After triumphing at the Academy Awards® (including wins for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor) with the 1944 box office smash Going My Way, director Leo McCarey (Duck Soup) and star Bing Crosby immediately collaborated on the equally successful follow-up, The Bells of St. Mary’s, presented here in a heavenly 4K restoration.

Father “Chuck” O’Malley (Crosby) is dispatched to fix up an inner-city parochial school on its last legs, and his easy-going, unconventional demeanour instantly clashes with that of the firm, no-nonsense Sister Superior Mary Benedict (Ingrid Bergman, fresh off winning the Best Actress Oscar® for Gaslight), who is keeping the school open through sheer will and faith alone. Over the course of the school year, the pair bicker and ultimately bond over their differing visions on how to save the school – and the role a miserly businessman (Henry Travers, It’s A Wonderful Life) who wants the building condemned might play in doing so.

An instant crowd-pleaser on its release, The Bells of St. Mary’s remains just as affecting today, thanks to McCarey’s directorial light touch, Crosby’s laidback charisma and iconic singing voice, and Bergman’s radiant charm, all of which earned them well-deserved Oscar® nominations.

SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS

• 4K restoration of the film from Paramount
• High Definition Blu-ray™ (1080p) presentation
• Original lossless mono audio
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
• Up to His Neck in Nuns, an all-new visual essay by David Cairns
• Analysing O’Malley, a newly filmed appreciation by chaplain and film academic Revd Dr Steve Nolan
• You Can Change The World, a 30-minute religious propaganda short film from 1949 directed by McCarey and featuring appearances from Crosby, Bob Hope, Irene Dunne, William Holden and Jack Benny, presented in High Definition
• Two Screen Guild Theater radio adaptations starring Crosby and Bergman, plus an additional radio featurette
• Re-release theatrical trailer
• Image gallery
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Jennifer Dionisio

FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Fully illustrated booklet containing new writing on the film by Ronald Bergen

BLU-RAY DETAILS:

Director: Leo McCarey
Cast: Bing Crosby, Ingrid Bergman, Henry Travers

RRP: £22.99
Region: B
Rating: U
Genre: Drama, Musical
Duration: 126 mins
Language: English
Subtitles: English SDH
Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1
Audio: Mono 1.0
Colour: B&W
Discs: 1

Blu-ray
Cat No: FCD1940
Barcode: 5027035021096