''The Preacher's Wife'' is a 1996 American comedy-drama film directed by

Penny Marshall Carole Penny MarshallBorn Carole Penny Marshall in 1943, as per ''My Mother Was Nuts, a Memoir'', p. 10; . Copyright 2012 (October 15, 1943 – December 17, 2018) was an American actress, director and producer. She is known for her role as ...

and starring Denzel Washington,

Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer and actress. Nicknamed " The Voice", she is one of the bestselling music artists of all time, with sales of over 200 million records worldwide. Houston i ...

, and Courtney B. Vance. It is a remake of the 1947 film ''

The Bishop's Wife ''The Bishop's Wife'' (also known as ''Cary and the Bishop's Wife'') is a 1947 American romantic comedy film directed by Henry Koster and starring Cary Grant, Loretta Young, and David Niven. The plot is about an angel who helps a bishop with his ...

'', which in turn was based on the 1928 novel of the same name by Robert Nathan. It was nominated for the

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology) ...

for Best Music, Original Musical or Comedy Score. The film was nominated for five

Image Award The NAACP Image Awards is an annual awards ceremony presented by the U.S.-based National Association for the Advancement of Colored People ( NAACP) to honor outstanding performances in film, television, theatre, music, and literature. Similar to ...

s, including Outstanding Motion Picture, and won two—for Best Actress (Whitney Houston) and Best Supporting Actress (Loretta Devine).

Plot

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

pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...

of a small struggling

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...

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 In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles inclu ...

. 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. A subplot present throughout the film focuses on Julia's singing talents. Once a popular nightclub singer, she is now a star in the church

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...

. This subplot provides for several

set piece In film production, a set piece is a scene or sequence of scenes whose execution requires complex logistical planning and considerable expenditure of money. The term is often also used more broadly to describe a sequence in which the film-maker's ...

s in which the choir performs, and Gospel music plays a significant role. It also provides comic relief in the form of a domineering choir member, played by Houston's real life mother, Cissy.

Cast

as Julia Coleman Biggs * Denzel Washington as Dudley * Courtney B. Vance as Reverend Henry Biggs *

Gregory Hines Gregory Oliver Hines (February 14, 1946 – August 9, 2003) was an American dancer, actor, choreographer, and singer. He is one of the most celebrated tap dancers of all time. As an actor, he is best known for '' Wolfen'' (1981), '' The Cotton C ...

as Joe Hamilton *

Jenifer Lewis Jenifer Jeanette Lewis (born January 25, 1957) is an American actress. She began her career appearing in Broadway musicals and worked as a back-up singer for Bette Midler before appearing in films ''Beaches'' (1988) and '' Sister Act'' (1992). Le ...

as Margueritte Coleman *

Loretta Devine Loretta Devine (born August 21, 1949) is an American actress, singer and voice actor. She is known for numerous roles across stage and screen. Her most high profile roles include Lorrell Robinson in the original Broadway production of '' Dreamg ...

as Beverly * Justin Pierre Edmund as Jeremiah Biggs * Lionel Richie as Bristloe * Paul Bates as Saul Jefferies * Lex Monson as Osbert * Darvel Davis Jr. as Hakim * William James Stiggers Jr. as Billy Eldridge *

Marcella Lowery Marcella Lowery (born April 27, 1946) is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Geoffrey Owens' mother, Francine Tibideaux, on ''The Cosby Show'', Jamal Jenkins' grandmother on ''Ghostwriter'' from 1992 to 1995, Anna Eldridge in the ...

as Anna Eldridge * Cissy Houston as Mrs. Havergale *

Shyheim Shyheim Dionel Franklin (born November 14, 1977) is an American rapper from New York better known simply as Shyheim. He initially gained fame as a teenager, releasing his debut album ''AKA the Rugged Child'' at the age of 16 in 1994. He has sp ...

as Teen * Aaron A. McConnaughey as Teen

Production

The motion picture was developed by Denzel Washington's Mundy Lane Entertainment.John-Hall, Annette. "'Cool, Real Cool'". ''Philadelphia Inquirer''. December 15, 1996. The screenplay was written by Nat Mauldin and Allan Scott. Credits are given to

Robert E. Sherwood Robert Emmet Sherwood (April 4, 1896 – November 14, 1955) was an American playwright and screenwriter. He is the author of '' Waterloo Bridge, Idiot's Delight, Abe Lincoln in Illinois, Rebecca, There Shall Be No Night, The Best Years of Our ...

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 Julia Fiona Roberts (born October 28, 1967) is an American actress. Known for her leading roles in films encompassing a variety of genres, she has received multiple accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and th ...

for the role, but quickly turned to Whitney Houston. 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 A housewife (also known as a homemaker or a stay-at-home mother/mom/mum) is a woman whose role is running or managing her family's home—housekeeping, which includes caring for her children; cleaning and maintaining the home; making, buying an ...

. Only after reading the script a second time and seeing parallels between her own life and the role of Julia did Houston accept. Houston was paid $10 million to appear in the film, making her the highest paid black actress at the time. ''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 Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' 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,’
ashington Ashington is a town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, with a population of 27,864 at the 2011 Census. It was once a centre of the coal mining industry. The town is north of Newcastle upon Tyne, west of the A189 and bordered to the ...
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.

Filming began in early January 1996. Trinity United Methodist Church in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area. 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 The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was a leader in evangelic ...

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.) Production was plagued by poor weather and accidents. Interior sets were constructed at

Chelsea Piers Chelsea Piers is a series of piers in Chelsea, on the West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Located to the west of the West Side Highway ( Eleventh Avenue) and Hudson River Park and to the east of the Hudson River, they were originally a p ...

, a film and television production facility in

Manhattan, New York Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. Severe snowstorms in New Jersey (where scenes were shot in Paterson) 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 Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over half a million people, the 104th-largest metropo ...

, 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 Yonkers () is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States. Developed along the Hudson River, it is the third most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City and Buffalo. The population of Yonkers was 211,569 as en ...

, a building a block away caught fire and two children died.Ascher-Walsh, Rebecca. "Preacher's Strife". ''Entertainment Weekly''. December 13, 1996.
Accessed 2012-11-21. One crew member rushed a ladder from the production to the burning building, and saved the life of a four-year-old child. 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. 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 Tarrytown is a village in the town of Greenburgh in Westchester County, New York. It is located on the eastern bank of the Hudson River, approximately north of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, and is served by a stop on the Metro-North ...

. The entire street had to be dressed for Christmas in fake snow laid down along the street. Lionel Richie made his acting debut in the film as the owner of the jazz club.

Soundtrack

'' The Preacher's Wife'' is the best-selling gospel album of all time. The album also remained at number-one for a record twenty-six weeks on the ''Billboard'' Top Gospel Albums Chart. The

Georgia Mass Choir The Georgia Mass Choir is an American Gospel music choir from Macon, Georgia. Early years The ensemble, which numbers 150 members, was founded in 1983 by Rev. Milton Biggham, the lead vocalist and songwriter for the group. He put together the g ...

appears in the film. The soundtrack to the film (performed by Whitney Houston) consists of gospel numbers and includes performances by Monica,

Faith Evans Faith Renée Evans (born June 10, 1973) is an American singer and actress. Born in Lakeland, Florida, and raised in New Jersey, she relocated to Los Angeles in 1991 for a career in the music business. After working as a backing vocalist for Al ...

, the three members of

New Edition New Edition is an American R&B/Pop group from the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 1978 by Bobby Brown. Their name is taken to mean a 'new edition' of the Jackson 5. The group reached its height of popularity in the 19 ...

who embarked on solo careers (

Bobby Brown Robert Barisford Brown (born February 5, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter and dancer. Brown, alongside frequent collaborator Teddy Riley, is noted as one of the pioneers of new jack swing: a fusion of hip hop and R&B. Brown started h ...

, who was Houston's real-life husband at the time,

Ralph Tresvant Ralph Edward Tresvant (born May 16, 1968) is an American singer, songwriter, actor and record producer, best known as the lead singer of R&B group New Edition. As a solo artist, Tresvant released the album '' Ralph Tresvant'' (1990). In 2008, he ...

and

Johnny Gill Johnny Gill Jr. (born May 22, 1966) is an American singer and actor. He is the sixth and final member of the R&B/pop group New Edition and was also a member of the supergroup called LSG, with Gerald Levert and Keith Sweat. Gill has released e ...

), Cissy Houston and Shirley Caesar among others. Houston sang Richard Smallwood's in the film. A favorite song of hers since childhood, it gained renewed popularity when it was heard in the film.

Reception

Stephen Holden, writing for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', 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. Kevin Thomas of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'' 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.Thomas, Kevin. "A Heavenly Persuasion". ''Los Angeles Times''. December 13, 1996.
Accessed 2012-08-07. 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." Duane Byrge, writing for ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly larg ...

'', 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

. 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. In contrast, Caren Weiner Campbell, writing for ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cu ...

'', 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. 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. " oustonsleepwalks 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. ''The Preacher's Wife'' currently holds rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

based on 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."

Box office

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 Romeo Montague () is the male protagonist of William Shakespeare's tragedy ''Romeo and Juliet''. The son of Lord Montague and his wife, Lady Montague, he secretly loves and marries Juliet, a member of the rival House of Capulet, through a pries ...

'' ($46.3 million) and '' One Fine Day'' ($46.2 million). 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.

References

External links

* * *
''The Preacher's Wife''
at Virtual History {{DEFAULTSORT:Preacher's Wife, The 1996 films 1990s musical fantasy films 1990s musical comedy-drama films 1990s fantasy comedy-drama films 1990s romantic comedy-drama films American romantic comedy-drama films American Christmas comedy-drama films American fantasy comedy-drama films Remakes of American films American romantic fantasy films 1990s English-language films Films about angels African-American films Films based on American novels Films based on romance novels Films based on works by Robert Nathan Gospel music media American musical fantasy films Touchstone Pictures films Films directed by Penny Marshall Films shot in Maine Films shot in New Jersey Films set in New York (state) Films scored by Hans Zimmer The Samuel Goldwyn Company films 1990s Christmas comedy-drama films American musical comedy-drama films 1996 comedy films 1996 drama films 1990s American films