Movie Monday - Nuns and Christmas!

I've watched two movies, almost back to back, about nuns.  They were aired by TCM as part of their celebration of Christmas.  I'm not so sure what either of these two movies had to do with Christmas other than Christianity.

Let me step to the side and discuss Christmas movies.  I never wanted to like It's a Wonderful Life mostly because everybody and their dog loves it - pretty much a formula for me hating something.  But dammit, I really do like It's a Wonderful Life.  It's a nice wholesome story, with a nice message.  It's funny, and heartfelt, and just... nice.  And in case you are thickheaded like me, it's a twist on A Christmas Carol with a more modern theme and less spooky - those ghosts always freaked me out.

Elf is another family friendly movie, driving home the Christmas message of brotherly love.  It's super cute and very funny but I fear a lot non-kid-toting adults may have missed it.  Basically a child ends up being raised as an elf in Santa's workshop, but when he grows up he decides to find his biological family.  He is a misfit in both worlds.

The one movie could watch any time of the year, over and over and over again, is Christmas Vacation.  I laugh my ass off every single time.  The Griswold gang is their crazy selves but my favorite is the crazy aunt with her cat and that jello mold with Meow Mix.  I don't know how you can't laugh. 

So, about the nun's... like I said I'm not sure what either of these have to do with Christmas, but I liked both of them.

The Nun's Story (1959) takes Audrey Hepburn's character leaving her family's home to join a convent through her struggles as a novice and assuming her vows.  This happens before World War II and deals a little bit with the impact of war.  This is quintessential Oscar material as it shows a person's growth, development, and questioning her life path.  It bored the ever living snot out of my husband as he walked through the room and tried to avoid the screen.  Yeah, it was a little slow, and it was heavy on the churchy music.  What I found intriguing, though, is the process of becoming a nun.  I'm not Catholic and the chicks in the penguin get-ups are more than a little mystifying to me.  In the end, I decided, you know besides not being Catholic, that I would really suck as a nun.  I am really bad about following rules and they are really strict about them rules!  It was intriguing, educational (to me), and overall a nice story.

Come To the Stable (1949) was soooooooo not the movie I was expecting.  I thought it was going to be about the birth of Christ.  Nope, nothing of the sort.  At the end of World War II, two french nuns arrive in Bethlehem, New York and end up staying in a converted stable on a mission to build a children's hospital.  The one nun is completely driven by faith and seems to bulldoze everyone in the sweetest manner possible.  As the owner of the stable asks, "you don't expect to stay here?"  the nun responds, "why thank you for asking!"  And she manages to do that to everyone she encounters.  I liked this movie almost as a natural follow-up, sort of, to The Nun's Story.  It's like the first one is about going to school and the second one is what you do after you graduate.  That's rather simplistic, but the two do fit together.  This one has a lot of humor and even though you're pretty sure they will succeed in getting the hospital built, it's not a clear path.