The Sainted Sisters (1948)

Never mind Veronica Lake and Joan Caulfield: the real star of The Sainted Sisters is Barry Fitzgerald, dispensing Hibernian blarney by the wheelbarrowful. The story begins as turn-of-the-century golddiggers Letty and Jane Stanton (Lake and Caulfield) escape New York after divesting a gullible millionaire of $25,000. En route to Canada by way of Maine, the girls are caught in a storm and forced to seek shelter in the home of canny New Englander Robbie McCleary (Fitzgerald). Quickly figuring out that his pretty guests aren't the winsome innocents they pretend to be, McCleary draws upon his own larcenous impulses to convince the sisters to dispense their money amongst the needy and deserving. Letty and Jane not only accede to McCleary's wishes, but reform themselves in the process. Though George "Superman" Reeves is the nominal leading man, The Sainted Sisters belongs to its character actors: Fitzgerald, William Demarest, Beulah Bondi, Chill Wills,et. al. Incidentally, when first released, the word "Sainted" was italicized in the main titles, lest the producers be accused of sacrilege. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi