5 July 2025
200 Nuns Walk into a Movie Theater...
It sounds like the beginning of a joke but that is exactly what happened in Sydney, Australis on the 24 April 1938. The picture here shows a huge nun ensemble, gathered together to watch Tarzan’s Revenge. OK, so that is a complete lie. The movie that the nuns were so keen to watch was “Cloistered” which, as you have probably guessed, was all about nuns. French nuns. French nuns going about their daily lives.
To get access to a convent in this way was very unusual at this time, so for director Robert Alexandre it was something of a coup. Likewise, in Sydney, hundreds of nuns descending on a cinema at the same time was considered newsworthy (even though the young man on the left of the picture above seems distracted - girl trouble of another kind, no doubt). It all gets a little meta. The media was curious about nuns who were curious to see a film about nuns, about whose lives little was known. Regardless, the nuns do seem to be looking forward to the event.
I really wanted to show a few clips from the film, but unfortunately cannot find any. Made in 1936, it looks very much like it has been a victim of time and that copies, if still around, have not been digitised and placed on the internet. However, these particular nuns saw it at Sydney’s State Theatre which is still going strong today. My guess is they were all told to look like they were already watching the film when the pictures of them in the theater were taken. The faces are fascinating to study (or that may just be me).
So, how was the film they were so keen to watch received by the wider world? Frank S Nugent of the New York Times has this to say about it: “Although it may safely be described as one of the most unusual pictures of the year, "Cloistered," the new French film, must - by the very nature of its material - have a limited appeal. A documentary film with no attempt at narrative or dramatic contrivance, it is a straightforward and competently photographed record of life inside the cloistered Convent of the Good Shepherd, near Angers, France. This is the first time in history, on the word of Roman Catholic authorities, that cameramen - and consequently the general public - have been permitted to peer within the sheltered walls of a cloistered convent and observe novitiates and nuns at their work, prayers and services”
One civilian interloper managed to make their way into the screening. No doubt she was a friend of the order. Perhaps she could have nudged the nun to her left a second or two after this picture was taken - "Wake up! The show is about to start!". Or maybe the nun in question is one of those unfortunates who always have their eyes closed in any picture that is taken of them. Nah, she's fast asleep.
Back to the reviews. The New Zealand Dominion newspaper has this to add. “The picture opens with the showing .of a young girl seeking admission to its cloistered walls. She is interviewed by the Mother General, who, after questioning the applicant, learns that she wishes to dedicate her life to God, that she has the consent of her parents to follow the dictates of her heart, and that her desire is not merely a passing whim. The girl starts her novitiate, and “Cloistered” traces her life from that point until she is given her final vows.”
As far as I can make out the French convent of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd is still around, the motherhouse (where the film was made) being in Angers.
In 1938 Sydney, according to my research, the largest orders of nuns were the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Sacred Heart (Josephites), with around 255 members focusing on education, especially in rural areas. The Sisters of Charity, numbering about 235, were prominent in healthcare, orphanages, and schools. The Sisters of Mercy, estimated to have 200–300 sisters, ran hospitals, schools, and social services, mainly in North Sydney. The Sisters of the Good Samaritan, with roughly 220 members, also contributed significantly to education and welfare. The Convent of the Good Shepherd (the order featured in the film) was located at 137 Victoria Street, Ashfield, New South Wales, in Sydney but I cannot find numbers for the 1930s. Together, these orders played a vital role in Sydney’s Catholic education, healthcare, and social support systems.
So my best guess is the nuns we see in almost all of the pictures here are the
Josephites although the Good Shepherd nuns would seem the most likely candidates, given that was the order featured in the documentary. They all seem to be wearing
the same habit, so I did think that it is just one order rather than
representatives from all four. Until I saw the picture of the bunch above, attending the same event (something went wrong with this picture in exposure or development). You can see from the modern picture (for reference) that they were standing on the right hand side staircase - and some even seem vaguely happy to be there. I wonder which order they came from – and what
they made of the movie!
Let us know if you know.
All images are from the collections of the State Library of New South Wales.
