Song of Bernadette

Back in December I picked up a copy of the film "Song of Bernadette" on DVD out of the bargain bin at my local(?) Barnes and Noble big box media emporium. I had always liked the Leonard Cohen song of the same title (and recalled how the protagonist of his novel Beautiful Losers was horrified to discover that his wife and best friend were addicted to injections of Holy Water from the Lourdes grotto, not heroin) , and thought it might be worth watching. I found it a fascinating, ridiculous, and oddly beautiful can of corn, with a number of great performances by almost forgotten stars such as Vincent Price (priceless as the arrogant and egotistical Grand Prosecutor), Lee J. Cobb as the deeply rational doctor who is at loss to explain the phenomena of Bernadette, and of course the young and incredibly beautiful Jennifer Jones in her luminous and Oscar winning movie debut as Bernadette Soubirous. Jones radiated innocence, purity and holiness in her portrayal of the "stupid" Bernadette, the eldest child of an impoverished family living in a former prison cell deemed too decrepit for incarcerating criminals.

The visions of Bernadette began 151 years ago this month, 2/11/1858; this corny old movie compelled me to look into this strange and beautiful story, which I share here with you...


A concise history from the BBC's wiki-pages:


http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A803431






And a couple of videos: scenes from the movie Song of Bernadette with music by Charles Ives (much better than the overblown soundtrack)and Jennifer Warnes on the Smothers Brothers show singing (ok, lip-synching) the song she co-wrote with Leonard Cohen (I've never run across a recording of Leonard doing this one, unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, as he could never hit those high notes):








And don't forget to stock up on miraculously refreshing Lourdes Water. Stay hydrated in the coming end times!

http://www.lourdes-water.org/water/lourdewater.html