Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
In All Things

The Mighty Macs Return!

James Martin, S.J.October 07, 2008

Here’s a trailer of what looks like a wonderful new movie, in "post-production," about the "Mighty Macs" the storied womens’ basketball team from Immaculata College, run by the IHM sisters, in sylvan Immaculata, Pennsylvania. The team won the first national women’s basketball championship in 1972.  The movie, filmed in Immaculata (near Philadelphia), stars Ellen Burstyn as the redoubtable Mother Superior and Carla Gugino as coach.  Growing up in Philly in the 1970s I heard all about the Mighty Macs, and just recently had the chance to visit the college and wonderfully warm IHM sisters, on what is a beautiful campus, just a few months back.  Ellen Burstyn will be giving Meryl Streep a run for her money in no-nonsense nuns this year.  Get this film a distributor!

James Martin, SJ

Show Comments (
1
)
Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.
16 years 7 months ago
My late mother would have loved this movie. She was a star basketball player when she was in high school. I laughed when the young girl introduces herself as Mary Margaret O'Malley. I went to grade school with a Mary Margaret O'Malley. I think she eventually became an Incarnate Word (San Antonio) Sister. A few weeks ago, I had a talk with a young Irishman by the name of O'Malley. He had been a Carthusian for a couple of years and was trying to decide if he would enter the Carthusians again. He said the Carthusian silence was vertical and that the Camaldolese silence was horizontal. He greatly valued both of these expressions of trust. I try to not miss any movie with Ellen Burstyn in it.

Most popular

1
Hong Kong’s Jesuit Cardinal Chow on the conclave, the next pope and Francis’ legacy
Gerard O’Connell
2
Why Fellini’s ‘La Strada’ was Pope Francis’ favorite movie
John Dougherty
3
Interview: Cardinal Müller on if Pope Francis was a heretic and what he wants in the next pope
Gerard O’Connell
4
Some cardinals are attacking Pope Francis. He would have welcomed it.
Sebastian Gomes
5
Backer of Cardinal Parolin attacks Pope Francis’ push for lay involvement in church governance
Gerard O’Connell

Your source for jobs, books, retreats, and much more.

All My Eyes See: The Artistic Vocation of Fr. William Hart McNichols
Books
Come Join Us
Volunteer / Vocation
Online Evening Prayer with Young Adults
Activities, Events
President of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities
Jobs
Catholic insights: catechist and blogger!
Apps
See all Classifieds

The latest from america

Will the next pope embrace synodality—or reject it?
The influence of the Synod on Synodality for the conclave—and what the result of the conclave might mean for the future of synodality
Inside the VaticanMay 03, 2025
From king to the world’s pastor: How will the next pope change the style of the papacy?
The role of the pope is in a process of conversion from worldly monarch to world’s priest.
Zac DavisMay 03, 2025
The conclave is a referendum on synodality
At the Synod on Synodality, the cardinals were ‘converted’ to working together in a new way. As they join their brothers in the conclave, they face a referendum on—and resistance to—their work.
Colleen DulleMay 03, 2025
Cardinal ‘Ambo’ David on the greatest need of the church today
“In a time when the globalized economic and political order is crumbling—especially exposed during the Trump era—the church may well be one of the last stubborn institutions that still holds a truly global character.”
Gerard O’ConnellMay 03, 2025