When The Song of Bernadette romped off with three major awards at the first-ever Golden Globe Awards in 1944, the winners received simple certificates, not trophies.
Still, by way of its pioneering triumphs, the biographical drama etched its place in history.
At a no-frills daytime event on February 11, 1944, held on the 20th Century Fox backlot in Los Angeles and hosted by the group then known as the Hollywood Foreign Correspondents Association (HFCA), The Song of Bernadette became the first Golden Globe Best Picture winner, while its lead Jennifer Jones and helmer Henry King were honored as the first Best Actress and Best Director winners, respectively.
Adapted by George Seaton from Franz Werfel’s 1941 bestselling novel, the film blended fact and fiction in its depiction of the story of Bernadette Soubirous, who reportedly experienced 18 apparitions of the Virgin Mary in 1858.
Described as Fox’s most expensive production of 1943, the movie featured a black-and-white trailer that breathlessly announced, “Told with stunning sweep and grandeur, produced with a cast of 5,200 and magnificent backgrounds, including the miracle city of Lourdes, France, reproduced in its entirety.”
In actuality, The Song of Bernadette was filmed largely right on the Pico Boulevard studio lot where, a year later, the Globes would bestow historic recognition on the movie. Exterior scenes were shot in Malibu, Calabasas, and Cherry Valley, California.

“Introducing Jennifer Jones” was how its actress was billed in the film’s preview, although she had previously appeared in small roles as Phylis Isley in three movies. Winning the title role over hundreds of aspirants, Jones was 24 when she played the 14-year-old peasant girl who experienced visions of the Virgin Mary, and was later canonized as a saint by Pope Pius XI in 1933.
In screen tests for the part of Bernadette, King told auditioning actresses to look past the camera and at a shining light. The filmmaker was later quoted as being immediately impressed with Jones because “she didn’t just look; she saw.”
The film’s cast included Vincent Price, Charles Bickford, and Lee J. Cobb. Other prominent talents involved were Norman Rockwell, who illustrated the striking poster image of Jones as Bernadette (one of only six movie posters he made), and Alfred Newman, who composed the score.
Hollywood lore has it that Igor Stravinsky was initially approached to write the film’s music. However, after the job went to Newman instead, Stravinsky included what he wrote for the movie in the second movement of his famous “Symphony in Three Movements.”
Many years later, whether The Song of Bernadette stands the test of time as a film is subject to discussion. But there is no question that upon its release, the movie was quite timely for war-torn moviegoers looking for hope.
And its tale of an unwavering 14-year-old girl saying, “I have a voice, this happened to me, listen to me,” could be a story from today as well.