The Song of Bernadette

"Here is greatness... wonder... and majesty... no human words can describe!"

1943 2h 36m EN

👍

7.1

SOLID

🍅

87%

FRESH

⭐

7.6

IMDB

★7.1TMDB · 134🍅87%Rotten Tomatoes★7.6IMDB · 7,806

Drama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

In 1858 Lourdes, France, adolescent peasant Bernadette has a vision of "a beautiful lady" in the Massabielle grotto - the townspeople assume this lady to be the Virgin Mary. Pompous government officials think the girl is insane, doing their best to suppress her and her followers, while the church wants nothing to do with the matter. But as Bernadette attracts wider and wider attention, the phenomenon overtakes everyone in the town, ultimately transforming their lives.

“Here is greatness... wonder... and majesty... no human words can describe!”

WhatsApp X Facebook Telegram

Where to watch · US

DarkroomSubscription

Amazon VideoRent

Apple TV StoreRent

Google Play MoviesRent

Google Play MoviesBuy

YouTubeBuy

Fandango At HomeBuy

Cast

Jennifer Jones
Bernadette
William Eythe
Antoine Nicolau
Charles Bickford
Father Peyramale
Vincent Price
Prosecutor Vital Dutour
Lee J. Cobb
Dr. Dozous
Gladys Cooper
Sister Marie Therese Vauzous
Anne Revere
Louise Soubirous
Roman Bohnen
François Soubirous

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Henry King
Writers: George Seaton
Languages: French, English
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

RUNTIME

Did you know

Clocks in at 156 minutes — on the longer side of feature-length cinema.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $2.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

83 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: French, English.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Henry King, shot by Arthur C. Miller. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

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

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

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

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Jennifer Jones and William Eythe and Charles Bickford carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Henry King directs. Arthur C. Miller behind the camera. Alfred Newman scores. Barbara McLean cuts. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in French, English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Clocks in at 156 minutes — on the longer side of feature-length cinema.
2Shot for just $2.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
383 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
4Dialogue crosses 2 languages: French, English.
5Directed by Henry King, shot by Arthur C. Miller. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Alfred Newman. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Barbara McLean shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Jennifer Jones and William Eythe and Charles Bickford carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "Here is greatness... wonder... and majesty... no human words can describe!".
10IMDB entry: tt0036377 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Classified under 16 themes, including "france", "countryside", "based on novel or book", "nun".

The technical file

Cinematography: Arthur C. Miller
Original score: Alfred Newman
Editing: Barbara McLean
Costume design: René Hubert
Makeup / hair: Guy Pearce
Runtime: 156 min · 2h 36m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $2,000,000
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: The Song of Bernadette (1943)
Rotten Tomatoes: 87% 🍅 Fresh
IMDB rating: 7.6/10 · 7,806 votes
MPAA: Approved

Awards

Won 4 Oscars. 8 wins & 8 nominations total

National Board of Review: Top Ten Films
Academy Award for Best Actress
Academy Award for Best Original Dramatic or Comedy Score
Academy Award for Best Art Direction, Black and White
Academy Award for Best Cinematography, Black-and-White

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Henry King

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2022-06-26
★ 7/10
Jennifer Jones turns in an engaging performance as the eponymous girl, living in mid-19th Century France, who claims to have received divine communications in a grotto near her local village of Lourdes. Unsurprisingly, she faces a fairly sceptical clergy and state but her fellow villagers lap it all up. That enthusiasm soon spreads and soon - like it or not - she is a phenomenon that has drawn the attention of the Empress Eugenie herself. Her problems only worsen when she is finally accepted, and validated by her church and she takes up residence in a nunnery where she is respected and resented in pretty much equal measure. Cynics may cast aspersions on the reasons behind the casting of Jones in this film, but nobody could argue that her performance is anything other than perfect. She has an innocence that lends well to the plausibility of her charming, unassuming persona and of her pretty turbulent - and short - life too. Charles Bickford also delivers well as her initially suspicious parish priest as do local magistrate "Dutour" (Vincent Price) and doctor "Dozous" (Lee J. Cobb). The writing is maybe not the most significant element of the story, indeed it is a bit vapid at times, but the story quite successfully captivates even now, 80 years later.

Production companies