Been working too hard, not finding success and losing your
happy family? Here’s a movie for you.
A fundraiser with angst provides the scenario for an angel’s
intervention in the 1947 B & W movie, The Bishop’s Wife.
The Bishop, played by David Niven, has a stalled
capital campaign to build a cathedral and is thwarted by a
dowager that wishes to build an edifice to recognize her husband. She even wants a stained glass window
depicting St. George to show the countenance of her departed husband. The Bishop is losing his purpose as a
churchman and his family while striving for project completion. Sounds like an organization in need of a
consultant, or in this case an angel, played by Cary
Grant.
The angel comes to offer help, not a
cathedral, and is tempted by the Bishop’s Wife, characterized by Loretta
Young. Along with his charm, the
angel offers an allegory for making a difference in the world. Dudley, the angel use a light touchto bring the best out in others, and keep an eye on the corporate vision,
be the corporation a marriage or a church. After he’s gone, nobody knows he was there. Sometimes divine intervention helps out.
This charming older film was remade in 1996 as The Preacher’s Wife with
Whitney Houston, Denzel Washington and Courtney B. Vance updating the production.
Perhaps you’ve seen It’s a
Wonderful Life to many times? Maybe
you need a role model for creating organizational change? This movie might be your new holiday
ritual.
