Everything about Sister Act totally explained
» This article is about the film. For the musical stage adaptation, see Sister Act the Musical.
Sister Act is a
1992 American comedy film released by
Touchstone Pictures. Directed by
Emile Ardolino, it features musical arrangements by
Marc Shaiman and stars
Whoopi Goldberg as a
Reno lounge singer who has been put under
protective custody in a convent, and has to pretend to be a
nun in a
San Francisco convent when a mob boss puts her on his hit list. Also in the cast are
Maggie Smith,
Kathy Najimy,
Wendy Makkena,
Mary Wickes, and
Harvey Keitel. The film is #83 on
Bravo's
The 100 Funniest Movies list.
The film was followed by a 1993 sequel, . It also inspired
a musical stage version that premiered at the
Pasadena Playhouse in
Pasadena, California in 2006.
Plot
The movie opens at a Catholic elementary school in the mid 20th-Century.
A young girl, revealed to be the film's main character, is warned against heading down the wrong path due to her behavior in class.
The girl is Deloris Van Cartier (played by
Whoopi Goldberg), a
Reno, Nevada lounge singer dating (married)
mobster Vince LaRocca (
Harvey Keitel); she's oblivious to his criminal activities. But the relationship sours after an argument, and later Deloris witnessses him shoot his limo driver, who had been supposedly giving information to the police. Deloris manages to escape to the police and informs them that she's willing to testify against Vince; Lt. Eddie Souther (
Bill Nunn) is put in charge of keeping her safe.
She reluctantly goes into hiding as a
nun in a
Catholic convent in
San Francisco, California, where she wears a
habit and is given the name "Sister Mary Clarence". The Mother Superior (
Maggie Smith), who takes an instant dislike to Deloris, is only pacified by promises of funds for the neglected church, while Deloris herself chafes at the austere lifestyle of the convent and grates on the nerves of the
Abbess, who puts her in the convent's choir (lackluster and off-key) to keep her out of trouble; but this is where she shines, taking over the choir and putting a new touch on old songs. She has the choir swinging and singing to
gospel renditions of hymns ("Hail Holy Queen"), and
soul music adapted to have religious themes (for example,
Mary Wells' "
My Guy" changed into "My God"). Despite the protests of the Mother Superior, she brings new vigor into the convent and leads it in cleaning up the surrounding neighborhood. Her efforts draw a lot of attention, even from the
Pope himself. Meanwhile, Deloris is finding peace and purpose.
The scheme is uncovered by Vince and Deloris is kidnapped by Vince's goons, to Eddie's dismay; but after explaining the situation to the other nuns they agree to help. Meanwhile, Vince orders Deloris killed; she remains calm, making Vince and company rattled, and subsequently escapes. The group of nuns survive the final conflict with Vince and he's arrested. The victorious nuns return to San Francisco for the Pope's concert. Deloris eventually returns to her successful singing career.
The "Person enters a convent to escape retaliation" plot was previously used in the 1990
Eric Idle/
Robbie Coltrane comedy
Nuns on the Run. Many plot details are very similar between these two films.
Cast
Young Deloris in film is played by Isis Carmen Jones, who had previously played a younger version of another of Goldberg's characters (
Guinan) in an episode of .
Production
The church in which Whoopi Goldberg takes refuge is
St. Paul's Catholic Church, located at Valley and Church Streets in
Noe Valley, an upper middle class neighborhood of San Francisco. The storefronts on the opposite side of the street were converted to give the area a
ghetto look.
The order of nuns depicted in the film is the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Third Order of Saint Francis, based on their
habit.
Soundtrack
The film's soundtrack was released in conjunction with the film, and contained the musical numbers performed by actors in the film itself, pre-recorded songs that were used as part of the background music, and instrumental music composed by Marc Shaiman for the film. The track list is as follows:
The Lounge Medley - Deloris & The Ronelles
The Murder (instrumental)
Getting Into The Habit (instrumental)
Rescue Me - Fontella Bass
Hail Holy Queen - Deloris & The Sisters
Roll With Me Henry - Etta James
Gravy - Dee Dee Sharp
My Guy (My God) - Deloris & The Sisters
Just A Touch Of Love (Everyday) - C+C Music Factory
Deloris Is Kidnapped (instrumental)
Nuns To The Rescue (instrumental)
Finale: I Will Follow Him ('Chariot') - Deloris & The Sisters
Shout - Delores & The Sisters & The Ronelles
If My Sister's In Trouble - Lady Soul
Response
The film was a box office success, grossing $139,605,150 domestically and $92,000,000 worldwide.
Later in the year of the film's release, Whoopi Goldberg and the film "nuns" performed at a Democratic fundraiser for Bill Clinton.
DVD release
The Region 1 DVD was released on November 6, 2001. Extras are the film's theatrical trailer and a music video for "Shout" by "Deloris and the Sisters", which contained clips from the film.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Sister Act'.
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