12 Days of Christmas: Come to the Stable

In the opening minutes we watch two French nuns in black habits walking over hills cloaked in pristine white snow when they see a sign post that shows the directions to Jordan, Galilee, Nazareth, and Bethlehem. The sisters walk towards Bethlehem and hear a lovely voice singing in Latin, “Oh Come All Ye Faithful.” They Come to the Stable and see a living nativity, complete with singing and flying angels. When the camera moves back, we realize that this scene is being captured on the canvas of artist Amelia Potts, as endearingly portrayed by Elsa Lanchester. Before Miss Potts realizes it, Sisters Margaret and Scholastica have taken up residence with her. These are nuns on a mission to fulfill a promise made to God to build a hospital in America after World War II.

Loretta Young and Celeste Holm are radiant as sisters of the Order of Holy Endeavor. They have to work with three men who each provide obstacles to their purpose: a composer and neighbor, Robert Mason (Hugh Marlowe), a Bishop (Basil Ruysdael) with no money to assist them and the power to stop their effort, and a wealthy “bookie” in New York named Luigi Rossi (Thomas Gomez) who owns the land on which they want to build.

The screenplay was written in 1949 by Clare Boothe Luce and was quite different from her previous works, including The Women. In 1944, Luce’s only child, Ann, died at the age of 19 in an automobile accident. Part of Luce’s healing from this tragedy included her conversion to Roman Catholicism. Come to the Stable was her first written work after these events.

There is a charming quality to this film that is reflected in unlikely happenstances and the luminescent countenances of Loretta Young and Celeste Holm. Dooley Wilson is delightful as Anthony James, an employee of Mason who, along with Miss Potts, provides consistent support for the sisters, despite the challenges they encounter.

Interesting note: The four areas named on the sign post exist in Israel. Pennsylvania appears to have all four areas although Jordan is a township. The box containing my videotape copy of the movie identifies the location as Bethlehem, Connecticut. There are, however, several dozen cities by that name in the U.S. The location would seem to need to be in close proximity to New York because the nuns travel there in a jeep that is open at the top.