Sister Act is a 1992 American crime comedy musical film directed by Emile Ardolino and written by Paul Rudnick (billed as Joseph Howard). It stars Whoopi Goldberg as a lounge singer forced to hide in a convent after being placed in a witness protection program. It also features Maggie Smith, Kathy Najimy, Wendy Makkena, Mary Wickes, and Harvey Keitel.
Receiving mixed to favorable reviews, Sister Act was one of the most financially successful comedies of the early 1990s, grossing $231.6 million worldwide against a $31 million budget. Its success extended to the home video market, and it was the most rented film of 1993 in the United States. The film spawned a franchise, which consists of the critically panned 1993 sequel Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit and a musical adaptation, which premiered in 2006. A third film is in development for Disney+.
Plot Lounge singer Deloris Wilson, performing as Deloris Van Cartier in a club in Reno, Nevada, struggles with her career as she engages in an affair with the club's married owner, gangster Vince LaRocca. After receiving a shallow gift she recognizes belongs to Vince's wife, she attempts to return it, only to witness him murder an informant. Concerned she is a liability, Vince orders his men to eliminate her, forcing Deloris to escape and seek help from the Reno Police Department. Lieutenant Eddie Souther, who sees Deloris' information as important in bringing down Vince, places her in witness protection, and brings her to the struggling convent of Saint Katherine's Parish, located in a run-down San Francisco neighborhood. While Deloris and the convent's head nun, the Reverend Mother, object to this arrangement, Souther and the parish priest of St. Katherine's, Monsignor O'Hara, convince them to go along with the proposal; in particular, because Souther promises to compensate the convent financially for their assistance.
Disguised as "Sister Mary Clarence", Deloris initially has difficulty dealing with the rigid and simple convent life and butts heads with Reverend Mother, but finds herself befriending the other nuns, including the optimistic and upbeat Sister Mary Patrick, the elderly deadpan Sister Mary Lazarus, and the shy young Novice Sister Mary Robert. One night, after a poorly attended Sunday Mass — caused by the lackluster performance from the convent's choir, led by Mary Lazarus — Deloris decides she needs a break and sneaks out to a bar, unintentionally causing Mary Patrick and Mary Robert to follow her. After they are discovered by the Reverend Mother, she initially considers kicking Deloris out, but instead orders her to join the struggling choir. With her singing experience, Deloris is elected to take over as their director and transforms the choir.
At the next Sunday Mass, Deloris leads the much-improved choir in a traditional hymn of "Hail Holy Queen", then shifts into a combined gospel and rock and roll interpretation. Although Reverend Mother is infuriated, Monsignor O'Hara congratulates the choir for their unorthodox performance, as new people were attracted to the service. Convinced by Deloris (who cleverly credits Reverend Mother with the idea), he allows the nuns to clean the church and help revitalize the neighborhood. Their singing and efforts attract media attention, and the parish thrives.
Meanwhile, Vince has placed a bounty on Deloris's head and is intent on finding her. Souther chastises Deloris for nearly being exposed on national TV. She assures him she will try to keep a lower profile, and Souther attends a Mass. The choir continues to amaze parishioners and visitors, especially with a rendition of "My Guy" – rewritten and performed as "My God".
O'Hara informs the convent that Pope John Paul II, having heard of the choir's success, will visit the church and would like to hear them perform. Deloris tells Reverend Mother that Vince's upcoming trial means she will soon leave; the Mother reveals she has resigned as abbess, believing she is no longer useful to the convent as her authority was unintentionally undermined. Deloris tries to convince her to stay and keep the parish thriving as it is, but the Mother retorts that she believes herself too old-fashioned and incapable of doing so.
Souther discovers a corrupt detective in his own department who has disclosed Deloris's location to Vince and rushes to San Francisco to warn her. Though he arrives in time, Deloris insists on staying, feeling a sense of responsibility to her friends in the convent. Vince's men kidnap Deloris and Mary Robert, but Deloris helps Mary Robert escape. When Mary Robert returns to the convent, Reverend Mother reveals Deloris's true identity to the nuns and explains why she had been hiding in their convent. The nuns decide to rescue Deloris, and Reverend Mother leads them in guilt tripping a local helicopter pilot into giving them a ride to Reno.
In Reno, Vince orders his men to kill Deloris, but they cannot bring themselves to shoot her while she is dressed in a nun's habit. Arriving at the casino, the nuns find Deloris after she escapes Vince's men and try to sneak her out, but are cornered by Vince and his entourage in the lounge. Deloris prepares to sacrifice herself, but Vince's men still refuse to shoot her. Vince is hesitant himself, but works up the courage to shoot her. He hesitates just long enough for Souther to shoot him in the arm and arrest him and his men.
Thanking Deloris for her actions, Reverend Mother decides to remain as abbess. Returning to San Francisco, the choir, led by Deloris, sings "I Will Follow Him" to a packed audience in a refurbished Saint Katherine's, receiving a standing ovation from all including Reverend Mother, the Pope, Monsignor O'Hara, and Souther. Deloris continues to guide and coach the choir as a touring musical group.
During the closing credits, the group sings a cover of the Isley Brothers' "Shout".
Cast
Choir nuns
Production
Screenwriter Paul Rudnick pitched Sister Act to producer Scott Rudin in 1987, with Bette Midler in mind for the lead role. The script was brought to Disney. However, Midler turned down the role, fearing that her fans would not want to see her play a nun. Eventually, Whoopi Goldberg signed on to play the lead. As production commenced, the script was rewritten by a half dozen screenwriters, including Carrie Fisher, Robert Harling, and Nancy Meyers. With the movie no longer resembling his original script, Rudnick asked to be credited with a pseudonym in the film, deciding on Joseph Howard.
The church in which Deloris takes sanctuary is St. Paul's Catholic Church, located at Valley and Church Streets in Noe Valley, an upper-middle-class neighborhood of San Francisco. The storefronts on the opposite side of the street were redressed to give the appearance of a run-down neighborhood. Filming took place from to .
Though the order of the nuns in the film is said to be a Carmelite one, their religious habit worn by Sister Mary Patrick is similar in appearance to that of the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Third Order of St. Francis (minus the cross). Members of the real-life Order, however, no longer wear their traditional habit.
Soundtrack The film's soundtrack was released by Hollywood Records on June 9, 1992, in conjunction with the film, and contained the musical numbers performed by actors in the film itself, pre-recorded songs that were used as part of the background music, and instrumental music composed by Marc Shaiman for the film. The soundtrack album debuted at #74 and eventually reached #40 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums Chart where it charted for 54 weeks. The album received a Gold certification from the RIAA for shipment of 500,000 copies on January 13, 1993. The album was certified platinum in Australia.
"The Lounge Medley" ("(Love Is Like a) Heat Wave"/"My Guy"/"I Will Follow Him") – Deloris & The Ronelles "The Murder" (Instrumental) "Getting into the Habit" (Instrumental) "Rescue Me" – Fontella Bass "Hail Holy Queen" – Deloris & The Sisters "Roll With Me Henry" – Etta James "Gravy" – Dee Dee Sharp "My Guy (My God)" – Deloris & The Sisters "Just a Touch of Love (Everyday)" – C+C Music Factory "Deloris Is Kidnapped" (Instrumental) "Nuns to the Rescue" (Instrumental) "Finale: I Will Follow Him ('Chariot')" – Deloris & The Sisters "Shout" – Deloris & The Sisters & The Ronelles "If My Sister's in Trouble" – Lady Soul
The singing voice for the character of Mary Robert was performed by Andrea Robinson.
Certifications
Reception
Critical response The film received a mixed to favorable reception from critics, holding a 73% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 30 reviews. The site's consensus states: "Looking for a sweet musical comedy about a witness to a crime hiding out from killers in a convent? There's nun better than Sister Act." Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 2.5 stars out of a possible 4. He wrote that Goldberg and Wickes both offered humorous performances, but the film overall "plays like a missed opportunity" due to slow pacing and trouble integrating the organized crime scenes into a comedy film. Metacritic gave the film a score of 51 based on the 23 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.
Box office The film was a box-office success, grossing $139.6 million in the U.S. and $92 million in other countries, effectively grossing $231.6 million worldwide, becoming the eighth-highest-grossing film worldwide of 1992. It sat at the #2 spot for four weeks, behind Lethal Weapon 3, Patriot Games, and Batman Returns in succession.
Accolades Award Category Nominee(s) Result American Comedy Awards Funniest Actress in a Motion Picture (Leading Role)Whoopi Goldberg Funniest Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture Kathy Najimy Maggie Smith Mary Wickes Artios Awards Outstanding Achievement in Feature Film Casting – Comedy Judy Taylor, Lynda Gordon, Geoffrey Johnson, Vincent Liff and Andrew Zerman ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards Top Box Office Films Marc Shaiman Awards Circuit Community Awards Best Actress in a Leading Role Whoopi Goldberg Golden Globe Awards Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy Whoopi Goldberg Golden Screen Awards Kids' Choice Awards Favorite Movie Actress Whoopi Goldberg Movieguide Awards Best Movie for Mature Audiences MTV Movie Awards Best Female Performance Whoopi Goldberg Best Comedic Performance Best Breakthrough Performance Kathy Najimy NAACP Image Awards Outstanding Motion Picture Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture Whoopi Goldberg People's Choice Awards Favorite Comedy Motion Picture
The film is also recognized by American Film Institute in these lists: AFI's 100 Years... 100 Laughs – Nominated
Lawsuits On June 10, 1993, actress Donna Douglas and her partner Curt Wilson in Associated Artists Entertainment, Inc. filed a $200 million lawsuit against The Walt Disney Company, Whoopi Goldberg, Bette Midler, their production companies, and Creative Artists Agency claiming the film was plagiarized from the book A Nun in the Closet, owned by the partners. Douglas and Wilson argued that, in 1985, they had developed a screenplay for the book, which had been submitted to Disney, Goldberg, and Midler three times during 1987 and 1988. The lawsuit noted over 100 similarities between the movie and the book/screenplay as evidence of plagiarism. In 1994, Douglas and Wilson declined a $1 million offer in an attempt to win the case. The judge found in favor of Disney and the other defendants. Wilson stated at the time, "They would have had to copy our stuff verbatim for us to prevail."