Audrey Hepburn: An Intimate Portrait (27 page)

“I
was attracted to this property more than any other film script I’d ever
read,” Audrey recalled. “Part of me felt it might be a defilement to
even attempt to bring it to the screen, because the words were so heartfelt.
But I was really moved by the story, completely swept up ,in Gabrielle’s
wrenching decision. I loved that we shared a birthplace, and that one of the
more dramatic episodes of the story took place during World War 11 when the
Nazis terrorized Europe.

“But
I was also traumatized by the idea of reliving my own horrors if I did this
movie. I had suffered off and on from flashbacks of those times when my
relatives were killed by the Nazis, and I wanted to do nothing to possibly
encourage those nightmarish memories. Again, I was in a quandary. I loved the
property, was a little frightened of its power, and realized there was no part
for Mel. I would be away from him for a long time, in Africa of all faraway
places, and I was in a state where I didn’t know if that would be bad for our
marriage or good.”

Her
agent, Kurt Frings, who rarely pressured Audrey to do anything, exerted his
influence on her to do
The Nun’s Story
.
“He told me it would be the role of a lifetime,” she said. “How
could I argue with that?”

Nervous
about leaving Ferrer, nervous about her delicate health in a tropical climate,
she waffled about committing completely to the project.

“But
Mel was encouraging, too,” she recalled. “He was trying to get
together
Green Mansions
for the two
of us, and he kept insisting that he would keep busy scouting locations in
South America for that project while I was in Africa. I really hated the idea
of just leaving him in Switzerland with nothing to do. It was a combination of
the times—don’t forget, it was the fifties—and my own personality, but I had
a very difficult time not taking a backseat to my husband. In order for that to
happen, he, of course, had to have a project. So as soon as he got confirmation
that
Green Mansions
would be a
go-ahead, I felt it was my duty to do
The
Nun’s Story.
”

The
story itself is a meditation on duty. Gabrielle (Audrey), a devout young
Belgian girl who becomes Sister Luke, is torn between helping others as a nurse
and heeding her vow of obedience as a nun.

Strong-willed,
devoted to both her career and her vocation, Gabrielle is a study in
ambivalence, a state of being Audrey knew all too well.

“It
was fabulous to get to play a part where the character wasn’t sure what she
wanted,” Audrey recalled. “Most of my roles were depictions of women
who knew exactly what they wanted and went out and got it. Well, that wasn’t
me. I was always more like Sister Luke, always a little unsure.”

Director
Zinnemann and screenwriter Robert Anderson, who had written
Tea and Sympathy, insisted on gradually
adding dimensions to Gabrielle’s personality, letting it grow naturally as she
becomes more adult.

In
the first half of the movie, Gabrielle and the other “brides of
Christ” learn, sometimes painfully, how to follow the rules of their
order. They are told to regard the bells that ring to call them to prayer as
“the voice of God.” They are told when to talk and when not to, when
to eat and when to bow their heads and what time to rise and how often to wash.
In essence, they are taught to subsume their own personalities to the greater
good of God.

Gabrielle’s
teacher, Mother Emmanuel (Dame Edith Evans), reminds her that the life she has
chosen is not easy, but that humility will aid her in achieving serenity. One
senses that the young postulant respects her Mother Superior, but Would rather
receive a posting to the Belgian Congo than something as ephemeral to her as
serenity. Still, she is her own harshest critic, berating herself for
questioning the wisdom of her superiors.

With
patience, she takes her final vows as Sister Luke and prays until she is
finally assigned to Africa, where she is delighted to work from morning until
night at a little hospital in the Belgian Congo.

Her
superior there, Dr. Fortunati (Peter Finch), is an irreverent, cynical surgeon
who laughs to himself over her devotion to the rules of Catholicism. But he
witnesses in her the tension between the two parts of herself, and respects her
desire to fulfill her obligations as a nun and a nurse.

Among
her many fears in tackling the movie, Audrey was petrified of working with the
Australian-born Finch. He had been the director’s third choice, after Gerard
Philipe and Yves Montand of France turned him down.

“I
remember hearing all about his womanizing,” Audrey said about Finch.
“And I had this premonition that he would get a great big kick out of
teasing all of us in nuns’ habits. It was not what I had in mind for making a
movie—sweating in the African heat by day, and sweating under a man’s constant
flirtation at night. But as it turns out, he was a complete gentleman and a
consummate performer. I came to love Finchy on this movie, and I think he came
to respect me. We were completely opposite, you see, and a lot of times
differences really do complement one another.”

Among
the other stellar cast members, Dame Peggy Ashcroft as Mother Mathilda and Dame
Edith Evans as Mother Emmanuel became close to Audrey during the filming.
Rosalie Crutchley, who had a supporting role as Sister Eleanor, remembers the
older actresses being mesmerized by Audrey’s performance. “I think they
wanted to fatten her up a bit, too,” Crutchley said. “One of them, I
don’t remember which, blamed it all on her dog. She thought Audrey did far too
much running around after that animal.”

After
protracted negotiations, Audrey had been able to bring Mr. Famous with her to
Africa. The strategy had required consultations with Congolese government
officials and lawyers and took several months. Warner Brothers initiated the
discussions and took them seriously indeed after Audrey informed the studio
that she would back out of the movie if her puppy were not allowed to accompany
her. She kept his inoculation papers framed in her dressing room.

In
January 1958, after a soggy goodbye to Ferrer (she had planned every one of his
meals while she would be away), she began the first leg of her journey, flying
from Los Angeles to Paris, where she stayed at a convent in Froyennes.

“It
was excellent training,” she recalled. “A dose of method acting. I
remember best the quiet.”

On-screen,
that peacefulness was also apparent, especially in contrast to the nervousness
of Dr. Fortunati. As Finch played him, he is flabbergasted when Sister Luke
faints from hunger on the operating room floor after fasting all morning to
take Holy Communion, but it’s clear he respects her willpower.