The 'Song of Bernadette' gives us (as viewers) a little insight into the life of one of the best known saints in the Catholic religion….'St Bernadette'. It was from Bernadette's efforts and deep faith, the spring of healing waters at Lourdes were given to us. From Our Lady and through Bernadette the spring started to flow….to this very day it continues to help the faithful who are sick and disabled.

A beautifully scripted film, it tells the story of Bernadette Soubirous, a young French girl who was chosen above all others to bestow her eyes on the Mother of Christ. One day in a grotto in the province of Lourdes France she has a vision of Our Lady – The Immaculate Conception. The Story follows her journey from poor peasant girl till she enters the convent.

One of the many reasons why I love this film is because of the sincerity and unrelenting faith one person can have, faced with so much doubt and ridicule shown by others. The performance of Jennifer Jones is flawless, proved in the fact she received an Oscar for her efforts. The other cast members were brilliant too; each individual character portrayed their role with conviction. So many wonderful actors; Anne Revere, Vincent Price, Charles Bickford, Lee J. Cobb and Gladys Cooper in support. The production, especially the set designs give a realism to the actual time period of France in the 1800's. Altogether this film accumulated 4 Academy Awards, and 3 of them unsurprisingly going to production; Cinematography, Art Direction and Best Musical Score. I give it a well deserved 9/10.

"Song of Bernadette" is the film that helped make Jennifer Jones famous. Not only did she receive an Oscar for her performance, but suddenly David O. Selznick's protégé (and mistress) was seen as a big-time star and she went on to many more projects. While I respect the high quality of the film, I was left a bit ambivalent about "Song of Bernadette"--and I assume that much of this is because times have changed. I blockbuster performance in the 1940s does not necessarily translate to a great performance in today's standards. And, to me, her performance was a bit odd to say the least.

The film is about a famous peasant girl, often referred to as Bernadette of Lourdes--a young lady who reputedly received visions of the Blessed Virgin and who discovered a well with reputed miraculous properties. It follows her from just before these visions to her very untimely death. Considering it occurred during the 19th century, it's not surprising that there was a lot more skepticism regarding her claims than there might have been in the more distant past--it was, especially in France, an age of reason. Much of the film centers on this skepticism and seems to take a strong position that Bernadette's visions were, in fact, real. How true all this actually is....well,...we'll never know, though I am VERY skeptical of one of the film's themes--that with suffering comes salvation and sainthood.

There were a lot of wonderful things about this film, even if you aren't Catholic and into the whole suffering tradition. The quality of the project is top-notch and it's obvious that Twentieth Century- Fox pulled out all the stops. The direction, supporting acting and overall look of the film is just great--as nice looking as other top Fox projects of the day, such as "How Green Was My Valley". However, there was one thing I didn't like about the film...Jones' performance. Again and again, her acting consisted of staring with a look on her face that looks as if she's a bit vacuous while she smiles. I think this was supposed to be angelic or holy--but to me it just seemed overdone and anything but realistic. As a result, her character seems rather one-dimensional and unreal. I am pretty sure the real Bernadette acted more like a French peasant...since she WAS a French peasant. So, you've got a great looking film that hinges on an Oscar-winning performance that seems to me to be very dated. What do you think? I'd be curious to know. Perhaps you liked Jones' performance or could look past this.