The Preacher's Wife
The Preacher's Wife | |
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Directed by | Penny Marshall |
Written by | Nat Mauldin Allan Scott |
Based on | The Bishop's Wife 1947 screenplay by
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Produced by | Samuel Goldwyn Jr. |
Starring |
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Cinematography | Miroslav Ondříček |
Edited by | George Bowers Stephen A. Rotter |
Music by | Hans Zimmer |
Production companies | |
Distributed by | Buena Vista Pictures Distribution |
Release date |
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Running time | 124 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Box office | $57 million[1] |
The Preacher's Wife is a 1996 American
It was nominated for the
Plot
A voiceover by the preacher's son Jeremiah guides the viewer through the film.
Reverend Henry Biggs is the
With Christmas approaching, Henry's schedule becomes increasingly burdensome, and Dudley begins to spend most of his time with Julia and Jeremiah. Henry's secretary Beverly becomes comically defensive and aggressive, believing Dudley is there to take her job. Julia's wasp-tongued mother, Margueritte is also suspicious of Dudley, because she believes the newcomer will break up her daughter's marriage. Dudley and Julia go ice skating, and then later spend an evening in the jazz club where Julia once performed. After Henry confronts Dudley, Dudley realizes that he is falling in love with Julia. So, Dudley turns his attention to Hamilton and manages to disrupt his schemes to get Henry to sell the church. Henry now realizes that his family is the most important thing in his life, and he resolves to be a better husband and father. At the church's Christmas pageant, Henry finds his faith in God renewed and ties to his family restored.
With his work done, Dudley gives the Biggs family a fully decorated Christmas tree as a gift. Dudley then erases all memories of himself from everyone he has met, and although he attends morning service on Christmas Eve, no one recognizes him. However, Jeremiah, who has the faith of a child, still remembers Dudley, and wishes him a merry Christmas.
A subplot present throughout the film focuses on Julia's singing talents. Once a popular nightclub singer, she is now a star in the church
Cast
- Whitney Houston as Julia Coleman Biggs
- Denzel Washington as Dudley
- Courtney B. Vance as Reverend Henry Biggs
- Gregory Hines as Joe Hamilton
- Jenifer Lewis as Margueritte Coleman
- Loretta Devine as Beverly
- Justin Pierre Edmund as Jeremiah Biggs
- Lionel Richie as Bristloe
- Shari Headley as Arlene Chattan (uncredited)
- Paul Bates as Saul Jefferies
- Lex Monson as Osbert
- Darvel Davis Jr. as Hakim
- William James Stiggers Jr. as Billy Eldridge
- Marcella Lowery as Anna Eldridge
- Cissy Houston as Mrs. Havergale
- Shyheim as Teen
- Aaron A. McConnaughey as Teen
- Harsh Nayyar as Christmas Tree Man
Production
The motion picture was developed by Denzel Washington's Mundy Lane Entertainment.[3] The screenplay was written by Nat Mauldin and Allan Scott. Credits are given to Robert E. Sherwood and Leonardo Bercovici for the 1947 film The Bishop's Wife, and to author Robert Nathan (for his novel The Bishop's Wife).
The role of Julia was written with Whitney Houston in mind. Denzel Washington says that he first considered
The Preacher's Wife was the third film produced by Washington's company Mundy Lane Entertainment. For Washington, the movie was a meaningful project due to its message about the value of family, community, and faith. Moreover, as Washington reflected to
Production was plagued by poor weather and accidents. Interior sets were constructed at
Filming was scheduled to wrap at the end of February, but the crew was still shooting at the beginning of May. Some final scenes shot were those at the Main Street Cafe in Tarrytown, New York. The entire street had to be dressed for Christmas in fake snow laid down along the street.[7]
Lionel Richie made his acting debut in the film as the owner of the jazz club.[10]
Soundtrack
The Preacher's Wife is the best-selling gospel album of all time.[11] The album also remained at number-one for a record twenty-six weeks on the Billboard Top Gospel Albums Chart. The Georgia Mass Choir appears in the film. The soundtrack to the film (performed by Whitney Houston) consists of gospel numbers and includes performances by Monica, Faith Evans, the three members of New Edition who embarked on solo careers (Bobby Brown, who was Houston's real-life husband at the time, Ralph Tresvant and Johnny Gill), Cissy Houston and Shirley Caesar among others.[12] Houston sang Richard Smallwood's I Love the Lord in the film. A favorite song of hers since childhood, it gained renewed popularity when it was heard in the film.[11]
Reception
Stephen Holden, writing for The New York Times, called the film "sweetly uplifting" and "a shrewdly conceived update", and had high praise for actress Jenifer Lewis and the funny scene where the children in the Christmas pageant cannot recall their lines.[13] Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times also found the film "warm, sentimental, amusing yet serious" and an "inspired reworking" of the 1947 original. He singled out Penny Marshall's directing for being "consistently wise and judicious", and praised Jenifer Lewis and Loretta Devine.[10] Critic Roger Ebert gave the film 3 out of 4 stars, but was a bit equivocal in his review, concluding: "The Preacher's Wife is a sweet and good-hearted comedy about the holiday season. ... This movie could have done more, but what it does, it makes you feel good about."[14]
Duane Byrge, writing for The Hollywood Reporter, also felt the film uneven. Although he found it heart-warming, he wrote that it had a "patchy narrative" and felt the film made Washington and Houston such great characters that it was hard to see why the Biggs' marriage should survive. Too often, he concluded, the plot seemed nothing more than a means of stringing together terrific musical performances by Houston and the Georgia Mass Choir. Byrge found Penny Marshall's directing slow at times but felt that casting director Paula Herold had done wonders. He singled out Courtney B. Vance as an appealing if downbeat husband, Jenifer Lewis as the "sassy" mother-in-law, and Loretta Devine as Bigg's defensive, aggressive secretary who thinks Dudley is there to replace her. Marshall, Byrge said, was more effective directing these lively characters (and actors) than the film's stars.[15]
In contrast, Caren Weiner Campbell, writing for Entertainment Weekly, found Denzel Washington to be lackluster (though the gospel singing scenes were quite good). Her strongest criticism was directed at the screenplay. She felt the script had too many subplots, with the narrative by the character of Jeremiah was "sappy", and was lacking in the "fun miracles" of the original. She also criticized Marshall's directing for being slow and tedious.[16] Unlike other reviewers, Jackie Potts in Miami Herald felt the characters were dated and not updated. She found Courtney B. Vance's acting humorless, and was highly critical of Whitney Houston's acting. "[Houston] sleepwalks through scenes as the dignified mother, doing little more than tucking her 6-year-old son (Justin Pierre Edmund) in. It's not a showy role, but Houston plays it as if the frost outdoors has settled on her shoulders". While she had high praise for Denzel Washington (he "plays Dudley with a 100-watt smile and childlike sense of wonder"), she had little to say for Penny Marshall's directing. It was, she concluded, slow and the overall tone of the film "strangely solemn"—with only minor relief given by Jenifer Lewis' biting, scathingly funny turn as a tart-tongued mother.[17]
The Preacher's Wife currently holds a 62% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 47 reviews. The site's consensus states: "Solid performances and a steady directorial hand help The Preacher's Wife offer some reliably heartwarming - albeit fairly predictable - holiday cheer."[18]
Box office
The film grossed $56,432,646 worldwide, of which $48,102,795 was in the US, ranking The Preacher's Wife as #33 in domestic box office receipts for movies released in 1996. The movie's US gross was only slightly below that of Evita ($50 million) and above those for Romeo + Juliet ($46.3 million) and One Fine Day ($46.2 million).[19]
Although considered a respectable performance, The Preacher's Wife underperformed studio expectations given its $60 million production budget plus an additional $15 million in marketing expenses. Industry insiders had hoped that The Preacher's Wife would attract a significant crossover audience due to its two high-profile mainstream stars and heavily promoted soundtrack album. "Whitney is her own built-in marketing machine," a studio marketing chief told the Los Angeles Times prior to the film's release, referring to Houston's widespread appeal at the time.[20]
See also
References
- ^ "The Preacher's Wife", The Numbers
- ^ Patrick Goldstein (December 11, 1996). "Praying for Crossover Appeal". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 7, 2012.
- ^ a b c d John-Hall, Annette. "'Cool, Real Cool'". Philadelphia Inquirer. December 15, 1996.
- ^ Lawson, Terry. "Whitney Houston Says She Was Reluctant to Star in 'The Preacher's Wife'". Detroit Free Press. December 20, 1996.
- ^ Laski, Beth (March 5, 1997). "Mundy Lane Sees a Full Load Ahead". Variety. Retrieved April 29, 2022.
- ^ McGlone, Peggy. "Divine Hosts, Generous Guests". Newark Star-Ledger. December 13, 1996.
- ^ a b c Staudter, Thomas (May 26, 1996). "How Main Street Cafe Got in the Movies". The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-11-21.
- ^ a b Ascher-Walsh, Rebecca. "Preacher's Strife". Entertainment Weekly. December 13, 1996. Accessed 2012-11-21.
- ^ "Teen-Agers Charged in Fatal Yonkers Fire". The New York Times. Associated Press. February 23, 1996. p. B5.
- ^ a b Thomas, Kevin. "A Heavenly Persuasion". Los Angeles Times. December 13, 1996. Accessed 2012-08-07.
- ^ a b Alexander, Keith L. (July 23, 2015). "Millions of gospel fans know Richard Smallwood's music. But not his struggles". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2020-03-29.
- ^ Elysa Gardner (1996-11-24). "Oh, Whitney-for Heaven's Sake". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2012-08-07.
- ^ Holden, Stephen. "Movie Review - The Preacher's Wife". The New York Times. December 13, 1996. Accessed 2012-08-07.
- ^ Ebert, Roger. "The Preacher's Wife". Chicago Sun-Times. December 13, 1996. Accessed 2012-08-07.
- ^ Byrge, Duane. "Movie Review: 'The Preacher's Wife'". The Hollywood Reporter. December 9, 1996.
- ^ Campbell, Caren Weiner. "'The Preacher's Wife' Review". Entertainment Weekly. April 25, 1997. Accessed 2012-08-08.
- ^ Potts, Jackie. "'The Preacher's Wife' Could Use A Prayer". Miami Herald. December 13, 1996.
- ^ "The Preacher's Wife (1996)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved 2021-10-07.
- ^ "Top 1996 Movies at the Domestic Box Office". The Numbers. April 29, 2022. Retrieved April 29, 2022.
- ^ Goldstein, Patrick (December 11, 1996). "Praying for Crossover Appeal". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 29, 2022.
External links
- The Preacher's Wife at IMDb
- The Preacher's Wife at the TCM Movie Database
- The Preacher's Wife at Rotten Tomatoes
- The Preacher's Wife at Virtual History