History Film / TheSingingNun

A 1966 American semi-biographical film directed by Henry Koster, about the life of Jeanine Deckers (aka Sœur Sourire ''lit. Sister Smile''/"The Singing Nun" in the West), a Belgian nun who in 1963 recorded the chart-topping hit song, [[OneHitWonder "Dominique"]]. Creator/DebbieReynolds stars in the title role as the nun named Sister Ann,[[labelnote:*]]''not'' the real Singing Nun's name[[/labelnote]] with a supporting cast including Creator/RicardoMontalban, Creator/GreerGarson, and Creator/AgnesMoorehead. Ed Sullivan appears {{as himself}} in a scene where the Singing Nun appears on [[Series/TheEdSullivanShow his TV show]]. Original songs by the Singing Nun were translated into English and were written by Randy Sparks.

* AdultsAreUseless: Nicole and Dominic's father is usually out.

* BigSisterInstinct: Nichole isn't really sister-of-the-year and because she needs to take care of Dominic while their dad is gone ([[AdultsAreUseless who's just as neglecting]]), she just takes her little brother almost everywhere she goes, even in a seedy bar. This encouraged Sister Ann to volunteer in babysitting him while Nichole is away.
** Nichole's big sister instinct only came after learning about [[spoiler: the fact that her little brother was just hit by a car]]. She becomes angry and blames Sister Ann for it [[CharacterDevelopment though she becomes guilty of her own actions later on]].
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Dominic, Nicole, and their dad go away for a while to a pig farm in the countryside. Nichole later makes amends with Sister Ann. Sister Ann forgives her, and she also gives away her guitar, Adele, to Nichole. Some time passes, she and Sister Mary become missionaries in Africa and help the sick in a poor village. The people all rejoice of her arrival.]]
* CompanionCube: Her precious guitar she named, [[NamedAfterSomebodyFamous Adele]].
* CoolBike: Averted. Sister Ann rides a moped that doesn't really stand out around her plain white habit. Since she's a nun, we can expect that her choices in vehicles to be, sort of not-so flashy. Whether that's necessary or not.
* CreatorBreakdown: In-universe. She becomes confused between her musical success and Robert's personal interest in her. It got worse [[spoiler: when Dominic gets hit by a vehicle]] and later that night, she 'couldn't pray', meaning unable to sing and play her guitar.
* DrivingADesk: Sister Ann on the scooter and later, when they ride on their jeep.
* EverybodyLives: For all the drama that came along the way for all the characters, the film ends in a rather hopeful note.
* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: Father Clementi tries to implant this to Robert who constantly convinces Sister Ann (who was his former classmate and apparently, had a bit of relationship with her) to leave the convent and carry on her musical career and become a star.
* MagicalNegro: Sister Mary (who is the only black character to be seen for most of the film). Especially when she told a woman who had just fainted while dancing, was planning to have an abortion and recalled that she was to have the same fate (as a baby) and was thankful that they failed. [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse Whether it helped isn't made sure]].

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Later, while walking on the streets, she hears a club playing rock 'n' roll music to the tune of her song, Dominique, much to her horror (judging from the ReactionShot) for she was unprepared of the side-effects of her new-found fame and thought she was losing sight of what's important. It didn't help that this all happened just after [[spoiler: the accident of little Dominic]].
* RealSongThemeTune: "Dominique" of course.
** Any background score has borrowed some tunes from the real Singing Nun's songs.

** Sister Ann herself is this too though less obvious. She's quite nosy at first, [[spoiler: especially when confronting to Nicole about the provocative photographs of herself she found in her closet which she uses to make money]] but then again, she is just starting. In fact, she seemed to be ''way'' to eager to help.
* TookALevelInBadass: A pretty small one. Sister Ann is shocked that Nicole's father would struck her own daughter. So what did she do? She ''pins'' the man on the wall (who is twice her height) and lectures that there's a better way to settle it. Predictably, she gets thrown out but still.

Despite the film being labeled as semi-biographical, Jeanine Deckers herself rejected the film as "fiction". More or less, her life [[SturgeonsLaw might not be as joyful]] as how the film showed it. Also, Deckers' fate was less than happy...

A 1966 American semi-biographical film directed by Henry Koster, about the life of Jeanine Deckers (aka Sœur Sourire ''lit. Sister Smile''/"The Singing Nun" in the West), a Belgian nun who in 1963 recorded the chart-topping hit song, [[OneHitWonder "Dominique"]]. Creator/DebbieReynolds stars in the title role as the nun named Sister Ann,[[labelnote:*]]''not'' the real Singing Nun's name[[/labelnote]] with a supporting cast including Creator/RicardoMontalban, Creator/GreerGarson, and Creator/AgnesMoorehead. Ed Sullivan himself makes an appearance to play in the supposedly similar situation where the Singing Nun appears on [[Series/TheEdSullivanShow his TV show]]. Original songs by The Singing Nun were translated into English and were written by Randy Sparks.

A 1966 American semi-biographical film directed by Henry Koster, about the life of Jeanine Deckers (aka Sœur Sourire ''lit. Sister Smile''/"The Singing Nun" in the West), a nun who recorded the chart-topping hit song, [[OneHitWonder "Dominique"]]. Creator/DebbieReynolds stars in the title role as the nun named Sister Ann,[[labelnote:*]]''not'' the real Singing Nun's name[[/labelnote]] with a supporting cast including Creator/RicardoMontalban, Creator/GreerGarson, and Creator/AgnesMoorehead. Ed Sullivan himself makes an appearance to play in the supposedly similar situation where the Singing Nun appears on [[Series/TheEdSullivanShow his TV show]]. Original songs by The Singing Nun were translated into English and were written by Randy Sparks.

[[quoteright:220:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/220px-The_Singing_Nun_2226.jpg]]

A [[TheSixties 1966]] American semi-biographical film about the life of Jeanine Deckers (aka Sœur Sourire ''lit. Sister Smile''/"The Singing Nun" in the West), a nun who recorded the chart-topping hit song, [[OneHitWonder "Dominique"]]. Creator/DebbieReynolds stars in the title role as the nun named Sister Ann.[[labelnote:*]]''not'' the real Singing Nun's name[[/labelnote]] Ed Sullivan himself makes an appearance to play in the supposedly similar situation where the Singing Nun appears on [[Series/TheEdSullivanShow his show]]. Original songs by The Singing Nun were translated into English and were written by Randy Sparks.

%%* AnimatedCreditsOpening

%%* HollywoodNuns
%%* InfantImmortality

* SexyPriest: Father Clementi. Not that it's mentioned or bragged about in-universe, but the man is pretty easy on the eyes and he is a ''carpenter''.

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Dominic, Nicole, and their dad go away for a while to a pig farm in the countryside. Nichole later makes amends with Sister Ann. Sister Ann forgives her, and she also gives away her guitar, Adele, to Nichole.]]

* EarnYourHappyEnding: [[spoiler: She and Sister Mary become missionaries in Africa and help the sick in a poor village. The people all rejoice of her arrival.]]

A [[TheSixties 1966]] American semi-biographical film about the life of Jeanine Deckers (aka Sœur Sourire ''lit. Sister Smile''/"The Singing Nun" in the West), a nun who recorded the chart-topping hit song, [[OneHitWonder "Dominique"]]. Debbie Reynolds stars in the title role as the nun named Sister Ann[[labelnote:*]]''not'' the real Singing Nun's name[[/labelnote]]. Ed Sullivan himself makes an appearance to play in the supposedly similar situation where the Singing Nun appears on [[Series/TheEdSullivanShow his show]]. Original songs by The Singing Nun were translated into English and were written by Randy Sparks.

* AnimatedCreditsOpening

** EarnYourHappyEnding: [[spoiler: She and Sister Mary become missionaries in Africa and help the sick in a poor village. The people all rejoice of her arrival.]]

* HollywoodNuns
* InfantImmortality

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/220px-The_Singing_Nun_2226.jpg

* EverybodyLives: For all the drama that came along the way for all the characters, the film ends in a rather hopeful note.

NeedsWikiMagicLove. Compare ''Film/SisterAct'' if you want a movie with lots of music that also involves nuns but [[NunsAreFunny funnier and quirkier]].

NeedsWikiMagicLove.

** EarnYourHappyEnding: [[spoiler: She and a fellow nun become missionaries in Africa and help the sick in a poor village. The people all rejoice of her arrival.]]

* TheHedonist: Nichole which unfortunately, leads her to constantly leaving her brother alone or taking him to unsafe places.
** In the near end, she admits this a bit when she stated that the reason that she liked going out was because she just wanted to have fun. Though it sounded selfish, the way she delivered it...[[MoodWhiplash doesn't sound like]] [[BrokenBird it came from a]] HardDrinkingPartyGirl.

* BasedOnABigLie: In contrast to the perfection of the movie, the real Jeanine Deckers was a very conflicted personality who did not like the attention of the world and definitely did not hold an attraction to a male record producer as shown in the film. In fact, she left the order in 1965, accompanied by her lover, Annie Pescher, whom she stayed with until their mutual suicide pact in 1985.

A [[TheSixties 1966]] American semi-biographical film about the life of Jeanine Deckers (aka Sœur Sourire ''lit. Sister Smile''/"The Singing Nun" in the West), a nun who recorded the chart-topping hit song, [[OneHitWonder "Dominique"]]. Debbie Reynolds stars in the title role as the nun named Sister Ann[[labelnote:*]]''not'' the real Singing Nun's name[[/labelnote]]. Ed Sullivan himself makes an appearance to play in the supposedly similar situation where the Singing Nun appears on [[EdSullivanShow his show]]. Original songs by The Singing Nun were translated into English and were written by Randy Sparks.

----

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/The_Singing_Nun_5081.jpg

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Later, while walking on the streets, she hears a club playing rock 'n' roll music to the tune of her song, Dominique, much to her horror (judging from the ReactionShot) for she thought that she was unprepared of the side-effects of her new-found fame and she thought was losing sight of what's important. It didn't help that this all happened just after [[spoiler: the accident of little Dominic]].

** In the near end, she admits this a bit when she stated that the reason that she liked going out was because she just wanted to have fun. Though it sounded selfish, the way she delivered it...[[MoodWhiplash doesn't sound like]] [[BrokenBird it came from]] a HardDrinkingPartyGirl.

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Later, while walking on the streets, she hears a club playing rock 'n' roll music to the tune of her song, Dominique, much to her horror (judging from the ReactionShot) for she thought that she has become so popular, she has let the fame go over her head and she was losing sight of what's important. It didn't help that this all happened just after [[spoiler: the accident of little Dominic]] which she blamed herself for.

A [[TheSixties 1966]] American semi-biographical film about the life of Jeanine Deckers (aka Sœur Sourire ''lit. Sister Smile''/"The Singing Nun" in the West), a nun who recorded the chart-topping hit song, [[OneHitWonder "Dominique"]]. Debbie Reynolds stars as the title role. [[EdSullivanShow Ed Sullivan]] himself makes an appearance to appear in the scene where, in real life, interviews the Singing Nun and performs her song. Original songs by The Singing Nun were translated into English and were written by Randy Sparks.

Reception was positive and making at least 3 million dollars in rentals. Jeanine Deckers herself, however rejected the film as "fiction". More or less, her life [[SturgeonsLaw might not be as joyful]] as how the film showed it. And unlike the film, Decker's fate was less than happy...

Reception was positive and making at least 3 million dollars in rentals. Jeanine Deckers herself, however rejected the film as "fiction". More or less, her life [[SturgeonsLaw might not be ''that'' joyful]] as how the film showed it. And unlike the film, Decker's fate was less than happy...