Change of Habit

G

Released Nov 10, 1969

1h 33m

Drama

List

10%

10 Reviews

Tomatometer

64%

5,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Dr. John Carpenter (Elvis Presley) takes the job of running a health center in a low-income district. He enlists three women to help out who -- unbeknownst to him -- are actually nuns in street clothes. The church wants to improve the neighborhood but fears that nuns in full habit would not be well received. Unaware of her unavailability, John falls for Sister Michelle (Mary Tyler Moore), serenading her with his guitar -- which, luckily for him, effectively wears away at her religious resolve.

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Nell Minow

Movie Mom

Atrociously conceived, but strangely very watchable.

Rated: 2/5

Mar 19, 2004

Full Review

Frank J. Avella

Edge Media Network

Change of Habit gets props for wanting to be socially aware. And it's a very watchable sit, if you don't mind a very mixed genre blend

Rated: C+

Oct 26, 2021

Full Review

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Rated: 2/5

Oct 20, 2005

Full Review

Daniel M. Kimmel

Worcester Telegram & Gazette

Rated: 2/5

Apr 21, 2004

Full Review

Carol Cling

Las Vegas Review-Journal

Rated: 1/5

Aug 22, 2003

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Jamie Gillies

Apollo Guide

Rated: 53/100

Oct 26, 2002

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Michele B

The negative critic reviews are not justified on this one as it was a very surprising Elvis movie to me. It's not the copy and paste cash grab style that most of films seem to be but actually a deep story that hits real world issues that are relevant to this day. It was an enjoyable watch and had an open ending to leave the viewers to come to their own conclusions. Out of his 31 films this is easily top 10.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

11/20/23

Full Review

Steven L

I thought it was a decent movie. Elvis was a good actor, it was his manager, who ruined his acting career.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

09/28/23

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Steve D

Elvis takes a back seat, rarely sings, and the plot goes nowhere.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

03/20/23

Full Review

virginia g

Being set in the late 60's, of course the film is a bit dated. That said, Elvis does a good job of portraying a doctor in an inner-city free clinic. Mary Tyler Moore and the other two "undercover" nuns are convincing as women desperately trying to help the world in the best ways they can. I like that this movie isn't primarily a love story, though there is some romance. This is definitely not a typical Elvis movie where he sings and romances a pretty girl. Content warning—the n word is said twice, and there is an attempted rape

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

robert p

Did not think that Elvis Presley could make a bad film, but now I know he can.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I often think about Elvis and what his life would have been like without Colonel Parker and going into the Army and how at one point, you couldn't show him from the waist up or girls would spontaneously get pregnant and by 1969, The King had been in 31 movies. They made them fast, they made them cheap, but even then they weren't making as much money. But hey — Parker still got a million a movie, even if the films moved to TV. Change of Habit was supposed to be a Mary Tyler Moore movie until Elvis came on board, but really, it's still her movie. She plays Sister Michelle, who along with her fellow future Brides in Christ Irene (Barbara McNair, Mister Tibbs' wife) and Barbara (Jane Elliot, General Hospital) have been sent to the inner city to work as lay missionaires until completing their vows. So yeah, the whole point of this movie is that even a life in service to God is difficult to comprehend after the potential of being pounded by The King of Rock and Roll. Or Dr. John Carpenter, which makes me laugh every time they say his full name. Actually, this is the mosy upstanding occupation that Elvis ever had in a movie, but when you consider that he played a shrimp fisherman, a photographer, a water skiing instructor, a frogman, a lifeguard, a helicopter pilot, a rodeo rider, a tour guide and a race car driver three times, well, it's a living. That said, Elvis himself was doing pretty well. The comeback special had already been broadcast, the album that it sold was a huge success and he'd just finished recording the two songs that would point to his comeback as a force in American music, "In the Ghetto" and "Suspicious Minds." His career no longer needed the movies. Anyways, Change of Habit is a fun time. I mean, nuns and Elvis. You can't beat that. And Ed Asner shows up as a cop, which is hilarious given his politics, and he and Moore don't share a scene here but a year later they'd be talking spunk on The Mary Tyler Moore Show.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/06/23

Full Review

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William Graham

Director

Elvis Presley

Dr. John Carpenter

Mary Tyler Moore

Sister Michelle

Barbara McNair

Sister Irene

Jane Elliot

Sister Barbara

Leora Dana

Mother Joseph

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Synopsis

Dr. John Carpenter (Elvis Presley) takes the job of running a health center in a low-income district. He enlists three women to help out who -- unbeknownst to him -- are actually nuns in street clothes. The church wants to improve the neighborhood but fears that nuns in full habit would not be well received. Unaware of her unavailability, John falls for Sister Michelle (Mary Tyler Moore), serenading her with his guitar -- which, luckily for him, effectively wears away at her religious resolve.

Director: William Graham
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Production Co: Universal/Universal Int
Rating: G
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Nov 10, 1969, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 30, 2016
Runtime: 1h 33m