The Song of Bernadette. 1945. USA. Directed by Henry King. Screenplay by George Seaton, from the novel by Franz Werfel. With Jennifer Joes, William Eythe, Charles Bickford, Vincent Price. DCP. 156 min.
Based on an international bestseller by the Jewish author Franz Werfel, who lived in Lourdes as a refugee escaping Nazi Germany, The Song of Bernadette enjoyed the full support of the Catholic church in America and, perhaps more important, the approval of Production Code czar Joseph L. Breen. Its premiere at New York’s Rivoli was ballyhooed by an 83-foot reproduction of Norman Rockwell’s portrait of Jennifer Jones, making her major studio debut as the peasant girl whose visions inspire a religious pilgrimage. Henry King’s direction leans toward the heavy and pious, though one redeeming note of camp is provided by Linda Darnell, in an unbilled special appearance.