Winner of Oscars for art direction and cinematography, this adaptation of Rumer Godden's simmering novel by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger is one of the most striking examples of studio-controlled artifice in film history. Jack Cardiff's incredibly lush colour images not only enhance the beauty of the stylised Himalayan scenery, but also bring a certain grandeur to the melodramatic events at a remote mountain mission where the visit of English agent David Farrar causes passions to run dangerously out of control among the nuns. Kathleen Byron's eye-rolling jealousy awakens the occasionally sleepy plot and her scene with Deborah Kerr on the bell tower is a true classic. Sabu as a wealthy local general and Jean Simmons as the nubile native girl who attracts his attention provide a little eastern spice.

A group of Anglican nuns, led by Sister Clodagh, are sent to a mountain in the Himalayas. The climate in the region is hostile and the nuns are housed in an odd old palace. They work to establish a school and a hospital, but slowly their focus shifts. Sister Ruth falls for a government worker, Mr. Dean, and begins to question her vow of celibacy. As Sister Ruth obsesses over Mr. Dean, Sister Clodagh becomes immersed in her own memories of love.