On-the-run after witnessing her Las Vegas mobster boyfriend kill someone, a tacky lounge singer (Whoopi Goldberg) enters the Witness Protection Program - as a nun. Now the convent needs protection, from the new Sister Mary Clarence and her Vegas-style ideas on how to run the choir. A charming comedy and one of Goldberg's best movies.

A lounge singer, specializing in the enthusiastic performance of Motown classics, has to hightail it out of Reno when she witnesses her gangster boyfriend icing an unfortunate stool pigeon. The cops want her testimony so that they can put her ex-lover behind bars, but they know he'll be trying to silence her permanently.
The Witness Relocation Program eventually hides her in the last place they think anyone would look: a convent. With nothing to do but lay low and kill time, the feisty, incognito nun starts to go a little stir-crazy -- that is, until the Mother Superior puts her in charge of the convent's choir. It's a hopeless group musically, but the former lounge lizard realizes she's found her calling and quickly whips her recruits into top R&B form. Meanwhile, her ex has found out where she's hiding and plans a visit with a few of his more "influential" friends.

Color by Eastmancolor; shot with Arriflex cameras and lenses on locations that included Los Angeles and San Francisco, California and Reno, Nevada.

Estimated budget $20 million.

Emile Ardolino was formerly a director on the PBS series, "Dance in America.. His breakthrough success was the sleeper hit "Dirty Dancing" (1987), which was Ardolino's feature film directorial debut.

The lead role in "Sister Act" was originally tailored for actress Bette Midler.

Reportedly, Whoopi Goldberg refused to promote the film; her reasons were unspecified.

Allegedly, six other writers worked on the screenplay, but their contributions went uncredited: Eleanor Bergstein, Jim Cash, Jack Epps Jr., Carrie Fisher, Robert Harling, and Nancy Meyers.

Andrea Robinson was the singing voice of Sister Mary Robert.

Excerpt: "If this turns into a nun's bar. I'm out of here." -- said by a tough-looking biker.

DVD Features:

Region 1
Keep Case
Anamorphic Widescreen - 1.85:1
Audio:
Dolby Digital 5.1 - English
Additional Release Material:
Featurette - 1. "Inside SISTER ACT"
Music Video
Trailers - 1. Original Theatrical Trailer
Interactive Features:
Scene Access
Interactive Menus

Distributor Notes: Sister Act

Relive all the fun, laughter, and irresistible music of SISTER ACT -- the inspired comedy hit that packed pews everywhere! Whoopi Goldberg stars as a sassy, low-rent lounge singer forced to hide out from the mob in the last place on earth anyone would look for her -- a convent. While she's there, her irreverent behavior attracts a flock of faithful followers and turns the nuns' tone-deaf choir into a soulful chorus of swingin', singin' sisters. But when the group earns rave reviews, her sudden celebrity jeopardizes her hidden identity. Harvey Keitel and Kathy Najimy join a heavenly cast in this habit-forming comedy bursting with '60s Motown hits.

Source: Buena Vista Home Entertainment.

Whoopi Goldberg: Oscar winning actress, comedian, GHOST, GIRL, INTERRUPTED
Maggie Smith: British Actress
Kathy Najimy: Actress
Wendy Makkena: Actress/"Sister Act"
Mary Wickes: American character actress
Harvey Keitel: American Actor/Producer
Bill Nunn: American Actor
Robert Miranda: 
Richard Portnow: Supporting Actor

Emile Ardolino: American Director/D. 1993

Marc Shaiman: American Composer

Colleen Halsey: Editor, SISTER ACT
Richard Halsey: 

"...The choral scenes [are] skillfully done..."
"...Sidesplittingly funny....It's a new-style feel-good movie...Goldberg's voice -- a flat, gravelly drone of skepticism -- is a great comic instrument..."
"...Graced with a clever script, a cast that will make you smile until you ache, and a snappy sense of pace....[It is] one of those rare occasions where everything almost magically falls into place..."