The Bishop Misbehaves (1935) User Reviews

If You're From Chicago, You Must Know Capone

[boblipton · 7/10 · 18 May 2019]

Maureen O'Sullivan recruits Norman Foster to rob Reginald Owens. Owens had cheated her father out of a patent and now they are facing ruin; since Foster is from Chicago, obviously he is a gangster (he isn't). After assembling a gang -- including an improbably cast Robert Greig as a Cockney spiv who does needlepoint -- they carry out a well-planned heist. At this point, Edmund Gwenn and Lucille Watson enter as a bishop and his sister. They are mad for mystery books and take great delight in inserting themselves into what they see as an adventure.

E.A. DuPont's second American movie is a lively mystery from a stage play by Frederick J. Jackson, full of Hollywood's English colony acting against type (except for Gwenn's woolly-minded geniality), with more than a slight touch of screwball in it. Although it subsides into slightly more somber tones in the final third, it roars along at a great pace and shows that MGM's gloss could be well applied to lighter subjects without overwhelming them.

Gwenn, Watson & Girardot...

[drednm2004 · 8/10 · 20 May 2004]

steal this neat little film from "stars" Maureen O'Sullivan and Norman Foster, although they aren't bad. Edmund Gwenn has the title role and is wonderful.

Lucile Watson is his daffy sister, and she's been less stuffy. Etienne Girardot is hilarious as the parish priest who clicks and clucks at everything. Also good are Reginald Owen, Robert Greig, Melville Cooper, Lillian Bond, Iris Lee, Dudley

Digges, and Charles McNaughton as Frenchy (why he is Frenchy no one knows). Fun all around.

I liked the character even more than the film itself.

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 24 May 2016]

"The Bishop Misbehaves" is a very unusual entry into the very crowded field of mystery films of the 1930s and 40s. Big studios, little studios and those in between ALL made a bazillion of these films...and most were, at best, mediocre. However, this film stands out because of its main character and his very odd way of dealing with crime. Edmund Gwenn plays an Anglican bishop who loves solving crimes and sadly it's a stand-alone film--no sequels were to follow. His style is VERY unconventional...and that's why I give the film a 7...it certainly isn't because of the rest of the writing.

When the film begins, a young lady (Maureen O'Sullivan) is despondent. Her father's been cheated by a scum-bag and you KNOW that he is because the introductory credits tell you that Reginald Owen is a jerk and a crook! He's stolen her father's secret formula and she's planning on hiring some folks to help steal it back--using her very complicated plan. Oddly, however, an American who just met her agrees to help her...even though it could potentially get him killed or sent to prison! Into the middle of this stumbles the Bishop and his sister and instead of being horrified, they are THRILLED...as he loves solving crimes and meddling. And, a charming meddler he is!

The film is good...but be aware that sometimes the writing disappoints. This is a b-movie after all and plot problems and holes are not all that uncommon in these style films. In this case, there are just too many twists and surprises--to the point of being absurd. Still, it's oddly enjoyable....mostly because you really like Gwenn's character.

A Mixed Bag

[reader4 · 7/10 · 14 September 2010]

The Bishop Misbehaves is actually three movies with slightly overlapping casts. Although it is not as extreme a case, it is similar to The Strawberry Blonde (1941) (which I also reviewed) in that it has a first-class comedy section in the middle that is overshadowed by the other parts.

Part 1 is a dopey love story, the kind of which seemingly thousands abound in Hollywood movies of the 30s and 40s. Norman Foster falls in love with a girl solely because of her looks. He feels that the way to win her is to be as grating, obnoxious and persistent as possible, essentially stalking her. Maureen O'Sullivan is cold, put off and off-putting, not the least bit interested, as she rightfully should be. But after knowing this clod who has no redeeming features whatsoever for a few hours, she is completely and permanently in love with him! I wonder if films like this are one reason the divorce rate is so high -- people thinking they should be like that, too.

Part 1 also contains some of the set-up for the other two parts, particularly Part 3. These portions are completely non-comedic. In fact, the only "comedy" at all in Part 1 is Foster's annoying antics. Gwenn is completely absent from this part.

O'Sullivan was clearly one of the women, like Norma Shearer, who was particularly targeted by the Hayes Code, among other things for her eye-popping nude scene in Tarzan the Ape Man (1932). Here she is quite the opposite, obviously on her best behavior. She wears high-necked blouses, and hardly shows even so much as a bare ankle! Much more businesslike than sexy.

Part 2 begins almost 30 minutes into the film with the entrance of Edmund Gwenn. He is good in everything I've ever seen him in (for a couple of more serious roles, I recommend Foreign Correspondent (1940) and Green Dolphin Street (1947)), but he is simply delightful here. And his sister, played by Lucile Watson, is even more so.

Part 2 is a wonderful comedy, unusual, fast-paced and full of plot twists. Gwenn is a bishop (Anglican, one supposes) who obviously spends more time reading detective novels than writing sermons. Watson is his sister, a strait-laced spinster, called in the opening credits, "fourteen times president of the Primrose League," without any further explanation of what that may mean. Contrary to what you might expect from such a woman, she is a full-bore thrill seeker, absolutely fearless, and nothing but highly entertained by all the exciting and dangerous situations that the film brings her.

Gwenn is like a kid in a candy store, tickled pink to have a chance to try out some of the tricks he has read about in the detective stories. Part 2 centers on his smooth, deft, savvy outsmarting of the criminals. It is absolutely hilarious! Foster and O'Sullivan are almost completely absent from this part, only coming in at the very end.

Part 3 ruined the movie for me. It is a straightforward rescue-the-kidnap-victims-from-the-gang-of-underworld-hoods movie. It is almost completely devoid of comedy, unless you count Gwenn's wrongfully being taken to a shelter for homeless skid row bums, which is only funny because such a thing is so absurd. There is certainly nothing comedic about the home, nor his stay there.

He does a complete volte face from his aplomb in Part 2. He screws up everything he touches. At the end, he is being severely chastised by all concerned, including himself. A downer ending to what is supposed to be a comedy!

Watson is absent from Part 3, as are Foster and O'Sullivan, largely. They spend more than half their on-screen time in this part tied up and gagged. The action centers on two rival gangs of thugs and Gwenn's involvement with them and the cops. The only stand-out in Part 3 is Lilian Bond, who appeared briefly in Part 1, a rich, snobbish moll who ends up being surprisingly respectable.

If the movie had all been like Part 2, I would have rated it a 9/10 and kept it. As it is, I taped over it.

**1/2

[edwagreen · 6/10 · 4 June 2016]

Despite excellent performances by Edmund Gwenn, a bishop who also likes to act as a sleuth and his "sister," Lucile Watson, who reminded me of Josephine Hull's Oscar-winning performance in "Harvey," the picture is really asinine.

It's hard to imagine that the sweet Maureen O'Sullivan wants to avenge the embezzling of her father by plotting a robbery to get even with the man who did this. She consorts with known criminals to pull off the scheme and of course we have the usual dirty tricks of the thieves turning against each other.

Enter Gwenn and Watson who fall into this mess when they stumble into the inn where all this is taking place.

Gwenn gets more than he bargained for and eventually prays for redemption for getting involved in the first place. Too bad he and the others got involved in this nonsense to begin with.

Edmund Gwenn In Another Great Performance

[atlasmb · 7/10 · 16 August 2022]

The Bishop of Broadminster (Edmund Gwenn) is a fan of mystery novels. When he and his sister stumble across a robbery in progress at a pub, he is excited at the opportunity to test his sleuthing skills.

The "gang" he confronts is a loosely-connected composite with disparate motives. As the Bishop searches for clues and proposes various theories, things get complicated. This is a very British comedy and it is delightful.

Maureen O'Sullivan stars as Hester, the young lady who seeks to right a wrong, but gets in over her head.

Gwenn Shines in a middling comedy thriller

[loloandpete · 7/10 · 29 September 2023]

My reason for seeking out this film was the character men Edmund Gwenn and Reginald Owen. After Miracle on 34th Street Gwenn became a star but before this his chances to be a leading man were few so it is delightful to see him playing the titular role of the Bishop here, and he makes the film, bringing his trademark, twinkly avuncularity to a churchman who'd rather be a detective, shades of Father Brown methinks. Rather than bore us with exposition this sprightly 85 minute piece is wonderfully set up by showing us the principal characters with brief carded information about them and the plot. The plot, such as it is, is a bit of a Macguffin regarding a stolen patent to a priceless invention and thus we have the good guys ranged against a characterful gallery of underground rogues, although there are areas of grey in between. On the heroic side we have the spirited Maureen O'Sullivan (perhaps most famous for a series of films starring her as Jane opposite Johnny Weismuller's Tarzan) and a couple of beautiful eccentrics; Lucile Watson as the Bishop's garrulous sister, who desperately wants to be in on the 'fun' and Etienne Girardot as a nervous, superannuated clergyman who has the habit of champing his Jaws at moments of tension. On the distaff side, Dudley Digges makes a mark as a bad guy who isn't that bad really but Reginald Owen, whose work I normally admire, is rather one note of aggressive bluster here. If you're a fan of gentle, silver screen comedy, this is an agreeable enough piece of work.

A Heavenly Performance From Edmund Gwenn

[Ron Oliver · 10/10 · 21 June 2001]

THE BISHOP MISBEHAVES, perhaps just a little, when he sets aside his ecclesiastical duties to attempt solving a puzzling robbery in a neighboring pub.

This is a splendid little crime comedy from MGM, sadly neglected, which boasts fine production values and, most especially, delightful performances from a small constellation of first-rate character actors.

Edmund Gwenn - in his American movie debut - is charming in the title role, a small, cherubic cleric who loves to read detective novels. Incisive & methodical, he misses very little and faces danger with bubbling enthusiasm. Watching him deal with an assortment of villains is great entertainment. Lucile Watson, as his elderly sister, also plays her part with a superb sense of fun.

As the romantic interests, Maureen O' Sullivan & Norman Foster add a fine comedic flair to their roles. Here's a pair of lovebirds who don't mind getting involved in theft & kidnapping - for a good cause. (Mr. Foster would eventually become a director of fine repute, associating with Orson Welles & Walt Disney.)

Reginald Owen makes a marvelous, blustery bad guy. Robert Greig, instead of portraying one of his usual plumy butlers, surprises as a Limehouse lowlife who enjoys needlepoint while plotting crimes. Clicking, chittering Etienne Girardot is hilarious as Gwenn's nervous amanuensis. Lilian Bond, Dudley Digges & Melville Cooper round out the excellent cast.

If only the Church of England could have more bishops like Edmund Gwenn...

Disappointing Drivel

[1930s_Time_Machine · 4/10 · 21 December 2023]

You'd think that having lured Edmund Gwenn from British Gaumont, MGM would have heralded the arrival of their new star with a big splash, maybe putting him in something special....but no, just this puerile B movie.

You'd think that when MGM lured Ewald DuPont, a director acknowledged to have revolutionised German cinema in the 1920s, they'd herald the arrival of their new artist with a big splash....but no, he was given this puerile B movie to direct.

The story isn't actually too bad but the way it's put together feels very disjointed, some of the scenes and some of the characters don't seem to be from the same film at times. With such random changes in mood, style and lighting, it just doesn't flow. It's only towards the very end that you start to think that this might be made by a director who did have some hidden talent after all.

The one constant attraction is Edmund Gwenn who is delightful and dotty as the oddly charismatic bishop. The massive disappointment however is Maureen O'Sullivan. With the right material, she's an exceptionally good actress (SKYSCANNER SOULS for example) but this isn't good material - her character is so unrealistic and one dimensional that you can't emotionally engage with her at all. Those of you who became fans of the lovely Miss O'Sullivan after seeing her.... seeing A LOT of her in the Tarzan films will also be disappointed by her appearance. Those strait laced, frumpy dresses buttoned up to her neck are just wrong!

Gwenn and Owen at their colorful best!

[JohnHowardReid · 9/10 · 18 August 2017]

The play opened on Broadway at the Cort on 20 February 1935, running a surprisingly successful 120 performances. Walter Connolly played the bishop, Jane Wyatt and Alan Marshal, the young leads. Ira Hards directed whilst John Golden produced. Oddly, despite this success, this movie is one of a mere handful that did not play in New York. It marked the Hollywood film debut of Edmund Gwenn. And please note that George Auerbach contributed to the screenplay, without credit.

It's not surprising therefore that the Bishop stage play appealed so mightily to the extremely sophisticated Broadway theater crowd. I'm sure that the movie also entertained its audiences in the sticks. But the huge crowd of American picture-goers in between these two extremes would have found the movie puzzling, uninvolving, boring and unacceptable. In England, however, where Ben Travers and company had established the comic thriller as a working-class entertainment, audiences had no problems at all in relating to The Bishop. After all, the most famous example of the genre, Arnold Ridley's The Ghost Train dates from 1925 when it opened at London's St Martin's Theatre and ran a colossal 655 performances.

Getting back to our Bishop, it seems odd that the movie was assigned to E.A. Dupont. Despite his name — in our French texts at school a Monsieur Dupont was endlessly pottering around his garden or stockpiling an enormous variety of goods from village stores — Dupont was a German, noted for heavy dramas with stolidly charismatic actors like Emil Jannings and Conrad Veidt. As far as I can tell, this is his only comedy, yet he has masterfully handled the proceedings not only with style and panache, but has drawn magnificent performances from his cast.

Gwenn, of course, plays the bishop as to the gaiters born, delightfully exaggerating his enthusiasms to the point where he can scarce contain his glee. Maureen O'Sullivan, as usual, is absolutely entrancing. Unfortunately, for her career, she was often cast against colorless leading men who did nothing to bring her quietly spunky charm into relief. In Norman Foster, however, she has an ideal foil. Foster complements Miss O'Sullivan with such a deftly timed and exquisitely ingratiating performance, it's surprising to learn that he was soon to give up acting in favor of directing.

Reginald Owen had a good innings at M-G-M. He seemed to have a corner on every colorful role the studio had to offer. Here he excels as a rascally blowhard, receiving excellent support from the lovely Lillian Bond as his frowzy wife. Other players who deserve a pat on the back are Robert Greig (in an unusual role as a sympathetic publican), and ferrety Gus McNaughton as the untrustworthy Frenchie.

M-G-M have endowed "The Bishop" with the studio's usual costly habiliments. Although filmed in Hollywood, the movie looks like a genuine British offering. Thanks to skillful art direction, impeccable photography, and wonderfully adept casting. Look around Greig's typically low-life Limehouse pub and you gaze into dozens of seemingly authentic East Enders.

Quirky cozy mystery

[HotToastyRag · 4/10 · 4 December 2023]

In this very silly British comedy, Maureen O'Sullivan is so cute she's literally irresistible. When she meets Norman Foster and confuses him with a big time American gangster, he can't resist letting her think he is. When she asks him to help her with an armed robbery to help avenge her father's swindled fortune, he can't resist helping her. Scandal, jail, or death mean nothing when persuaded by a pretty face. She really is a doll, and do you think she'll look extra cute when she gets angry that he lied to her from the get-go? Since this is a romantic comedy, your guess is probably correct.

This is one of those quirky, small town movies where all the townsfolk are outlandish. It's all a bit melodramatic and silly, but that's part of the fun. The titular bishop, Edmund Gwenn, devours crime novels and has a secret yen to be a detective. His sister, Lucile Watson, is just as mischievous and interested in whodunnit mysteries. Of course, everything goes wrong, and nothing plays out the way it would in real life; if this niche genre is your cup of tea, check it out. It's pretty dated, but those who like cozy mystery books might think it's very cute.

Adorable fun

[mls4182 · 8/10 · 3 January 2023]

I've always loved Edmund Gwenn. He doesn't disappoint in this film. I have always been a fan of Lucille Watson and she really shines in this film in one of her larger parts.

While this isn't a real laugh out loud film, I think you will giggle quite a bit.

The supporting cast is also fun. Reginald Owen is a cantankerous riot as usual.

The only bore is Maureen O'Sullivan but that is typical of her.

This was the height of MGMs screwball comedies. It was has a great cast, good writing and excellent direction. If they only made films like this today.

I cannot imagine anyone having fun with this film.