Meg Tilly and Jane Fonda |
A young nun, Sister Agnes (Meg Tilly), is arrested for manslaughter when her strangled baby is found in a waste basket at the convent. Dr. Martha Livingstone (Jane Fonda), a psychiatrist, is brought in to assess the nun's mental condition. She has some problems in this due to the nun's reticence in talking about or even acknowledging her pregnancy, and the Mother Superior, Miriam (Anne Bancroft). has objections as well. Martha is a lapsed Catholic and Miriam accuses her of hating the Church. Martha decides to do some investigating and find out who the father of the baby is, and if somebody else strangled the infant. She discovers there's a secret exit from -- and entrance into -- the convent.
Anne Bancroft and Jane Fonda |
Verdict: Beatific looks can't help put this one over. **.
2 comments:
I saw the Broadway production with Elizabeth Ashley, Geraldine Page and Amanda Plummer as a teenager and it blew me away. Very well written play. Problem is, it doesn't open up very well into a film, even with a good director like Jewison, and I just don't believe Fonda and especially Bancroft in their roles. Tilly is great, though, she is the main reason I have rewatched this a few times over the years.
-C
I've no doubt this worked better as a stage piece, where things are not so literal. Would have been very interesting to see that cast. The movie just didn't work for me at all.
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