1943 – Gladys Cooper
The Song of Bernadette
Gladys Cooper had a small but powerful part in this wonderful movie. She played Sister Marie Therese Vauzou. She was a nun who believed that true salvation could only come through self-denial and suffering. She doubted Bernadette’s miraculous visions, not because the girl was crazy or lying, but because she was innocent and knew nothing of true suffering. She was actually incredulous that God would choose such a simple young girl as his vessel, rather than someone like herself who had spent a lifetime torturing herself to attain a state of spiritual worthiness.
At first, Cooper just played the woman as a strict and pitiless Catholic nun, a schoolteacher in the village of Lourdes, but later she goes on to be the Mistress of Novices for the Sisters of Charity of Nevers. This was one of the films few departures from reality, as the real Sister Vauzou was never a schoolteacher in Lourdes. But I suppose when you have an actress of Gladys Cooper’s caliber, you use her as much as you can.
I think she wasn’t so much a doubter of Bernadette’s visions, but she was jealous of them, and so denied them on principle. Her most powerful scene was the one in which she finally confronts Bernadette. Her powerful monologue was captivating, and Cooper was incredible. “In all our sacred history, the chosen ones have always been those who have suffered. Why then should God choose you? Why not me? I know what it is to suffer. Look at my eyes. They burn like the very fires of Hell. Why? Because they need sleep. They need rest which I will not give them. My throat is parched from constant prayer. My hands are gnarled from serving God in humiliation. My body is pain-wracked from stone floors. Yes, I have suffered because I know it is the only true road to Heaven. And if I, who have tortured myself, cannot glimpse the Blessed Virgin, how can you, who have never felt pain, dare to say you’ve seen her?”
Cooper was so good, and also, the penitent prayer she utters in the next scene was great, too. This is definitely a movie to watch, not just because of the incredible script, but because of the intense performances of actors like Gladys Cooper.