The Bishop's Wife
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The Bishop's Wife is a 1947 romantic comedy film which tells the story of an angel, who comes to earth to help a bishop to reconnect with his family. It stars Cary Grant, Loretta Young, David Niven, Monty Woolley, James Gleason, Gladys Cooper and Elsa Lanchester. Although no denomination is mentioned in the film, the characters are intended to be members of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America.
The movie was adapted by Leonardo Bercovici, Charles Brackett (uncredited), Robert E. Sherwood and Billy Wilder (uncredited) from the book by Robert Nathan. It was directed by Henry Koster.
It won the Academy Award for Sound, and was nominated for Best Director, Best Film Editing, Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture and Best Picture.
The film was originally directed by William A. Seiter, but producer Samuel Goldwyn didn't like it and so he asked Henry Koster for a completely new film. The preview audience didn't like the new version, so Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett had to rewrite a couple of scenes without credit.
Niven was originally cast as the angel and Grant as the bishop, but Koster had them switch the parts.
The Bishop's Wife was remade in 1996 as The Preacher's Wife. The 1996 version stars Denzel Washington, Whitney Houston, Courtney B. Vance, Gregory Hines, Loretta Devine and Lionel Richie. It was a remaking of the original script, and was directed by Penny Marshall. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Music, Original Musical or Comedy Score.