The Trouble With Angels - The 40th Anniversary of the Ambler, PA filming

The Trouble With Angels
A 1966 Columbia Pictures film starring Rosalind Russell, Hayley Mills and June Harding

Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of its theatrical release (1966 - 2006) and its filming in Ambler, PA

Website updated: January 14th, 2010 (new photo added)

I am honored that June Harding is allowing me to link to her personal website and her very special "letters home" during that time.

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Article about the college that inspired the book and the film.

Above photo copyright Bruce Clark

"It's positively Medieval!" - Mary Clancy (Hayley Mills) in The Trouble With Angels

Some exterior scenes were filmed in Ambler, Pennsylvania USA

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Rosalind Russell practices her bicycle balance behind the sound stage. She is often seen on the bike in the posters and ads for the film.

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Quite an unusual photo! On the set, but off camera, Hayley spontaneously poses for the photographer in this candid shot.

She holds, and looks at, a mismatched pair of fuzzy slippers (!), while on her lap sits the film's script.
Air Mail letters from home, resting on top of the script pages, offer her a welcome break from filming.
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Dress Up (left) and Brain Teaser (right): Do you recall this scene in the film?
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Here are the 8 rare United Kingdom lobby cards for the film. . .
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Table for Two Troublemakers, Artists At Work, School Daze
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Original Radio Ads Found!

Unheard in over 40 years, the movie studio produced two general radio spot announcements and six "special newscast report" advertisments to promote the film. These latter ads were made to sound like "special news bulletins" to attract your instant attention as if breaking news were being announced during the broadcast. While the ads do not include any actual actress voices from the film, some do feature an unknown actress pretending to be June Harding. Two of the ads are a full 60 seconds long! The total collection of eight amusing and unusual radio commercials would make excellent "extras" on a future DVD widescreen release of the film. Is anyone at the studio listening?

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This rare behind-the-scenes photo is actually a cleverly staged shot. It reveals some of the hard-working people that contributed to the film's success. From left to right: cameraman Lionel Linden ("Curly" to his friends), Rosalind Russell, director Ida Lupino, Bob Burkitt, - camera operator - (behind the camera) and Ted Landon - camera assistant - standing behind Miss Lupino. (Special thanks to June Harding for the identifications!)

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(Left) Director Ida Lupino and actress Hayley Mills discuss filming a window scene. "Hey, it's starting to snow!"
(Center and Right) Actress Binnie Barnes in a publicity photo with blurb.

Lobby Cards
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Lunch time on the set
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Very rare Japanese "SCREEN" movie magazine from July 1969.
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Rare Print Ad, (left), and Storyline, (center), written to convince theater owners to book the film.
At right, are three of the movie lobby cards.
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The Letter (above left) and Lance Brisson (above right) visiting his mother, Rosalind Russell, on the set.
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In Movie Life Yearbook #39 from 1966, June Harding was featured in the "Bright New Faces Going Places" column.

At left is a very rare item from the April 4th, 1966 issue of "Boxoffice", an industry publication.

It contains a review of the film and provides marketing ideas to create publicity for local screenings. "Exploitation" they call it! (Click image to read review.)

The castle at St. Mary's Villa in Ambler, PA was used in the studio artwork to promote the film.

Pictured below is a page from the April 1966 Harper's Bazaar magazine.
A four-page photo spread, photographed on the grounds of St. Mary's in Ambler,
helped promote the film - and several lines of clothing.

Click on the above image to see how the castle looks from the air now.

The small color thumbnail above shows a Spanish poster for the film.
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Rare Print Advertisements

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The Japanese movie poster for The Trouble With Angels (far left) focused on Hayley Mills - and her blue eyes!

I am working to confirm my suspicion that the center photo shows book author Jane Trahey visiting the set.

The next image shows the umbrella that can be seen on one of the USA video covers (at right). The closed umbrella, held by one of the other nuns, does not look like an umbrella - it has even been mistaken for a rifle or a shotgun!

Hollywood doesn't visit Ambler Pennsylvania very often....

So, when some exterior scenes from The Trouble With Angels were filmed at St. Mary's Villa, it was, to say the least, a cause for local celebration and much curiosity.

Some of the most memorable exterior scenes from the film were done on the grounds of St. Mary's, prominently featuring the castle. Interiors were filmed on the sound stages of Hollywood.

The Trouble With Angels was Hayley Mills' 12th feature film, and the first outside of the Disney organization. For June Harding, it would be her first feature film role and the movie credits reflected that.

Ambler and its surrounding area were shown in a very good light, from the tree-lined back country roads to the Fort Washington Fire Company trucks participating in the action. Even the small town of Merion Station's railroad station (at right) was used as the arrival point for the girls. But, after the bus arrives, a California train station is substituted when Mary Wickes first greets the girls at the station.

When clicked, these thumbnail images, (at left), show an aerial view of the Merion Station railroad station's approach, where the movie camera was located, and how the bus drove down Idris Road to reach its movie destination.

We are most anxious to hear from fans of the film and to find out what else might be "out there".

Articles, photos, etc. can all help to document the making of this film. Feel free to write to the email address shown at the bottom of this page.

Early press interviews and articles about the film clearly refer to it as "Mother Superior", the working title. But the change to "The Trouble With Angels" certainly gave audiences a better idea that the movie was a comedy!

Long-forgotten documentary film unearthed!

While doing research on The Trouble With Angels, a very rare piece of film was uncovered. The short featurette film, produced by Columbia Pictures in 1966, is a rare "making of" documentary. While it is very common these days to produce such a short for use as a DVD extra, it wasn't a standard practice back then. And, finding this long-lost featurette about The Trouble with Angels opens the possibility that it can be included in a future DVD release of the feature film.

Unseen for 40 years, this "day-in-the-filming-life" of Hayley Mills features all of the film's stars and shows many behind-the-scenes shots taken during of the production of the movie.

There is even time between scenes for a birthday party for June Harding!

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June Harding's birthday party, captured by a studio still photographer while the documentary camera was also rolling...

Director Ida Lupino, discussing scenes with Hayley Mills.

Hayley takes a turn looking through the color Cinemascope camera.

You can write to us at the email address shown below. You must type in our address, no clickable link is provided (to try to eliminate email spam.) Thanks for understanding!

The Trouble With Angels is copyright Columbia Pictures Corporation / Sony Pictures.

Counter Added September 22, 2009