Stella Stevens Awful! - Where Angels Go Trouble Follows! (1968) Discussion

[–] MyMovieTVRomance 11 years ago

I actually she looks almost like a Doris Day look-alike. So, how can she be that bad? I think it is her character you dislike more than her as an actress. Because Doris Day and she are very alike!

Please excuse typos/funny wording; I use speech-recognition that doesn't always recognize!

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[–] jfd0210 11 years ago

My God, what an insult to Doris!

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[–] OhmsLaw 10 years ago

I think you are thinking of the "Marvel Ann" actress, who I realized last evening while watching these movies DID resemble Doris Day.

But neither Stella Stevens nor the other girl could replace Hayley Mills. Did she really turn down returning or was she even asked?

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[–] MyMovieTVRomance 10 years ago

I think you are thinking of the "Marvel Ann" actress, who I realized last evening while watching these movies DID resemble Doris Day.

Oh gosh, you're right---that's exactly who I was thinking of! Darn name mix-ups

But neither Stella Stevens nor the other girl could replace Hayley Mills. Did she really turn down returning or was she even asked?

Well, I've only ever heard that Mills turned down the role. She was asked. The crew wanted her back, but the way I understand it, after she declined, the script was re-worked for Stevens.

As for exactly why Mills turned down the role, that's a bit uncertain, I think. But, it's been said that it had something to do with her not wanting to work with Rosalind Russell again.

Please excuse typos/funny wording; I use speech-recognition that doesn't always recognize!

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[–] forn (27) 7 months ago

I wonder what her problem with Rosalind Russell was, if that's true? They both certainly performed fantastically in the first movie.

It's pretty obvious that the Stella Stevens is kind of supposed to be the Mary Clancy character from the first movie, but not really *wink wink*.

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[–] dwarol 10 years ago

When it showed on TCM the other night, Robert Osborne mentioned that just after "The Trouble with Angels" was shot, Hayley Mills (who was 20) got married to someone 30 years older than she was and there was a bit of a scandal at the time. Maybe she just didn't want to do the sequel, but in the '60s there might also have been a PR problem.

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[–] dwarol 10 years ago

The character of Sister George didn't fit the character of Mary from the first movie, so I'm glad that Hayley Mills didn't play her. Mary was a lot deeper person than the way Sister George was played. Sister George didn't have any conflicts until she butted heads with Mother Simplicia in the last third of the film.

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[–] xdayton 9 years ago

The character of Sister George was rewritten heavily after Hayley dropped out, so I'm guessing the character was closer to her Mary character before being rewritten for the dreadful Stella.

I'm watching it again now on the Get-TV channel and my opinion hasn't changed about Stella Stevens. She's awful, and the character is so completely unlikeable -- just a sour, nasty disposition, rather than the irreverence and outspoken that they were clearly aiming for.

Also something really sexist about this movie -- all the priests are so wise and liberal and hip, while the nuns are old fuddy-duddys.

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[–] sjbradford 9 years ago

You put it so well. The whole "the girls identify with Sister George because she's so young" theme didn't work for me because Sister George snaps at the girls throughout the movie and seems irritated with them. It's hard to picture them flocking to her simply because she's young. My fourth grade teacher was a young woman, but so cold it was hard to like her. My third grade teacher was close to retirement age, but was such a warm and wonderful person that I remember her fondly to this day, all these years later.

The picture would have worked better with someone with some charm in the Sister George role.

I agree with the sexism issue too - hasn't it already been established that the nuns have always been more progressive than priests, who have a huge investment in the status quo.

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[–] BHt88 8 years ago

Sister george is mmmm Too bad she's a nun in the movie but then again
She isn't in real life so...

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[–] jac91604 8 years ago

Stella Stevens was not awful, her character was very timely in 1968 when the Catholic Church was going through major changes.

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[–] mafrie 8 years ago

Hmmm, I must disagree with you OP! She's not awful at all. Now perhaps the Marvel Anne actress is a bit "awful" in places but not terrible. (Ultimately actors do what the director wants.) The Sr. George actress played her character as a bit of a killjoy for being so young, but I wouldn't say she was an awful actress in this film. Her character did grate on the nerves but good old Rev. Mother put her in her place!

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[–] InherentlyYours 8 years ago

Stevens is a good actress, one of the better to come out of 60's starlet era. She just never got her due.

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[–] mls4182 8 years ago

Stella was a lot of fun in this movie. She was under contract with Columbia which is why she was cast. Perhaps you should see some of her other movies? She is a very good comedienne.

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