History Trivia / TheSongOfBernadette

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: The music you hear is by Alfred Newman, but Igor Stravinsky had been the first choice. He had the music for the first apparition already planned before he even saw a screening of the film, and when Perlberg and King asked him to change some of it Stravinsky refused and was released from his contract. Now, put on his "Symphony in Three Movements," second movement, and cue up your DVD to where Bernadette, Marie and Jeanne are running over the hills to collect wood near Massabielle. ''That's'' what you should have heard. This is actually more evocative of a bizarre yet tenderly sacred mood than Newman's more traditionally religious approach.

* [[https://www.americamagazine.org/arts-culture/2018/12/07/1940s-french-film-one-most-catholic-horror-movies-ever-made This insightful review]] points out that ''The Song of Bernadette'' actually uses horror movie themes and tropes, specifically the concept that the person who knows the truth and must convince The Authorities is the one nobody takes seriously. They specifically mention that among her adversaries is her own internalized sense of unworthiness, in the very last seconds of the film; "The bravery she has shown throughout this film is not enough: She needs rescue. Unlike the 'final girl,' she can’t triumph alone; unlike the 'final girl,' she doesn’t have to."

** A better page quote might be "To those who believe in God, no explanation is necessary. To those who do not, no explanation will suffice." This is displayed at the beginning of the film. Peyramale says it in both book and film. It's a paraphrase from St. Thomas Aquinas that's often associated with the Lourdes visitations and healing miracles.

** A better page quote might be "To those who believe in God, no explanation is necessary. To those who do not, no explanation will suffice." This is displayed at the beginning of the film. Werfel has Peyramale saying it. It's a paraphrase from St. Thomas Aquinas that's often associated with the Lourdes visitations and healing miracles.

* Mme. Léontine Bruat (Tala Birell) was real; as in the film, she was the wife (actually the widow -- he died at sea of cholera in 1855, three years before the visitations) of Admiral Bruat and the governess for His Highness the Prince Imperial. There's a sequence where she brings a jug of then-illegal spring water to the Empress Eugénie for "Loulou" when he's sick, and he recovers. Eugénie subsequently informs her husband that he's either an atheist or an arrogant jerk for not opening the grotto. This whole episode was probably dreamed up by novelist Werfel. However, it is a recorded fact that the grotto was closed by local authorities and re-opened in October 1858 by order of Emperor Louis Napoleon III.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: The music you hear is by Alfred Newman, but Igor Stravinsky had been the first choice. He had the music for the first apparition already planned before he even saw a screening of the film, and when Perlberg and King asked him to change some of it Stravinsky refused and was released from his contract. Now, put on his "Symphony in Three Movements," second movement, and cue up your DVD to where Bernadette, Marie and Jeanne are running over the hills to collect wood near Massabielle. This is actually more evocative of a bizarre yet tenderly sacred mood than Newman's more traditionally religious approach.

*** And in the trifecta of Hollywood Gossip, Loretta Young, despite her IncorruptiblePurePureness reputation, had had a wild affair with Creator/ClarkGable and gave birth to a daughter, Judy, whom she passed off as an adopted orphan, later confessing to her: "Yes, ''you are my sin.''

** Contrary to rumors, Darnell wasn't pregnant. That was a hateful rumor spread by Creator/LorettaYoung, then ''thirty'', who was furious not to be cast as Bernadette ''or'' her lady. She was the one who brought up Darnell's sexpot reputation, accusing her of being pregnant by Creator/DarylFZanuck. Franz Werfel received some racy, semi-nude publicity photos of Darnell and had a shit fit, which is why Darnell's name isn't in the credits. She ''was'' having an affair with Zanuck, but she was infertile. She later adopted a daughter, Lola.

** Bernadette described her lady as close to her own size (4'7")[[note]]Jennifer Jones was a foot taller![[/note]] and age, but twenty-year-old, 5'4" Linda Darnell was cast. She's also wearing more drapery than Bernadette described, because she is pregnant. Minus the crown, [[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6b/Notre_Dame_du_Rosaire.jpg this mosaic in the Rosary Basilica]] may be a lot closer to what Bernadette saw.

* BeamMeUpScotty: Bernadette never spoke the words in the trope quote: they were written by Franz Werfel for his book. In fact, Bernadette while a nun at Nevers did ask for water from the Lourdes Spring and drank it to cure a life-threatening attack of asthma. She never had another one.

* DawsonCasting: Twenty-four-year-old Jennifer Jones as Bernadette, aged fourteen for nearly all of the movie - though she's outdone by fellow adult Ermadean Walters playing her younger sister Marie (whose age is not given, but would have been six or seven historically).
** Bernadette described her lady as close to her own size (4'7")[[note]]Jennifer Jones was a foot taller![[/note]] and age, but twenty-year-old, 5'4" Linda Darnell was cast. She's also wearing more drapery than Bernadette described, because she is pregnant.
*** Minus the crown, [[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6b/Notre_Dame_du_Rosaire.jpg this mosaic in the Rosary Basilica]] may be a lot closer to what Bernie saw.

* Mme. Léontine Bruat (Tala Birell) was real; as in the film, she was the wife of Admiral Bruat and the governess for His Highness the Prince Imperial. There's a sequence where she brings a jug of then-illegal spring water to the Empress Eugénie for "Loulou" when he's sick, and he recovers. Eugénie subsequently informs her husband that he's either an atheist or an arrogant jerk for not opening the grotto. This whole episode was probably dreamed up by novelist Werfel. However, it is a recorded fact that the grotto was closed by local authorities and re-opened in October 1858 by order of Emperor Louis Napoleon III.

** Bernadette described her lady as close to her own size and age, but twenty-year-old Linda Darnell was cast. She's also wearing more drapery than Bernadette described, because she is pregnant.

* StarMakingRole: For Creator/JenniferJones who won an Oscar for her performance.
* Mme. Léontine Bruat (Tala Birell) was real; as in the film, she was the wife of Admiral Bruat and the governess for His Highness the Prince Imperial. There's a sequence where she brings a jug of then-illegal spring water to the Empress Eugénie for "Loulou" when he's sick, and he recovers. Eugénie subsequently informs her husband that he's either an atheist or an arrogant jerk for not opening the grotto. This whole episode was probably dreamed up by novelist Werfel. However, it is a recorded fact that the grotto was closed by local authorities and re-opened in October 1858 by order of Emperor Louis Napoleon III.

* StarMakingRole: For Creator/JenniferJones who won an Oscar for her performance.

* DawsonCasting:
* StarMakingRole: