Bernadette of Lourdes 1961

Overview

Bernadette of Lourdes is a drama film released in the United States in January 1961 with a runtime of one hour and forty-two minutes. This modest, unpretentious French film is a streamlined version of the true story previously cinematized as The Song of Bernadette in 1943. Daniele Ajort plays the simple nineteenth-century French peasant girl who insists that she has experienced a vision of the Virgin Mary. Once this sighting becomes common knowledge, Bernadette's very existence becomes a religious and political hot potato. Thousands of people flock to the grotto at Lourdes where Bernadette claims she has seen the Holy Mother, believing that the waters therein contain recuperative powers. Ultimately, Bernadette dies under a cloud of controversy.