"God Is the Bigger Elvis"

God Is the Bigger Elvis, 2011

Dir.: Rebecca Cammisa

Prod.: Sheila Nevins, Julie Anderson, Rebecca Cammisa

A few months ago, my best friend Meredith allowed me to use her HBOGO account, and I couldn't thank her enough. HBOGO is like Hulu, except it is exclusively HBO programming - movies, series, and, of course, documentaries. One of the first things I did when I gained HBOGO access was scope out their documentaries section, and boy oh boy did I have a field day. The one that grabbed my attention first was the Oscar nominated short documentary God Is the Bigger Elvis, which had a screen cap of a smiling nun, her arms outstretched, Julie Andrews-style.

First of all, what an awesome title. Second, I think nuns are great. I don't know why, exactly. Maybe that's due to my early love of The Sound of Music, maybe it's because my mother took me to see Sister Act when it first came out in theaters, maybe it's because those calendars of "Nuns Having Fun" crack me up. 

It was all fun and games until Sister Ruth rear-ended the Mother Superior

Whatever the reason, I think nun culture is fascinating. I mean, these women give up everything - their families, their social lives, their fashion tastes - to serve God. They come from so many different backgrounds, but all came together for their mutual love of God. It's a pretty groovy thing, if you ask me.


Though only a half-hour long, God Is the Bigger Elvis manages to tell a beautiful, moving story – one of Dolores Hart, an actress from the '50s and '60s who had performed alongside the biggest heartthrobs of the day: Montgomery Clift, Cary Grant, Marlon Brando, Warren Beatty, and yes, the King himself. In her mid-twenties, she gave it all up, broke off her engagement, and became a nun at the Abbey of Regina Laudis in Bethlehem, Connecticut - an enclosed Benedictine monastery and working farm. It's the only one of its kind in the United States.

Now known as Mother Prioress Dolores Hart, she still currently resides there, one of 36 nuns who follow strict Benedictine guidelines. They pray and sing 7 times a day, observe 3 periods of silence a day, and work on the farm. Mother Prioress takes appointments to speak to people who come to the monastery about their suffering, and help them find hope in dismal situations. She also enjoys bird watching, listening to opera and spending time with her African Grey parrot, Toby. She also spends time personally answering fan mail that she still receives daily.

Dolores was a blonde, blue-eyed bombshell back in her day. She was nineteen years old when she was offered a seven year studio contract. She acted in ten films, including Loving You, Lonelyhearts and Where the Boys Are. Dolores has zero regrets about quitting her acting career. “I never felt I was leaving Hollywood. I never felt I was leaving anything that I was given. The abbey was like a grace of God that just entered my life in a way that was totally unexpected, and God was the vehicle,” she pauses here and gives a big smile. “He was the bigger Elvis.”

Her first encounter with the Abbey came when she was acting on a show on Broadway in the late fifties. Dolores was experiencing fatigue, and a friend suggested she go to the Abbey to recuperate. Hesitant at first, she soon fell in love with the peacefulness of it all. During her time there, she met with the Reverend Mother. 

“The concern that I had was that it was wrong as a Catholic to be in the movies because, sexually, you could be aroused by boys and you could get involved sexually with men…and the leading star was Elvis. She said, ‘Well, why not? You’re a girl! Chastity doesn’t mean that you don’t appreciate what God created. Chastity says, ‘Use it well.’ I came away with a sense of peace.”

After she returned from the abbey, Dolores became engaged to Don Robinson, a young architect. To my delight, Don Robinson is interviewed in this documentary. He speaks nothing but kind words about Dolores. In the midst of planning a wedding and building a house and a life together, on the night of their engagement party in 1963, Dolores tells Don she does not want to get married. She was going to Regina Laudis to take her vows.

God Is the Bigger Elvis also interviews other nuns that live alongside Dolores Hart, offering perspective of her as a Mother Prioress and the pillar she is to her abbey. One of the most terrific things about Dolores Hart is that she truly is a wonderful woman – you can absolutely see why Hollywood was mad for her. Though she is no longer the blonde pinup model she was in 1960, her charm and wit shines through, even though she is dressed in a nun’s habit. She has a smile and a kind word for everyone. 

The best part about this documentary was that I smiled the entire time I watched it. If you have a half hour to spare and are looking for a great, fuzzy documentary filled with nuns having fun, try to get your hands on God Is the Bigger Elvis.