The Preacher's Wife

"They needed help. What they got was a miracle."

1996 2h 3m EN

😐

5.8

MID

🍅

60%

FRESH

⭐

5.7

IMDB

★5.8TMDB · 269🍅60%Rotten Tomatoes★5.7IMDB · 14,471

FamilyFantasyDramaComedyRomance

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Good-natured Reverend Henry Biggs finds that his marriage to choir mistress Julia is flagging, due to his constant absence caring for the deprived neighborhood they live in. On top of all this, his church is coming under threat from property developer Joe Hamilton. In desperation, Biggs prays to God for help – which arrives in the form of an angel named Dudley.

“They needed help. What they got was a miracle.”

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Cast

Denzel Washington
Dudley
Whitney Houston
Julia Biggs
Courtney B. Vance
Reverend Henry Biggs
Gregory Hines
Joe Hamilton
Jenifer Lewis
Margueritte Coleman
Loretta Devine
Beverly
Paul Bates
Saul Jeffreys
Justin Pierre Edmund
Jeremiah Biggs

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Penny Marshall
Writers: Nat Mauldin, Allan Scott, Robert E. Sherwood
Languages: English, Hausa, Spanish
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

30 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 3 languages: English, Hausa, Spanish.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Penny Marshall, shot by Miroslav Ondříček. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Hans Zimmer. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Stephen A. Rotter shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Denzel Washington and Whitney Houston and Courtney B. Vance carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "They needed help. What they got was a miracle.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0117372 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Penny Marshall directs. Miroslav Ondříček behind the camera. Hans Zimmer scores. Stephen A. Rotter cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English, Hausa, Spanish.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

130 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
2Dialogue crosses 3 languages: English, Hausa, Spanish.
3Directed by Penny Marshall, shot by Miroslav Ondříček. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Hans Zimmer. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Stephen A. Rotter shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Denzel Washington and Whitney Houston and Courtney B. Vance carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "They needed help. What they got was a miracle.".
8IMDB entry: tt0117372 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Released under 11 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Miroslav Ondříček
Original score: Hans Zimmer
Editing: Stephen A. Rotter
Production design: Bill Groom
Costume design: Cynthia Flynt
Makeup / hair: Larry M. Cherry
Runtime: 123 min · 2h 3m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $40,000,000
Box office: $48,100,000
Return: 120% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG
IMDB: The Preacher's Wife (1996)
Rotten Tomatoes: 60% 🍅 Fresh
IMDB rating: 5.7/10 · 14,471 votes
MPAA: PG

Awards

Nominated for 1 Oscar. 4 wins & 7 nominations total

Also by

Penny Marshall

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Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2025-01-02
★ 5/10
No, no, no, no, no! What in the name of all that's holy convinced anyone that a remake of the delightfully charming "Bishop's Wife" (1947) ought to happen? Instead of that charmingly engaging story of a pre-occupied Bishop losing sight of what really mattered, we get this noisy and aggressive vehicle for Whitney Houston to prove she can shout her songs at us. She's married to the affable minister (Courtney B. Vance) whose church is facing an existential crisis. It's a lone beacon of hope in a deprived area of the city but it's also a prime site for redevelopment, and "Joe" (Gregory Hines) is determined to turn the steeple into a skyscraper. All this rearguard action is taking it's toll on his marriage though, so up pops "Dudley" (Denzel Washington) as the mischievous angel intent on helping this particular lost sheep. Thing is, the more he involves himself in the affairs of this couple the more he begins to fall for "Julia", she for him and nobody is really making any progress on the job in hand. The rest of this is faithful enough to the original but way too much of this is contrived to give it's singing star an opportunity to belt out "I Believe in You and Me" as well as a few more typically seasonal numbers. We all know she could sing, but this isn't singing. It's just showing off. She has a formidable vocal range but the deliveries here lack any kind of subtlety or delicacy. It's as if she was using her own voice instead of a wrecking ball to help out "Joe"! It's just completely class-free, charm-free and I don't think it need to have been made at all. Nobody's finest moments here, sorry.

Production companies