ENTERTAINING ANGELS: THE DOROTHY DAY STORY

US, 1996, 114 minutes.
Moira Kelly, Martin Sheen, Heather Graham, Lenny Van Dolen, Melinda Dillon, Brian Keith
Directed by Michael Ray Rhodes


Twenty year old Dorothy Day is a reporter - and a suffragette. She is also part of a New York socialist group that meets to drink and discuss. It includes Eugene O'Neill. The group is free-thinking and free-acting. The pregnant Dorothy has an abortion and moves away from New York.

Another member of the group, Forster, follows her to Staten Island. He enjoys fishing and they lead a quiet life, and Dorothy responds to his love. She encounters a homeless man and a friendly nun and follows them to a church. Despite her scepticism and the comments of her friends (and Forster's hostility), she goes more often to help with the soup kitchen and starts reading Catholic writing. Once again she becomes pregnant and has a daughter. Forster resists marriage.

Dorothy and her daughter are both baptised and later move back to New York to live with her brother's family. The eccentric and charismatic Frenchman, Peter Maurin, urges her to start feeding the poor and caring for street people, which she does, soon finding the family overwhelmed by need. She also begins a small paper, The Catholic Worker.

As the years pass during the 30s, she takes on more and more - and more and more people come to help. Some Catholics condemn her as a communist. The Cardinal asks her to remove Catholic from the name but she resists. However, when a depressed girl from the shelter kills herself, the group tell Dorothy that they can't manage and that she is full of ego. She prays desperately, confronts her friends and workers and admits it, but is determined to go on. They all stay to help her.

Entertaining Angels is a Paulist picture, produced by Fr Bud Kieser, the Paulist priest who for decades made Insight movies for television, then moved into feature production with We are the People and The Fourth Wise Man (with Martin Sheen) and then produced Romero. He had hoped to raise money from Romero to make his Dorothy Day project but this took six years.

John Wells' screenplay takes an incident in a prison in 1963 as a framework for telling Dorothy Day's story until she turned forty. However, she was to live another 43 years, dying in 1980. The US entered World War I when she was twenty and she lived until the aftermath of the Vietnam War. The official opening of her cause for canonisation was proclaimed in March 2000.


There is a sequence in the film where Peter Maurin washes the feet of a poor man and gives him his shoes. Dorothy washes Peter's feet. This is what John's Gospel is about, the service that Jesus does which is symbolically seen and understood in the washing of the feet. Jesus is servant. This is the continual challenge to Dorothy Day - is she doing her own will, the Cardinal asks her. Her friends and co-workers confront her. She takes his examination of conscience to the Church, shouting at God. But she also takes her repentance and her grounded humility back to her friends.

While the film uses the familiar conventions of the 'biopic', using selected incidents to create a portrait and emotional struggles to engage audience empathy, the Dorothy Day story has an intrinsic interest because of Dorothy's pre-conversion past, her abortion, her not marrying, her being a single parent - a 20th century American figure and a lay saint. She was also a woman of energy in causes for justice in the Catholic Worker and with compassion in her work for the marginalised. Moira Kelly gives energy to her performance although she looks, perhaps, too young. Martin Sheen portrays her friend, the eccentric but kind Peter Maurin.

The screenplay is from the 90s, is critical of the narrow Catholicism of the anti-communist era and offers challenges to the contemporary church to live the Gospel (especially in the kitchen sequence with the Cardinal of New York).

1. A portrait of Dorothy Day? 20th century America? The 20th century catholic? The 20th century saint?
2. The production values, the Paulist picture, Catholic production, perspective, the late 20th century on the social activities of the church of the 1930s?
3. Audience knowledge of Dorothy Day? Audience response to a religious story, a religious personality? The Catholic church?
4. The prologue, the African-American? woman in prison, her illness, meeting Dorothy Day, consoled by her, Dorothy in jail because of protests? Singing Amazing Grace? The final information about Dorothy Day’s life in this prison atmosphere?
5. Her memories, 1917, the suffragette marches, the reaction of the men, the sailors, The Woodrow Wilson era, the police? Bashings? Maggie and their friendship? Her writing the article and its appearing on the front page?
6. Dorothy as a journalist, her age, the issues, the editors and their not promoting her, their lack of concern for social issues? Communists and the anti-Communist feeling in America?
7. Dorothy’s group, the same as in the film, Reds? The discussions, Eugene O’Neill? and his drinking, the editors and their stances, Louis, Forster, the table talk, issues of freedom, social improvement? Bohemian lifestyle, issues of freedom?
8. Dorothy, her affair with the editor? Her discovery of his going to Chicago, her anger? His taking her to the house for the abortion, after-effect?
9. Her a time to Staten Island, the quiet life in exile, her encounter with the poor man? Forster and his fishing, his friendship, the sharing their life?
10. Sister Aloysius, the bike and the near-collision? Sister wanting her to beat the man on the bike? Her following the old man, going to the church, discovering the soup kitchen and the people working? Her conversations with Sister Aloysius, Sister’s invitation to Dorothy to come, to the Masses?
11. Life with Forster, fishing, love, going to town, her pregnancy, his acceptance?
12. The birth of her daughter, her visits to the church, her interest in Catholicism, questions about God, Forster and his anger, not wanting to be caged, his leaving? The baptismal sequence, the ceremonies, the baby baptised, Dorothy being baptised?
13. Continuing her life for the poor, at the church, her social awareness, asking God what she should do?
14. 1933, going to New York with her daughter, boarding with the family, her tour of the poverty in the city, Depression and its consequences? The homeless, evictions, hunger?
15. Her writing, praying, searching for God’s will?
16. The introduction to Peter Maurin? His history in France, a brother, wandering, social concern? His eccentric personality? Like an Old Testament prophet at the subway, his preaching? His hearty appetite at the table, incessant talk, quotes, hounding Dorothy? The poor, coming in for the meal, the couple and their questions, their coping?
17. The paper, the money for the first issue, the Communist march, their trying to sell the paper, Dorothy’s determination, only 92 cents? Daniel’s arrival, asking to come back, the dollar donation?
18. Peter, with the poor, washing their feet, food and accommodation? Dorothy managing, producing the paper, the growing number of subscriptions? The two girls and their being no room, one freezing in the night? The other, her presence in the house, her mental troubles, talking with Dorothy, Dorothy putting her off, her suicide in the bath? Frances and her help and work? Joe as part of the staff? Building up the group, their work? The letters, the priests calling them socialist psychotics? Sister Aloysius working with them?
19. The meeting, the audience, the couple and the clergy on the dais, the applause, Dorothy’s achievement?
20. The cardinal, his visit, formally dressed, Frances bringing the coffee? His bringing the mail, mainly negative? The criticisms of Dorothy, the discussions about the gospel, Jesus’ concerns, the Sermon on the Mount? The criticisms, sympathy with Communist forces in Franco’s Spain, feeding the strikers families, the Seamen’s Union, the challenge to comfortable living? The cardinal saying he could not do it? His telling her to change the name and drop the word Catholic? Her refusal, her going across the bridge to Brooklyn? The cardinal giving in, saying that the seminary did not teach about personalities like hers? That hers would be a hard way?
21. Forster, his visit, the newspaper, praising Dorothy, wanting to see his daughter, her arriving back, the star on her essay, her asking him why he had taken so long? Inviting them to his home? The daughter’s consent? Dorothy later giving the money for the Catholic Worker?
22. Her daughter, her birth, her life, going to New York, going to school, playing with the friend with the doll’s house, in her room, sharing with her mother and Maggie, the sacrifices she made, her mother telling her that she loved her? Her father’s arrival, the essay?
23. Maggie, falling on hard times, drinking, failing, sharing the room, stealing the money, vicious fight with Dorothy, her surrender? Dorothy and her full understanding of forgiveness?
24. The issue of Dorothy and ego, or fulfilling a lonely need with business?
25. The staff confronting her, the unanimity, accusing her of arrogance, ego? Daniel the spokesman? Her dismay, going to the church, praying before the crucifix, saying that finding Jesus in the poor and the dirty… was impossible? Her going to the editor of the Communist paper, asking for a job, praise of her work… For a Catholic? The achievement of the Catholic Worker?
26. Her return, the drama with Maggie, her surrender? The next morning, everybody present? And the final information about her carrying on this work and to her death in 1980?