Gladys Cooper : The Song of Bernadette

She's positively riveting as the super bitter-tongued nun in "The Song of Bernadette" who can't understand why the teen-aged girl Bernadette sees the Virgin Mary and she cannot. I've seen her in other films including the "Twilight Zone" episodes. But this is the role that does it for me. BRAVO!

I'm watching it right now and the op is telling the truth.
Absolutely wonderful performance in a movie ripe with great actors.

Her performance is absolutely outstanding. She makes you hate her from the start, yet feel guilty because she is serving God. She's got the old fashioned Catholic nonsense of dour demeanor, youth hating and you can only find the grace of God through suffering. Bernadette is sweet and happy, free and whimsical, while her character is obviously very unhappy in her life, and being a nun for her was the only choice she had. Then, her sudden transition when God finally lets her see the light about Bernadette, and her breakdown is very intense. I would think after Bernadette's death, Cooper's character would be either destroyed through her own guilt or determined to live out her last years to be a better person and really see why she was called, yet never was able to see what the calling was all about.

"Great theater makes you smile. Outstanding theater may make you weep."