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The Preacher's Wife

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The Preacher's Wife
Theatrical release poster
Directed byPenny Marshall
Written byNat Mauldin
Allan Scott
Based on
The Bishop's Wife
1947 screenplay
by
Produced bySamuel Goldwyn Jr.
Starring
CinematographyMiroslav Ondříček
Edited byGeorge Bowers
Stephen A. Rotter
Music byHans Zimmer
Production
companies
Distributed byBuena Vista Pictures Distribution
Release date
  • December 13, 1996 (1996-12-13) (USA)
Running time
124 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$57 million[1]

The Preacher's Wife is a 1996 American Christmas fantasy comedy-drama film directed by Penny Marshall and starring Denzel Washington, Whitney Houston, and Courtney B. Vance. It is a remake of the 1947 film The Bishop's Wife,[2] which in turn was based on the 1928 novel of the same name by Robert Nathan.

It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Musical or Comedy Score. The film was nominated for six NAACP Image Awards, including Outstanding Motion Picture, and won two—for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture (Whitney Houston) and Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture (Loretta Devine).

Plot

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A voiceover by the preacher's son Jeremiah Biggs guides the viewer through the film.

Reverend Henry Biggs is the pastor of a small struggling African American Baptist church in a poverty-stricken neighborhood of New York City. Membership is declining, Henry is pulled in a hundred directions by his parishioners' needs, and the church's finances are in trouble. Henry is under intense pressure from real estate developer Joe Hamilton to sell the church's property so that Hamilton can build luxury condominiums on the site. Henry has also become neglectful of his wife Julia and his son Jeremiah. Julia worries that her marriage is failing. Unsure that he can make a difference in his parishioners' lives and beginning to lose his faith, Henry prays to God for help, which comes in the form of Dudley, a witty and debonair angel. Dudley tells Henry that he is an angel sent by God to help him, but Henry is deeply suspicious of Dudley. Julia, however, is instantly charmed by the handsome and unflappable angel.

With Christmas approaching, Henry's schedule becomes increasingly burdensome, and Dudley begins to spend most of his time with Julia and Jeremiah. Henry's secretary Beverly becomes comically defensive and aggressive, believing Dudley is there to take her job. Julia's wasp-tongued mother, Margueritte is also suspicious of Dudley, because she believes the newcomer will break up her daughter's marriage. Dudley and Julia go ice skating, and then later spend an evening in the jazz club where Julia once performed. After Henry confronts Dudley, Dudley realizes that he is falling in love with Julia. So, Dudley turns his attention to Hamilton and manages to disrupt his schemes to get Henry to sell the church. Henry now realizes that his family is the most important thing in his life, and he resolves to be a better husband and father. At the church's Christmas pageant, Henry finds his faith in God renewed and ties to his family restored.

With his work done, Dudley gives the Biggs family a fully decorated Christmas tree as a gift. Dudley then erases all memories of himself from everyone he has met, and although he attends morning service on Christmas Eve, no one recognizes him. However, Jeremiah, who has the faith of a child, still remembers Dudley, and wishes him a merry Christmas.

Cast

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Production

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The motion picture was developed by Denzel Washington's Mundy Lane Entertainment.[3] The screenplay was written by Nat Mauldin and Allan Scott. Credits are given to Robert E. Sherwood and Leonardo Bercovici for the 1947 film The Bishop's Wife, and to author Robert Nathan (for his novel The Bishop's Wife).

The role of Julia was written with Whitney Houston in mind. Denzel Washington says that he first considered Julia Roberts for the role, but quickly turned to Whitney Houston.[3] Houston admitted that she was reluctant to accept, feeling she could not do justice to a role that required her to play a dowdy housewife. Only after reading the script a second time and seeing parallels between her own life and the role of Julia did Houston accept.[4] Houston was paid $10 million to appear in the film, making her the highest paid black actress at the time and third highest paid film actress of 1996.[3]

The Preacher's Wife was the third film produced by Washington's company Mundy Lane Entertainment. For Washington, the movie was a meaningful project due to its message about the value of family, community, and faith. Moreover, as Washington reflected to Variety magazine, the film provided opportunities for those underrepresented in show business:

"I’m happy to know that on a film like ‘Devil in a Blue Dress’ we put 100 or so many black people to work, and it was the same with ‘The Preacher’s Wife,’ [Washington] said. “And it will be the same thing with other films that I’m involved in, whether I’m on a producer level or not. We do it because they’re capable and because nobody else is necessarily looking out for them,” he says of African-American talent.[5]

Filming began in early January 1996. Trinity United Methodist Church in Newark, New Jersey, served as the Biggs' New York City church.[3] The production leased the church, and began renovating it in February 1996. The interior was painted, new carpet laid, and the main doors repaired. The production team designed a pulpit and altar rails that more accurately reflected the design of Baptist churches. After filming, the church kept the pulpit, and the production crew worked with architects from the United Methodist Church to design and install rails more fitting of the Methodist style. Filming occurred there from March 11 to April 3, with about a quarter of the church's membership hired as extras. (The church used the rental fees paid by the production to replace its boiler and HVAC system.)[6]

Production was plagued by poor weather and accidents. Interior sets were constructed at Chelsea Piers, a film and television production facility in Manhattan, New York.[7] Severe snowstorms in New Jersey (where scenes were shot in Paterson[7]) and New York (where scenes were shot throughout New York City) cost the production several shooting days. Later, the cast and crew moved to Portland, Maine, to scenes which occur at an ice skating rink, but unseasonably warm weather turned the ice to water and forced the production to rent snow-making machines. The production filmed in several crime-ridden areas of New York City to achieve authenticity. Robberies were common in the area, leaving the cast and crew nervous. While filming exteriors and interiors at a church and parsonage in Yonkers, New York, a building a block away caught fire and two children died.[8] One crew member rushed a ladder from the production to the burning building, and saved the life of a four-year-old child.[9] Accidents also affected the production. The weekend before filming began at the church, an elderly parishioner fell, broke her hip and died. In the middle of filming, a crew member was struck by a car and killed. The production schedule was also impacted by Houston's decision only to shoot scenes with vocal performances during the afternoon.[8]

Filming was scheduled to wrap at the end of February, but the crew was still shooting at the beginning of May. Some final scenes shot were those at the Main Street Cafe in Tarrytown, New York. The entire street had to be dressed for Christmas in fake snow laid down along the street.[7]

Lionel Richie made his acting debut in the film as the owner of the jazz club.[10]

Soundtrack

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Main article: The Preacher's Wife (soundtrack)

The Preacher's Wife is the best-selling gospel album of all time.[11] The album also remained at number-one for a record twenty-six weeks on the Billboard Top Gospel Albums Chart. The Georgia Mass Choir appears in the film. The soundtrack to the film (performed by Whitney Houston) consists of gospel numbers and includes performances by Monica, Faith Evans, the three members of New Edition who embarked on solo careers (Bobby Brown, who was Houston's real-life husband at the time, Ralph Tresvant and Johnny Gill), Cissy Houston and Shirley Caesar among others.[12] Houston sang Richard Smallwood's I Love the Lord in the film. A favorite song of hers since childhood, it gained renewed popularity when it was heard in the film.[11]

Reception

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Stephen Holden, writing for The New York Times, called the film "sweetly uplifting" and "a shrewdly conceived update", and had high praise for actress Jenifer Lewis and the funny scene where the children in the Christmas pageant cannot recall their lines.[13] Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times also found the film "warm, sentimental, amusing yet serious" and an "inspired reworking" of the 1947 original. He singled out Penny Marshall's directing for being "consistently wise and judicious", and praised Jenifer Lewis and Loretta Devine.[10] Critic Roger Ebert gave the film 3 out of 4 stars, but was a bit equivocal in his review, concluding: "The Preacher's Wife is a sweet and good-hearted comedy about the holiday season. ... This movie could have done more, but what it does, it makes you feel good about."[14]

Duane Byrge, writing for The Hollywood Reporter, also felt the film uneven. Although he found it heart-warming, he wrote that it had a "patchy narrative" and felt the film made Washington and Houston such great characters that it was hard to see why the Biggs' marriage should survive. Too often, he concluded, the plot seemed nothing more than a means of stringing together terrific musical performances by Houston and the Georgia Mass Choir. Byrge found Penny Marshall's directing slow at times but felt that casting director Paula Herold had done wonders. He singled out Courtney B. Vance as an appealing if downbeat husband, Jenifer Lewis as the "sassy" mother-in-law, and Loretta Devine as Bigg's defensive, aggressive secretary who thinks Dudley is there to replace her. Marshall, Byrge said, was more effective directing these lively characters (and actors) than the film's stars.[15]

In contrast, Caren Weiner Campbell, writing for Entertainment Weekly, found Denzel Washington to be lackluster (though the gospel singing scenes were quite good). Her strongest criticism was directed at the screenplay. She felt the script had too many subplots, with the narrative by the character of Jeremiah was "sappy", and was lacking in the "fun miracles" of the original. She also criticized Marshall's directing for being slow and tedious.[16] Unlike other reviewers, Jackie Potts in Miami Herald felt the characters were dated and not updated. She found Courtney B. Vance's acting humorless, and was highly critical of Whitney Houston's acting. "[Houston] sleepwalks through scenes as the dignified mother, doing little more than tucking her 6-year-old son (Justin Pierre Edmund) in. It's not a showy role, but Houston plays it as if the frost outdoors has settled on her shoulders". While she had high praise for Denzel Washington (he "plays Dudley with a 100-watt smile and childlike sense of wonder"), she had little to say for Penny Marshall's directing. It was, she concluded, slow and the overall tone of the film "strangely solemn"—with only minor relief given by Jenifer Lewis' biting, scathingly funny turn as a tart-tongued mother.[17]

The Preacher's Wife currently holds a 62% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 47 reviews. The site's consensus states: "Solid performances and a steady directorial hand help The Preacher's Wife offer some reliably heartwarming – albeit fairly predictable – holiday cheer."[18]

Box office

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The film grossed $56,432,646 worldwide, of which $48,102,795 was in the US, ranking The Preacher's Wife as #33 in domestic box office receipts for movies released in 1996. The movie's US gross was only slightly below that of Evita ($50 million) and above those for Romeo + Juliet ($46.3 million) and One Fine Day ($46.2 million).[19]

Although considered a respectable performance, The Preacher's Wife underperformed studio expectations given its $60 million production budget plus an additional $15 million in marketing expenses. Industry insiders had hoped that The Preacher's Wife would attract a significant crossover audience due to its two high-profile mainstream stars and heavily promoted soundtrack album. "Whitney is her own built-in marketing machine," a studio marketing chief told the Los Angeles Times prior to the film's release, referring to Houston's widespread appeal at the time.[20]

Awards and nominations

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Award Category Nominee(s) Result Ref.
Academy Awards Best Original Musical or Comedy Score Hans Zimmer Nominated [21]
American Music Awards Top Soundtrack The Preacher's Wife Nominated [22]
Blockbuster Entertainment Awards Favorite Soundtrack Nominated [23]
Grammy Awards Best R&B Album Nominated [24]
Best Female R&B Vocal Performance "I Believe in You and Me" – Whitney Houston Nominated
Movieguide Awards Best Movie for Families Won [25]
Most Inspiring Movie Won
NAACP Image Awards Outstanding Motion Picture Nominated
Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture Whitney Houston Won
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture Loretta Devine Won
Jenifer Lewis Nominated
Outstanding Youth Actor/Actress Justin Pierre Edmund Nominated
Outstanding Album The Preacher's Wife Won
Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards Favorite Movie Actress Whitney Houston Nominated [26]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "The Preacher's Wife", The Numbers
  2. ^ Patrick Goldstein (December 11, 1996). "Praying for Crossover Appeal". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 7, 2012.
  3. ^ a b c d John-Hall, Annette. "'Cool, Real Cool'". Philadelphia Inquirer. December 15, 1996.
  4. ^ Lawson, Terry. "Whitney Houston Says She Was Reluctant to Star in 'The Preacher's Wife'". Detroit Free Press. December 20, 1996.
  5. ^ Laski, Beth (March 5, 1997). "Mundy Lane Sees a Full Load Ahead". Variety. Retrieved April 29, 2022.
  6. ^ McGlone, Peggy. "Divine Hosts, Generous Guests". Newark Star-Ledger. December 13, 1996.
  7. ^ a b c Staudter, Thomas (May 26, 1996). "How Main Street Cafe Got in the Movies". The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-11-21.
  8. ^ a b Ascher-Walsh, Rebecca. "Preacher's Strife". Entertainment Weekly. December 13, 1996. Accessed 2012-11-21.
  9. ^ "Teen-Agers Charged in Fatal Yonkers Fire". The New York Times. Associated Press. February 23, 1996. p. B5.
  10. ^ a b Thomas, Kevin. "A Heavenly Persuasion". Los Angeles Times. December 13, 1996. Accessed 2012-08-07.
  11. ^ a b Alexander, Keith L. (July 23, 2015). "Millions of gospel fans know Richard Smallwood's music. But not his struggles". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2020-03-29.
  12. ^ Elysa Gardner (1996-11-24). "Oh, Whitney-for Heaven's Sake". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2012-08-07.
  13. ^ Holden, Stephen. "Movie Review - The Preacher's Wife". The New York Times. December 13, 1996. Accessed 2012-08-07.
  14. ^ Ebert, Roger. "The Preacher's Wife". Chicago Sun-Times. December 13, 1996. Accessed 2012-08-07.
  15. ^ Byrge, Duane. "Movie Review: 'The Preacher's Wife'". The Hollywood Reporter. December 9, 1996.
  16. ^ Campbell, Caren Weiner. "'The Preacher's Wife' Review". Entertainment Weekly. April 25, 1997. Accessed 2012-08-08.
  17. ^ Potts, Jackie. "'The Preacher's Wife' Could Use A Prayer". Miami Herald. December 13, 1996.
  18. ^ "The Preacher's Wife (1996)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved 2021-10-07. Edit this at Wikidata
  19. ^ "Top 1996 Movies at the Domestic Box Office". The Numbers. April 29, 2022. Retrieved April 29, 2022.
  20. ^ Goldstein, Patrick (December 11, 1996). "Praying for Crossover Appeal". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 29, 2022.
  21. ^ "The 69th Academy Awards (1997) Nominees and Winners". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on November 9, 2014. Retrieved October 23, 2011.
  22. ^ "25th American Music Awards". Rock on the Net. Retrieved December 25, 2024.
  23. ^ "Blockbuster Entertainment Awards Nominees Announced". Blockbuster Entertainment. December 17, 1997. Archived from the original on February 14, 2015. Retrieved October 5, 2018 – via PR Newswire.
  24. ^ "40th Annual GRAMMY Awards". Grammy Awards. Retrieved December 25, 2024.
  25. ^ "1997 Movieguide Awards Winners". Movieguide Awards. Retrieved December 25, 2024.
  26. ^ "The 10th Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards". Whitney Houston Official Site. Sony Music Entertainment. Retrieved April 5, 2020.
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