Along comes Mr. Fixit, in the form of Cary Grant. Grant, who plays a heavenly angel, soon charms Niven's household. But not Niven himself, who is grumpily jealous, and still broods over his ill-fated cathedral.
Supporting roles are filled by erudite Roman history professor Monty Wooley, devoted housekeeper Elsa Lanchester, and comic relief cab driver James Gleason.
How others will see it. This Christmas-themed family movie has lost its target audience to time. Children will probably pay no attention to it (except perhaps Gleason on skates). Its charms are limited to those blessed souls who cherish classic movies.
How I felt about it. The star here is not the title character, who mostly plays the shy, nice girl next door who won't kiss on the first date, or any other. She's married to a man who has eyes only for a non-existent cathedral. But she certainly enjoys attention from the perpetually charming and handsome Grant. The latter's veneer of condescension is oblivious to Young, although Niven certainly notices it.
Hollywood legend regarding The Bishop's Wife is that offscreen stars Grant and Niven also competed. Not for the love of ever-gracious Young, but for the role of the angel. The angel may not get the girl, but he has all the fun, epitomized by Grant's madcap skating party while Niven is stuck to a chair with imperious blue-haired Cooper as hostess.
The Hollywood Production Code ensures that Young will never consider submitting to Grant's obvious interest in her. But he has no shortage of opportunities, which leaves Niven out of the game. That's why he's angry, but never with Young, whose halo glows brighter than that of the cleric (Niven) or angel (Grant, a.k.a. Archibald Leach), who at one point threatens to kill Niven with a thunderbolt.
The irony is that Grant is doing Niven a favor. Niven gets to dispense a bountiful charity fund, instead of pathetically begging for dollars to raise the Chrysler building cathedral. This means he will have more quality time with his neglected but dutiful wife Young, and her equally idyllic daughter.
Niven hanging with the constantly smiling Young is one of Grant's two angelic gifts; the other has lovably blustering professor Woolley getting to write the lost history of ancient Rome. Maybe he will explain why the Romans used the same letter for the vowel U and the consonant V. But more likely, he will write at length about which Roman emperor supposedly slept with their mothers, as told by their political opponents.