Sister Act

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This article is about the film. For the musical stage adaptation, see Sister Act the Musical.
Sister Act
Original poster
Directed byEmile Ardolino
Written byJoseph Howard
Produced byScott Rudin
Teri Schwartz
StarringWhoopi Goldberg
Music byMarc Shaiman
Distributed byTouchstone Pictures
Release dates
29 May, 1992
Running time
100 min.
CountryUSA
LanguageEnglish

Sister Act is a 1992 American comedy film released by Touchstone Pictures. Directed by Emile Ardolino, it features musical arrangements by Marc Shaiman and stars Whoopi Goldberg as a Reno lounge singer who has been put under protective custody in a San Francisco convent and has to pretend to be a nun when a mob boss puts her on his hit list. Also in the cast are Maggie Smith, Kathy Najimy, Wendy Makkena, Mary Wickes, and Harvey Keitel. The film is #83 on Bravo's The 100 Funniest Movies list.

The film was followed by a 1993 sequel, Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit. It also inspired a musical stage version that premiered at the Pasadena Playhouse in Pasadena, California in 2006, and is due to open at the London Palladium with previews from 7 May 2009.

Plot

The movie opens at a Catholic elementary school in 1968. A young girl, revealed to be the film's main character, is warned against heading down the wrong path due to her behavior in class.

The girl is Deloris Van Cartier (played by Whoopi Goldberg), a Reno, Nevada lounge singer dating a married mobster, Vince LaRocca (Harvey Keitel) and she is oblivious to his criminal activities. But the relationship sours after an argument, and later Deloris witnessses him shoot his limo driver, who had been supposedly giving information to the police. Deloris manages to escape to the police and informs them that she is willing to testify against Vince; Lt. Eddie Souther (Bill Nunn) is put in charge of keeping her safe.

She reluctantly goes into hiding as a nun in a Catholic convent in San Francisco, California, where she wears a habit and is given the name "Sister Mary Clarence". Reverend Mother (Maggie Smith), who takes an instant dislike to Deloris, is only pacified by promises of funds for the neglected church, while Deloris herself chafes at the austere lifestyle of the convent and grates on the nerves of the Abbess, who puts her in the convent's choir (lackluster and off-key) to keep her out of trouble; but this is where she shines, taking over the choir and putting a new touch on old songs. She has the choir swinging and singing to gospel renditions of hymns ("Hail Holy Queen"), and soul music adapted to have religious themes (for example, Mary Wells' "My Guy" changed into "My God"). Despite Reverend Mother's protests, she brings new vigor into the convent and leads it in cleaning up the surrounding neighborhood. Her efforts draw a lot of attention, even from the Pope himself. Meanwhile, Deloris is finding peace and purpose.

The scheme is uncovered by Vince and Deloris is kidnapped by Vince's goons, to Eddie's dismay; but after explaining the situation to the other nuns they agree to help. Meanwhile, Vince orders Deloris killed; she remains calm, making Vince and company rattled, and subsequently escapes. The group of nuns survive the final conflict with Vince and he is arrested. The victorious nuns return to San Francisco for the Pope's concert. Deloris eventually returns to her successful singing career.

Cast

Young Deloris in film is played by Isis Carmen Jones, who had previously played a younger version of another of Goldberg's characters (Guinan) in an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Production

The church in which Whoopi Goldberg takes refuge is St. Paul's Catholic Church, located at Valley and Church Streets in Noe Valley, an upper middle class neighborhood of San Francisco. The storefronts on the opposite side of the street were converted to give the area a ghetto look.

The order of nuns depicted in the film is the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Third Order of Saint Francis, based on their habit.[1] In an obvious pun on Goldberg's skin tone, when the nuns visit Reno, Sister Mary Patrick asks two gamblers if they have "seen a nun, a Carmelite nun?"

Soundtrack

The film's soundtrack was released in conjunction with the film, and contained the musical numbers performed by actors in the film itself, pre-recorded songs that were used as part of the background music, and instrumental music composed by Marc Shaiman for the film. The track list is as follows:

  1. "The Lounge Medley" ("(Love Is Like A) Heat Wave"/"My Guy"/"I Will Follow Him") - Deloris & The Ronelles
  2. "The Murder" (instrumental)
  3. "Getting Into the Habit" (instrumental)
  4. "Rescue Me" - Fontella Bass
  5. "Hail Holy Queen" - Deloris & The Sisters
  6. "Roll With Me Henry" - Etta James
  7. "Gravy" - Dee Dee Sharp
  8. "My Guy (My God)" - Deloris & The Sisters
  9. "Just a Touch Of Love (Everyday)" - C+C Music Factory
  10. "Deloris Is Kidnapped" (instrumental)
  11. "Nuns to the Rescue" (instrumental)
  12. "Finale: I Will Follow Him ('Chariot')" - Deloris & The Sisters
  13. "Shout" - Delores & The Sisters & The Ronelles
  14. "If My Sister's in Trouble" - Lady Soul

Response

The film was a box office success, grossing $139,605,150 domestically and $92,000,000 worldwide.[2]

Later in the year of the film's release, Whoopi Goldberg and the film "nuns" performed at a Democratic fundraiser for Bill Clinton.

DVD release

The Region 1 DVD was released on November 6, 2001. Extras are the film's theatrical trailer and a music video for "Shout" by "Deloris and the Sisters", which contained clips from the film.

References

  1. ^ Image
  2. ^ Sister Act as BoxOfficeMojo.com

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to Sister Act.
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