History Film / SisterAct

** Blink and you'll miss it, but right as Vince is about to shoot Deloris (and Lt. Souther shoots him instead), the Reverend Mother instinctively moves forward with her arms extended, as if she intended to [[TakingTheBullet Take the Bullet]].

* TheMole: Detective Tate, a corrupt policeman informs Vince about where Deloris is hiding.

* NearVillainVictory: Although Vince has difficulty deciding whether to kill Deloris in a nun's habit, he ultimately decides to do so anyway, aiming the gun point-blank at her as he does. He probably would have succeeded had the police not intervened at that exact moment.

* HenpeckedHusband: A non spouse example, the priests are all practically under Mr. Crisp's foot.

** Tyler has never heard of Music/TheSupremes, but he does at least know who [[FaceOfTheBand Diana Ross]] is.

** At the end of the cast's performance of "Shout", which is used alongside the closing credits of the first firm, Sister Mary Lazarus screeches "now wait a minute!" This is used once again to start the cast's performance of "Ain't No Mountain High Enough", which is used alongside the closing credits of the second film.

** Deloris' horrified reaction upon first seeing her students, leading her to leave the room and slam the door shut almost as soon as she opens it, ironically echoes the way Mother Superior in the first film initially reacted to ''her''.

'''Reverend Mother:''' ...and Gomorrah!

* CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot: Had Dolores waited a day to try returning Vince's wife's mink coat, she wouldn't have walked in on him murdering someone, which is what kicks off the plot.

* EmergencyTaxi: When Dolores was escaping from Vince's henchmen early in the movie, a cab was there just in time to aid her escape!

* ILied: Reverend Mother says this after the monsignor reminds her of her "vow of hospitality."

* SocietyMarchesOn: Historically, non-Catholic families have sent their children to Catholic schools in order to ensure that they get a better education than they would in public schools. Today, charter schools have largely filled that niche at no tuition cost. As such, the events of this movie are far less likely to happen in an inner-city setting today.

* WitlessProtectionProgram: Justified, the main character under witness protection is found by the mob thanks to a [[TheMole mole]] working inside of police headquarters. The police know (or at least suspect) the leak exists, but it takes some time for them to find and plug it. Unfortunately, the mole finds the protagonist and reports her to the mob ''just'' before he gets caught. Also downplayed in that it takes most of the length of the film for the mole to find her in the first place.

* RetroactiveRecognition: Features Lauryn Hill before Music/TheFugees, at least before their [[Music/TheScore best known album]]. Not to mention Creator/JenniferLoveHewitt before ''Series/PartyOfFive''.

* CityOfAdventure: Set entirely in Philadelphia, instead of the Witness Protection moving Deloris from Reno to San Francisco like in the movie.

* IWantSong: "The Life I Never Led" is Sister Mary Robert singing about things she can't do because she's a nun.

The first ''Sister Act'', released in 1992, Deloris witnesses her [[TheMafia Mafioso]] boyfriend Vince [=LaRocca=] (Creator/HarveyKeitel) commit a murder. She enters WitnessProtection and is forcibly inducted into an abbey as "Sister Mary Clarence". The only other person at the abbey who knows her true identity is the Mother Superior (Creator/MaggieSmith). Deloris has to follow the vows of poverty, obedience, and chastity, and getting up at 5 AM and working hard. Eventually, she becomes the leader of the abbey choir, and she decides to [[BlitheSpirit make some improvements by combining spirituals and R&B]], and the lively new music brings newcomers into the church. However, her newfound visibility does no favors for why she entered the abbey in the first place...

A sequel followed in 1993: ''Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit''. Deloris takes her story to Las Vegas and her show becomes a hit. One night, her old friends from the convent pay her a visit, and they tell her that the Catholic school where they've been teaching (which happens to be Deloris' own alma mater) is slowly going under. Deloris agrees to return as Sister Mary Clarence and [[SaveOurStudents teach the music class to a large group of very disinterested teenagers]] (led by a young Music/LaurynHill). After a series of pranks being pulled on her, she strikes back in her own way and humbles the kids so that she can work with them. She decides to form the kids into a choir, singing the same sort of music from the previous film and entering a choir competition in hopes to convince the archdiocese that the school is worth funding.

* AsideGlance: During her hard work montage, Deloris briefly does this after Mother Superior non-verbally remands her for having too much fun washing a station wagon.

* ArmorPiercingResponse: When Deloris finds out about the convent's strict 9:00 curfew, she complains to Reverend Mother; the older woman's stern (and very accurate) answer hits Deloris hard, and makes her begin to reach out to the other nuns.

* TheMole: A corrupt policeman informs Vince about where Deloris is hiding.

* RetroactiveRecognition: Features Lauryn Hill before Music/TheFugees, at least before their [[Music/TheScore best known album]]. Not to mention Creator/JenniferLoveHewitt before ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''.

* OneSteveLimit: Most of the nuns are called Sister Mary something but it's common for nuns to be given names like this when they join.

* SomethingSomethingLeonardBernstein: A variation occurs when Deloris is invited to lead the convent in a blessing at her first dinner with them. Since she went to a Catholic school, she has some vague memories of various prayers and psalms ends up mixing them together, along with a priest's declaration in a wedding ceremony and the ''Pledge of Allegiance'', of all things:

* TookALevelInKindness: Deloris' character arc is essentially this. Exemplified best when she is running for her life in the beginning she knocks people down and just runs. At the end, she stops to make sure they are all right, despite guns shooting at her.

* DemotedToExtra: Outside the finale, the Reverend Mother only appears in three scenes in the movie.