mark.waltz The legendary future "King of Hollywood" meets the future "Queen of Broadway" in this remake of a silent classic that starred another odd pairing. Clark Gable was at the start of a long reign as the top dog at MGM, while Helen Hayes, already a stage star, attempted a screen career that left her cold because of her longing for the footlights. A recent Oscar winner, she had several more years to go on her contract, and did the best she could with what she got. Gable, just over a year from receiving his Oscar, was made for the cinema. Hayes, however, longed for applause, not something you get from being 15 feet tall on a movie screen.Their single pairing has them as star crossed lovers during World War I who are torn apart by fate. Believing him dead, she goes into a convent, leaving behind the life she's known, certain that his death was God's way of telling her that she was not meant to be a wife. Gable, in the meantime, struggles to get back to her, tearing them both apart when the truth comes out. Co-starring Lewis Stone as her stern father, Louise Closser Hale as her companion, Edward Arnold as the priest who advises her and May Robson as the kindly mother superior, quite a different role for her from the same year's "Lady For a Day". This is quite a different type of film for the rugged Victor Fleming who directed gable in several tough guy roles. The MGM gloss is glorious, and if you open your heart, you might find it nearly broken from the emotional story.

blanche-2 One of the reviews on this site talks about the good old days when, if you wanted to see a film, you had to set your alarm for 3 a.m., or stay up past 11 p.m. in order to see it. And most of the time, five minutes into it, you fell asleep."White Sister" is a remake of a film starring Lillian Gish and Ronald Coleman. Studios often did this, making one an A-film, and remaking it as a B-film. I am thinking this was a B film since I don't think Clark Gable had quite made it big yet; he was still being "groomed." Helen Hayes, of course, was from the stage, and while she made some films, she never became a superstar.Hayes plays Angela, the daughter of a Prince (Lewis Stone). She is betrothed to a banker, Ernesto Traversi. He's boring; Angela has a lot of verve and is interested in fun, as young people are.She meets Lt. Giovanni Severi (Gable) at a carnival, and they fall in love. When she tells her father, he is furious. Angela rushes to Giovanni's barracks, but he isn't there; she is sent to the Officer's Club. Meanwhile, her father had the same idea and is en route to the barracks when the cars crash, and her father is killed. Angela is injured.She feels terribly guilty and, at any rate, she can't marry him while she is in mourning. He goes into battle, and it seems that he has been killed.Devastated, Angela enters a convent and takes her vows as a nun. Some time passes, and it turns out that Giovanni escaped from a prison camp and is being cared for on a farm. With his captors on his trail, he takes off and eventually gets home and goes looking for Angela.This is a well-acted story, schlocky by today's standards, but still moving. I think it's because of the sincerity of the performances. Helen Hayes as a young woman was pretty. I notice she was never photographed full face, perhaps because her eyes were so far apart. I'm just guessing.One would think that by today's standards, the acting would be melodramatic and seem over the top, but it doesn't. Hayes was a great actress - today there is a theater, a hospital, and an award named for her. She gives a lovely performance, soft and fragile.Clark Gable here is young and handsome and does a solid job. He isn't smooth like Ronald Colman; he has a toughness and a ruggedness that would serve him well over his career. I really enjoyed the movie. It has a sweetness about it not found in today's films.

jjnxn-1 Over the top melodrama isn't a bad antique but it is an antique.Overwrought emotions dominate from almost the first frame and only become more hard to swallow as the picture unspools. Part of the problem lies with Helen Hayes. Perhaps it's partially my own perception having become familiar with her when she had moved into her highly entertaining old lady phase but she seems too old for her part or her pairing with Clark Gable. It doesn't help that she was never completely comfortable on the screen in her youth relying on stage techniques that don't translate well to the movie screen. Her method and Gable's do not mesh and while she's playing to the back row he is his usual low key self, they share little chemistry.The film has its moments and a decent supporting cast but the lack of rapport between the two leads in what is basically a story of great unrequited love makes this a struggle to get through at times.

crispy_comments I admire the stars of this film, and they give great performances, as expected. The acting strikes all the right emotional chords, but unfortunately the material is weak - one of those Doomed Romances where the plot contrives to keep the lovers apart through one calamity after another, and some stupid, unnecessary sacrifices made by the Heroine.She believes he's been killed in the war and becomes a nun. He escapes from prison camp *just* too late to stop her from taking her final vows. Oh, fate is Cru-el! Of course you're supposed to enjoy the soapy drama without questioning it, and have a good cry, but I just roll my eyes and berate the characters on the screen.She could've waited a bit before taking such a radical step - after all, he was only missing & presumed dead. I wouldn't be giving up on *my* True Love so soon. And after the poor guy struggles repeatedly to get back to her, how is he rewarded for being so brave, clever and loyal? He finds out she wasn't loyal to *him*, and she isn't brave enough to be with him no matter what. (I choose to interpret the "White" in this film's title as "Cowardly", thankyouverymuch).Oh, she can't renounce her vows (even though technically she *can*). It's Too Late. She's married to Jesus now. Even though she admits she still loves Gable and wouldn't have gone through with it if she'd found out he survived. Which means her vows are a mockery anyway and she pretty much lied during the ceremony. Isn't it compelling to watch someone struggle to suppress their real feelings for the sake of a promise made because it gave her "comfort", even when the reason & need for said comfort has been removed? No, it's just infuriating.The ending really piles on the soapsuds, as the Hero finally accepts her decision, and they have their upteenth Moving Goodbye Scene ...How many times do we have to watch these two say Goodbye Forever?! 1. when her father disapproves of him & she tries to honour her engagement to another man - 2. when she feels too guilty to be with Gable now that her father's gone, because dad died while chasing her (!) to stop her from being with Gable, you see! - 3. when Gable goes off to war - 4. when he first visits her at the convent & she sends him away - 5. when he finally stops pursuing her but promises to love her for the rest of his life ... and get ready for one more! A few seconds later the "rest of his life" is cut short (with just enough time to say Goodbye again though!) as he's killed by a bomb during a raid (which wouldn't have happened if she hadn't insisted on going back to the convent, under his escort).Sheesh. Jesus really hates this guy for moving in on His woman, eh? Gable promises to wait for her in the afterlife, but I have a feeling the Eternal Love Triangle will never be resolved. God, the big bully, will keep tripping Gable up with banana peels in Heaven. Or maybe He'll just remove the competition and send the guy to Hell. Fate is Cru-el that way."The White Sister" started off promisingly, with some cute and amusing courting scenes between the would-be lovers. Too bad the film descended into contrived melodrama that only a masochist (or a repressed nun, but now I'm being redundant) could enjoy.