THE NUN'S STORY (1959) C widescreen 149m dir: Fred Zinnemann

w/Audrey Hepburn, Peter Finch, Edith Evans, Peggy Ashcroft, Dean Jagger, Mildred Dunnock, Beatrice Straight, Patricia Collinge, Rosalie Crutchley, Ruth White, Barbara O'Neil, Margaret Phillips, Patricia Bosworth, Colleen Dewhurst, Stephen Murray, Lionel Jeffries, Niall MacGinnis, Eva Kotthaus, Molly Urquhart, Dorothy Alison, Jeanette Sterke, Errol John, Diana Lambert, Orlando Martins

From Variety's contemporary review of the film: "Fred Zinnemann's production is a soaring and luminous film. Hepburn has her most demanding film role, and she gives her finest performance. Despite the seriousness of the underlying theme, The Nun's Story has the elements of absorbing drama, pathos, humor, and a gallery of memorable scenes and characters. The struggle is that of a young Belgian woman (Hepburn) to be a successful member of an order of cloistered nuns. The order (not specified) is as different from the ordinary 'regular guy' motion picture conception of nuns as the army is from the Boy Scouts. Its aim is total merging of self. Although the story is confined chiefly to three convents, in Belgium and the Congo, the struggle is fierce. Hepburn, attempting to be something she is not, is burned fine in the process.

"One of the consistent gratifications is the cast. In addition to Edith Evans as the Mother Superior, who might have been a Renaissance prelate, there is Peggy Ashcroft, another convent superior, but less the dignitary, more the anchorite. Mildred Dunnock is a gentle, maiden aunt of a nun; Patricia Collinge a gossipy cousin.

"Peter Finch and Dean Jagger are the only males in the cast of any stature. Finch, as an intelligent, attractive agnostic, conveys a romantic attachment for Hepburn, but in terms that can give no offense. Jagger is Hepburn's perturbed loving father but contributes a valuable facet on the story.

"Despite the seeming austerity of the story, Zinnemann has achieved a pictorial sweep and majesty. Franz Planer's Technicolor photography has a Gothic grace and muted splendor, Franz Waxman's score is a great one, giving proper place to cathedral organs and Congo drums."

Of course, Variety's review was written in 1959, at the time of the film's release, long before Hepburn became a spokesperson for UNICEF and the children of the world. Seeing her now in the film, with the Congalese children, adds an additional layer of poignancy to her performance.

The following contains information you may not want to know before viewing the film for the first time:

From the Emanuel Levy website (www.emanuellevy.com), this 2006 review of the film:

"Some critics consider The Nun's Story, which doesn’t fit easy categorization in terms of genre, to be Fred Zinnemann’s masterpiece, a feature that’s least compromised by commercial considerations in subject, tone, and running time.

"The Nun's Story is a memorable revelation of the seldom-seen world behind convent walls. Audrey Hepburn portrays Sister Luke, a nun whose life journey leads her to a much-desired position as a surgical nurse in a Belgian Congo missionary hospital. After she returns to her native Belgium, World War II breaks out and she finds her commitment seriously tested --- torn between the pull of the Resistance and the church’s neutrality.

"Based on Kathryn Hulmes' best-selling novel, Robert Anderson’s script depicts the spiritual tug-of-war between adherence to the vows of chastity, obedience, silence, and poverty and a rebellion against those very vows.

"Hepburn stars as Sister Luke in this tale of a young woman’s decision to become a nursing nun in the Belgian Congo. Her arduous soul-searching results in her decision to leave the Holy Order, realizing that she is spiritually unsuited to the discipline imposed by it.

"The first part, done in a semi-documentary style, depicts how a young woman becomes a nun, specifically the various stages through which she has to pass before taking her final vows. Through Mother Superior (Edith Evans), the movie articulates the philosophy and spiritual stress in the formation of a nun, and the effects of the rigorous education on her.

"Despite a deeply personal and private tug-of-war, between her wish to respect the ingrained discipline and her spirit to rebel. Initially, she is threatened by the fecund life in the Congo, and a couple of violent incidents shock her mind. Then there are pressures of her daily routines and constant, incisive criticism of her practices from an attractive and agnostic medical man (Peter Finch) that disturb and upset her mind.

"She suffers a slight case of tuberculosis and is sent back to Belgium to recover. Later one, she is disappointingly denied the right to avenge her slain father by serving as a nurse with the Belgian underground in WWII.

"Instead, she is assigned as a surgical nurse at a local hospital, where her struggle with obedience becomes impossible for her to sustain, as she is forced into compromises in coping with the reality of the Nazi occupation. In the end, unable to endure the discipline of her order, she is granted her wish to be released.

"The final scene, in which she changes into ordinary garb and walks out of the gate is remarkably effective. It has no score, ending in silence, an uncommon stylistic choice for the era, but consistent with the sound strategy of Zinnemann and composer Franz Waxman.

"The movie represents a tender elegy to the fading traditions of European convent life and serves as a great celebration of the primacy of conscience, a consistent theme in all of Zinnemann’s oeuvre, including his 1966 Oscar winning film, A Man for All Seasons.

"As director, Zinnemann succeeds in combining a film of ideas with strong visual imagery that benefits from the stunning contrast of color. Contemplative in tempo and mood, this offbeat drama describes a parable of spiritual deflation that ends in a strange sort of defeat. On one level, she loses her soul, and on another, she regains it.

"In one of her strongest, most fluent, and luminous appearances, Hepburn is perfect for the part, registering emotions with her expressive eyes and eloquent gestures. In her interpretation, the Sister’s maturation is all internal with no help from make-up, costume, or hairdo.

"The critic Stanley Kauffmann wrote: 'Audrey Hepburn’s performance as Sister Luke is better than her sheer ability could make it, because her person is so right for the part. After she has done all she can do with knowledge, her beauty speaks for her. Hepburn’s beauty serves as an intensifying glass for the inner travail she is trying to convey.'

"As for the men, Peter Finch gives a strong, taut performance as the handsome tropical physician whose views upset Sister Luke and lead her to reassess her own way of life, and Dean Jagger is appropriately tender and affectionate as the nun’s father.

"The stellar supporting cast includes Edith Evans, Patricia Collinge, Peggy Ashcroft, Mildred Dunnock, and Beatrice Straight, all playing Sisters. Colleen Dewhurst, who later became a major theater actress, makes her feature debut in s small but attention-calling part."

Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Director, Actress (Hepburn), Adapted Screenplay (Robert Anderson, based on the book by Kathryn Hulmes), Color Cinematography (Franz Planer), Editing (Walter Thompson), Scoring of a Dramatic Picture (Franz Waxman), and Sound (George Groves). It seems incredible that this fine film came up empty at the awards ceremony, but 1959 was also the year of BEN-HUR, which swept almost every award it was nominated for.