The Preacher's Wife is a 1996

1996 in film

Major releases this year included Scream, Independence Day, Fargo, Trainspotting, The English Patient, Twister, Mars Attacks!, Jerry Maguire and a version of Evita starring Madonna.-Events:...

 romantic

Romance film

Romance films are love stories that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate involvement of the main characters and the journey that their love takes through courtship or marriage. Romance films make the love story or the search for love the main plot focus...

-family

Family film

A family film is a film genre that is designed to appeal to a variety of age groups and, thus, families.In December 2005, Steven Spielberg's 1982 film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial came first in a poll of the 100 Greatest Family Films. The genre today generates billions of dollars per annum.Family...

-dramedy-christmas

Christmas

Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...

 film directed by Penny Marshall

Penny Marshall

Penny Marshall is an American actress, producer and director.After playing several small roles for television, she was cast as Laverne DeFazio in the sitcom Laverne and Shirley...

, and starring Denzel Washington

Denzel Washington

Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. is an American actor, screenwriter, director, and film producer. He first rose to prominence when he joined the cast of the medical drama, St. Elsewhere, playing Dr...

, Whitney Houston

Whitney Houston

Whitney Elizabeth Houston is an American singer, actress, producer and a former model. Houston is the most awarded female act of all time, according to Guinness World Records, and her list of awards include 1 Emmy Award, 6 Grammy Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards, 22 American Music Awards, among...

, and Loretta Devine

Loretta Devine

Loretta Devine is an American stage, film and television actress known for her roles on Boston Public, Grey's Anatomy, and Eli Stone. She also provided her voice for the stop motion animated television series The PJs. Devine is a NAACP Image Award and Emmy award winning actress.-Early life:Devine...

. It is a remake

Remake

A remake is a piece of media based primarily on an earlier work of the same medium.-Film:The term "remake" is generally used in reference to a movie which uses an earlier movie as the main source material, rather than in reference to a second, later movie based on the same source...

 of the 1947 film

1947 in film

The year 1947 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*May 22 - Great Expectations is premiered in New York.*November 24 : The United States House of Representatives of the 80th Congress voted 346 to 17 to approve citations for contempt of Congress against the "Hollywood Ten".*November 25...

 The Bishop's Wife

The Bishop's Wife

The Bishop's Wife is a 1947 Samuel Goldwyn romantic comedy feature film starring Cary Grant, Loretta Young, and David Niven in a story about an angel who helps a bishop with his problems. It was released by RKO. The film was adapted by Leonardo Bercovici and Robert E...

.

It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Music, Original Musical or Comedy Score

Academy Award for Original Music Score

The Academy Award for Original Score is presented to the best substantial body of music in the form of dramatic underscoring written specifically for the film by the submitting composer.-Superlatives:...

. The film was nominated for five Image Awards, including Outstanding Motion Picture, and won two for Best Actress-Whitney Houston and Best Supporting Actress-Loretta Devine.

Cast of characters

Name	Role
Denzel Washington Denzel Washington Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. is an American actor, screenwriter, director, and film producer. He first rose to prominence when he joined the cast of the medical drama, St. Elsewhere, playing Dr...	Dudley
Whitney Houston Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston is an American singer, actress, producer and a former model. Houston is the most awarded female act of all time, according to Guinness World Records, and her list of awards include 1 Emmy Award, 6 Grammy Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards, 22 American Music Awards, among...	Julia Biggs
Courtney B. Vance Courtney B. Vance Courtney Bernard Vance is an American actor. He was formerly a regular on the NBC/USA television series Law & Order: Criminal Intent as Assistant District Attorney Ron Carver. He was also a series regular on the ABC series FlashForward. As of 2011, he appears on the TNT series The Closer as Chief...	Reverend Henry Biggs
Gregory Hines Gregory Hines Gregory Oliver Hines was an American actor, singer, dancer and choreographer.-Early years:Born in New York City, Hines and his older brother Maurice started dancing at an early age, studying with choreographer Henry LeTang...	Joe Hamilton
Jenifer Lewis Jenifer Lewis Jenifer Jeanette Lewis is an American film and television actress and singer.-Early life:Lewis was born in Kinloch, Missouri, to a nurse's aid mother and a factory worker father. She attended college at Webster University in Webster Groves, Missouri...	Margueritte Coleman
Loretta Devine Loretta Devine Loretta Devine is an American stage, film and television actress known for her roles on Boston Public, Grey's Anatomy, and Eli Stone. She also provided her voice for the stop motion animated television series The PJs. Devine is a NAACP Image Award and Emmy award winning actress.-Early life:Devine...	Beverly
Justin Pierre Edmund	Jeremiah Biggs
Lionel Richie Lionel Richie Lionel Brockman Richie, Jr. , is an American singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. Since 1968, he has been a member of the musical group Commodores signed to Motown Records...	Bristole
Paul Bates Paul Bates Paul Bates is an American actor. He is most known for his minor roles in 8 Mile, True Romance and Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story.He is also known for playing Oha in the 1988 film Coming to America.-External links:...	Saul Jefferys
Lex Monson	Osbert
Darvel Davis, Jr.	Hakim
William James Stiggers, Jr.	Billy Eldridge
Marcella Lowery Marcella Lowery Marcella Lowery is an American actress. She was on the television series Ghostwriter, as Jamal Jenkins's grandmother CeCe from 1992 to 1995, and played Miss Noble, the principal on City Guys from the TNBC lineup....	Anna Eldridge
Cissy Houston Cissy Houston Emily "Cissy" Houston is a Grammy Award–winning American soul and gospel singer. She led a very successful career as a backup singer for such artists as Elvis Presley, Mahalia Jackson, Wishbone Ash and Aretha Franklin, and is now primarily a solo artist...	Mrs. Havergal
Aaron A. McConnaughey	Teen

Soundtrack

The Preacher's Wife: Original Soundtrack Album is the best-selling gospel album of all time. The soundtrack also remained at number one for a record twenty-six weeks on the Billboard Top Gospel Albums Chart.

The Georgia Mass Choir

Georgia Mass Choir

-Early years:The ensemble, which numbers 150 members, was founded in 1983 by Rev. Milton Biggham, the lead vocalist and songwriter for the group. He put together the group from over 600 applicants, and recorded with them on his label Savoy Records in the middle of the decade...

 appears in the film. The soundtrack to the film (performed by Whitney Houston) consists of gospel numbers and includes performances by Monica

Monica (singer)

Monica Denise Brown , and professionally known as Monica, is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. Born and raised in College Park, Georgia, Monica began performing as a child and became part of a traveling gospel choir, by the time she was ten...

, Cissy Houston

Cissy Houston

Emily "Cissy" Houston is a Grammy Award–winning American soul and gospel singer. She led a very successful career as a backup singer for such artists as Elvis Presley, Mahalia Jackson, Wishbone Ash and Aretha Franklin, and is now primarily a solo artist...

, and Shirley Caesar

Shirley Caesar

Shirley Ann Caesar is an American Gospel music singer, songwriter and recording artist whose career has spanned six decades...

among others.

Reception

The film was a modest hit, grossing $48,102,795 (USA), ¥106,139,200 (Japan), ITL 282,213,000 (Italy), and went on to gross $21,650,400 (USA) in movie rentals.

Film critic Roger Ebert gave the film 3 stars (out of four) and wrote in his review: The Preacher's Wife is a sweet and good-hearted comedy about the holiday season, and I suppose that is enough, although I would have liked it with more punch and bite. It tells the story of an inner-city pastor who grows discouraged with his never-ending struggle, asks God for help, and gets it, in the form of an angel from above. This movie could have done more, but what it does, it makes you feel good about.