we're not aware of, so they released The Sound of Music nationwide on a Reserve Seat basis, and when the critics saw it, they all reported that it would put everyone in a diabetic comma and would last a year, but they were wrong, and the rest is history! O.K., so "The Singing Nun" is not The Sound of Music! Big deal! So, The Sound of Music was just about playing out its 3 year run in most theaters, and as usual, someone in Hollywood says, "Let's cash in on the popularity of the movie and do our own musical about a bunch of Nuns, and Metro Goldwyn Mayers effort was "The Singing Nun" with Jewish convert Debbie Reynolds playing a Nun; that sings as well as Debbie Reynolds, and in all fairness, the movie might not be what the big boys at M.G.M. wanted, but it gave Debbie Reynolds the chance to do her finest singing ever! Her vocals in the movie, as far as I'm concerned, are superb! So, what about the cast and the film itself. Here's Greer Garson at the end of her career, Marshall Thompson, at the end of his, Ricardo Montalban famous for swimming with Esther Williams in her swimming musicals, Agnes Moorehead still looking like she'd like to cast a nasty on Darrin in Bewitched, and Chad Everett still looking like Doctor Gannon who claimed more animism's in his hospital T.V. show than would ever see on T.V. Soap General Hospital or Greay's Anatomy! The Singing Nun is not a good movie, but it's not a bad one either, and in ways it's very entertaining, but once again, it does afford Debbie Reynolds to do her finest singing ever in any of her films! Her singing in The Singing Nun is superb and spiritually uplifting, and fulfilling!

For Catholics, this movie is very easy to digest. This movie illustrates age-old lessons from the gospel parables in such a simple yet compelling plot. Sis Ann is your everyday man. She has God-given talents. Composing and singing beautiful songs which are her prayers. Will she keep these talents to herself (bury the talents ) or share it with the public to glorify God? Initially, she is confused by the attention and adulation of the world but finally able to lift herself back on track in the service of the Lord. Fr. Clementi is the able priest who trusts in Divine PRovidence. And God provides! Even the minor characters will help remind the viewers of Christian lessons as they were taught in catechism days, like humility versus jealousness, ignorance versus wisdom, etc. Among the songs in the track, I like the Beyond the Stars the most.

What a silly, Hollywood-ized movie where Debbie Reynolds plays a real-life nun (in full make-up, no less) who once had a romance with a man (played by Chad Everett, no less) but decides that singing to an imaginary being (and wearing lipstick and mascara) is the life she prefers even though the man, now a record producer, is still carrying a torch for her. In reality, "The Singing Nun" was a big, homely lesbian who had a female lover and later took her own life -- and she never wore makeup either. The only memorable and accurate thing about this fiction is the hit song she had and I dare anyone to try and get it out of your head after hearing it. "Dominque" is playing over and over in my head as I write this and I may go insane!