“The big Academy Award winner for 1944 was Going My Way.... A sequel was probably inevitable, particularly since Going My Way ended with Bing Crosby as Father O'Malley setting off to put things right at another troubled Catholic parish. The Bells of St. Mary's, released the next year, failed to win a single Oscar, but it was almost as popular with audiences as its predecessor had been, and it got Leo McCarey's new company Rainbow Productions off to a good start.... Ingrid Bergman played a nun to Crosby's
priest, although ads for the film showed the two stars posed profile to profile in open-necked sports clothing. The romantic implications of this offended some devout Catholics, but McCarey, a Catholic himself, managed to quiet their protests.... The Bells of St. Mary's was judged too long by its first TV distributor, who shortened it by eliminating an important subplot that featured William Gargan. The UCLA Film Archives has restored this cut footage as part of its preservation of the film.” Charles Hopkins