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The Nun's Story ()

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After leaving a wealthy Belgian family to become a nun, Sister Luke struggles with her devotion to her vows during crisis, disappointment, and World War II.
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Awards:
  • Nominated for 8 Oscars. Another 11 wins & 15 nominations.
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80 photos | 1 video

Complete, Cast awaiting verification

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Sister Luke (Gabrielle van der Mal)
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Dr. Fortunati
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Rev. Mother Emmanuel (Belgium) (as Dame Edith Evans)
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Mother Mathilde (Africa) (as Dame Peggy Ashcroft)
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Dr. van der Mal
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Sister Margharita (Mistress of Postulants)
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Mother Christophe (Sanatorium)
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Sister William (Convent Teacher)
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Sister Eleanor
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Mother Marcella (School of Medicine)
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Mother Didyma (Wartime Hospital)
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Sister Pauline (Medical Student)
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Simone (Postulant who changed her mind)
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Archangel Gabriel (Sanatorium)
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Chaplain (Father Andre)
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Dr. Goovaerts (School of Tropical Medicine)
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Father Vermeuhlen (Leprosarium)
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Sister Marie (Sanatorium)
Molly Urquhart ...
Sister Augustine (Africa)
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Sister Aurelie (Martyred Nurse, Africa)
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Louise (Gabrielle's Sister) (as Jeannette Sterke)
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Illunga (African Convert)
Diana Lambert ...
Lisa (the Resistance)
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Kalulu (African Servant)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
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(uncredited)
Gabriella Andreini ...
(uncredited)
Juan Aymerich ...
(uncredited)
Ludovice Bonhomme ...
Bishop (uncredited)
Grazia De Rossi ...
(uncredited)
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(uncredited)
Dara Gavin ...
Sister Ellen (uncredited)
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Jeanette Milonet (uncredited)
Irene Labhart ...
(uncredited)
Charles Lamb ...
Pascin (uncredited)
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Sister Bernard (uncredited)
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Pierre (Gabrielle's Brother) (uncredited)
Elfride Simbari ...
Sister Timothy (uncredited)
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Murderer of Sister Aurelie (uncredited)
Marina Wolkonsky ...
Marie (Gabrielle's Sister) (uncredited)

Directed by

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Fred Zinnemann

Written by

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Robert Anderson ... (screenplay)
 
Kathryn Hulme ... (book) (as Kathryn C. Hulme)

Produced by

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Henry Blanke ... producer
Fred Zinnemann ... producer (uncredited)

Music by

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Franz Waxman

Cinematography by

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Franz Planer ... director of photography

Editing by

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Walter Thompson

Editorial Department

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Frederick Muller ... assistant editor (uncredited)

Art Direction by

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Alexandre Trauner ... (as Alexander Trauner)

Set Decoration by

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Maurice Barnathan

Costume Design by

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Marjorie Best

Makeup Department

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Alberto De Rossi ... makeup artist
Grazia De Rossi ... hair stylist

Production Management

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Julien Derode ... production manager: for Belgium and Congo
Chuck Hansen ... production manager (as Charles Hansen)
Orazio Tassara ... production manager: for Italy

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director

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Bernard Vorhaus ... assistant director (as Piero Mussetta)
Sam Zebba ... second unit director
Sergio Leone ... assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department

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Giulio Tamassy ... sculptor (uncredited)
Italo Tomassi ... manager of art department (uncredited)
Tyrus Wong ... art department (uncredited)

Sound Department

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Oliver S. Garretson ... sound
Robert J. Miller ... sound recordist

Camera and Electrical Department

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Raffaele Marino ... gaffer (as Raf Marino)
Goffredo Bellisario ... camera operator (uncredited)
Léo L. Fuchs ... still photographer (uncredited)

Location Management

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Christian Ferry ... location manager (uncredited)

Music Department

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Franz Waxman ... conductor

Script and Continuity Department

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Elaine Schreyeck ... script supervisor (uncredited)

Additional Crew

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Stanley Browne ... technical advisor (uncredited)
Marie-Louise Habets ... technical advisor (uncredited)
Crew verified as complete

Production Companies

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Distributors

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Special Effects

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Other Companies

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Storyline

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Plot Summary

In 1930 Belgium, Gabrielle van der Mal, stubborn daughter of prominent surgeon Dr. Hubert van der Mal, decides to leave her upper-class family to enter a convent, expecting to work as nun in the Congo with tropical diseases. She says good-bye to her sisters Louise and Marie, her brother Pierre, and her beloved father and subjects herself to the stringent rules of the retrograde institution, including interior silence and excessive humility and humiliation. After a long stint working in a mental institution, Gaby/Sister Luke is finally assigned to go to the Congo, where she works with cynical but brilliant atheist Dr. Fortunati. Sister Luke proves to be a very efficient nurse and assistant, and Dr. Fortunati miraculously heals her tuberculosis. Years later she is ordered to return to Belgium, and when her motherland is invaded by the Germans, she learns that her beloved father was murdered by the enemy while he was helping wounded members of the resistance. Sister Luke finally decides to leave the religious life since she is unable to feel neutral against the invaders of her country. Written by Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Plot Keywords
Taglines Her Faith Remained Strong and True in the Face of Africa's Terrors! See more »
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Parents Guide View content advisory »
Certification

Additional Details

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Also Known As
  • Au risque de se perdre - L'Histoire d'une nonne (France)
  • Au risque de se perdre (France)
  • Geschichte einer Nonne (Germany)
  • Història d'una monja (Spain, Catalan title)
  • Historia de una monja (Spain)
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Runtime
  • 149 min
Country
Language
Color
Aspect Ratio
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Filming Locations

Box Office

Budget $3,500,000 (estimated)

Did You Know?

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Trivia This was one of Audrey Hepburn's favorite of her films. It was also one of her most financially successful. See more »
Goofs When the patient in the Congo hospital is being attended by several people, the voice of the actor playing the patient is obviously dubbed over by actor Dean Jagger, who plays Sister Luke's father in the film. See more »
Movie Connections Featured in Testing Time (1990). See more »
Soundtracks Voi Che Sapete See more »
Quotes Sister Luke: You can cheat your sisters, but you cannot cheat yourself or God.
Rev. Mother Emmanuel: Have you struggled long enough to say surely that you've come to the end?
Sister Luke: I think I've been struggling all these years, Reverend Mother. In the beginning each struggle seemed different from the one before it. But then they began to repeat, and I saw they all had the same core: obedience. Without question, without inner murmuring. Perfect obedience as Christ practiced it. As I no longer can.
Rev. Mother Emmanuel: Yes?
Sister Luke: There are times when my conscience asks which has priority. It or the Holy Rule? When the bell calls me to chapel, I often have to sacrifice what might be the decisive moment in a spiritual talk with a patient. I'm late every day for chapel or refectory or both. When I have night duty I break the Grand Silence because I can no longer cut short a talk with a patient who seems to need me. Mother, why must God's helpers be struck dumb by five bells in the very hours when men in trouble want to talk about their souls?
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