The Song of Bernadette is a 1943 film which tells the story of Saint Bernadette Soubirous, who, in 1858 in Lourdes, France, had a vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It stars Jennifer Jones, William Eythe , Charles Bickford, Vincent Price, Lee J. Cobb, Anne Revere, Gladys Cooper and Linda Darnell.
The movie was adapted by George Seaton from the novel by Franz Werfel. It was directed by Henry King.
It won Academy Awards for Best Actress in a Leading Role (Jennifer Jones), Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Black-and-White, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White and Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture. It was nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Charles Bickford), Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Gladys Cooper), Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Anne Revere), Best Director, Best Film Editing, Best Picture, Best Sound, Recording and Best Writing, Screenplay.
The casting of Linda Darnell as "the lady" of Bernadette's vision was very controversial. At the time, her reputation was rather bawdy, and to make matters worse, she was pregnant. But Darryl F. Zanuck refused to change his mind, even when Franz Werfel threatened to take his name off the project. Zanuck lied to him, telling him that he had chosen an unknown actress for the role, and left Darnell in the part.
Jennifer Jones had made movies before, under her real name of Phylis Isley. Zanuck had her credited as "introducing Jennifer Jones as Bernadette" in order to make the public think she was an unknown.