WHY WE SING THEIR PRAISES: While many might not have actually experienced the love of the spiritual as imparted by the heavenly sisters who slammed the knuckles of the most rotten kids in the neighborhood with that trusty steel ruler- fired by a dedication that could only be inspired by Torquemada impatiently staring squarely into the empty-eyed abyss of the sneering jelly stained faces of generations of towheaded runts/the Devil -we cannot help but appreciate the prescience shown in beginning the process of cosmic comeuppance to those obnoxious brats who were fated to reach their bottom-of-the-rung evolutionary potential by being beaten daily in future reformatory institution incarcerations. (Therein lies the happy existence of a fortuitous commingling of purpose between the Church and State.)
Habit Forming: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, April 2018 Edition, Vol. 3:10
The nature of film criticism, being what it is, anyone who honestly indulges in the profession for any reasonable amount of time will surely fall into intimate acquaintance with the route to Hell since it is inevitable that so many readers will likely suggest that to the defender of the Art Form as a well deserved destination. At such times, the critic will find solace in the firm knowledge 
that such a divisive reaction may understandably be attributed to heretical populism which conspires to diminish the Divine wisdom which true critics are duty bound to impart upon the great unwashed (speaking of which, do we really have to talk to people from Vermont anymore?). Thus, the film critic is embedded in the Eternal Struggle between Good (Art) and Evil (Award Show Season, corporate multiplexes, top ten lists, Ebertism, any talk of Steven Spielberg as an Artist …. the list goes on and on), more often than not caught in the Purgatorial quagmire which has become the American cinema. With this in mind we bring you another edition of America’s favorite ecclesiastical alternative to collegiate hacky sack tournaments, the Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, brought to you, as always, by those meek but humble shepherds of the holiest of Sacramental snacks, SKITTLES, America’s favorite edible Rosary Beads.
This month we celebrate those swell Holy Sisters whose lifelong dedication to the spiritual is a true source of inspiration (in Millennialspeak: imagine someone as devoted to God as you are about your own face on your selfies). The following twenty icons feature images of the humble nun as realized in all of their (mostly) cinematic glory. Your pilgrimage, should you decide to ascend to the task, is to correctly identify the twenty films from which each of the visions is sourced. The first to do so and report their findings to the Vatican- or to us, since, being on the Internet, we can categorically state that there is such a place as Hell -will receive the coveted CSR Culture Shock Award, one of the few secular icons rumored to have been awarded three stars by the Michelin Guide. May the Saints be with ye.
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Great quiz. I got The Magdalene Sisters, Black Narcissus, Agnes of God and The Nun’s Story.
You’re the first to recognize “The Nun’s Story”. Bravo!
I feel proud of that.
Movie nuns are always beautiful, even elderly ones. And who, at my age, am I to argue with beauty in age? What I loved was the makeup. They were supposed to NOT be wearing makeup, but they always had trowels of it on.
An appropriate theme! I recognized only half but Pete filled in some of the gaps for me. Black Narcissus, Ida, Magdalene Sisters, Heaven Knows, Mr. A, Two Mules for Sister Sarah–those would be my favorites.
Nicely done Pete. I didn’t put a photo of Robbie Coltrane on here as I didn’t want to give you an unfair advantage, but once again you amaze with your depth of knowledge in nunology. (whatever) Stay tuned, perhaps “Nude Nuns With Big Guns” might very well be featured on a future Big Guns puzzle.
This was a hard one. Where’s Zoë Lund?
Alex, I deliberately didn’t put a photo of “Ms. 45” in the mix as I already have one very prominently displayed on my Grindhouse page.
A very clever theme, Chandler. One Nun looks much like the next, after all. Unless they are in ‘Nude Nuns With Big Guns’ (2010) of course…But here goes nothing. (Reverse order)
20) The Devils. More Ken Russell madness.
19) The Bells of St Mary’s. Bergman looking holy, as usual.
18) The Letters. I haven’t seen it, but the Mother Theresa outfit was a giveaway.
17) The Magdalene Sisters. Marvellous, simply marvellous. I urge everyone to watch it.
16) Airport 1975. I have some of Helen Reddy’s albums.
15) No, this one hurt my head.
14) The Song of Bernadette. Seen that one.
13) Agnes of God. Meg Tilly is easy to spot, fortunately.
12) Emmanuelle something. One of the soft-porn sequels to the ‘classy’ original. OK, I confess, I watched a few ‘Emmanuelles’. My bad.
11) The Trouble With Angels. The strange pairing of Rosalind Russell and Hayley Mills. I can’t believe that I watched that, but I was only about 13/14 at the time. I only found out much later that it was directed by Ida Lupino.
10) Black Narcissus. Just wrote about this on my blog recently. An amazing film.
9) Two Mules For Sister Sarah. Saw that one at the cinema.
8) Love Letters Of A Portuguese Nun. A German film, I think. Probably 1970s? I watched a lot of European cinema in those days, mostly forgettable.
7) Feel I should know it, but definitely don’t.
6) The Sound of Music. How I hate that film!
5) Killer Nun. I was so enamoured with Ekberg in La Dolce Vita, I would watch anything she was in.
4) Lilies Of The Field. Sidney Poitier was in that one. That’s all I remember though.
3) The Nun. A French film. I don’t remember much about it, but Anna Karina is unforgettable.
2) Ida. That’s a great Polish film, and I only saw it recently, in 2017.
1) Heaven Knows, Mr Allison. Bob Mitchum on form in that one.Seen it a lot of times.
Well, I must say I surprised myself. Who knew I had watched that many Nun films?
You beat me with two, and I missed the whole title of the Emmanuelle one. So, a decent 17/20 I hope, and Happy Easter!
(But you should have included ‘Nude nuns With Big Guns’. It;s great!)
Best wishes, Pete.
I’m impressed!