The Keys of the Kingdom (1944)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

John M. Stahl

Writers:

Joseph L. Mankiewicz (screenplay) and
Nunnally Johnson (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

15 December 1944 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A young priest, Father Chisholm (Gregory Peck) is sent to China to establish a Catholic parish among the non-Christian Chinese...

Plot Keywords:

Priest | China | Catholic | Mandarin | Catholic School

Awards:

Nominated for 4 Oscars.

Cast

Gregory Peck	...	Father Francis Chisholm
Thomas Mitchell	...	Willie Tulloch
Vincent Price	...	Angus Mealey
Rose Stradner	...	Reverend Mother Maria-Veronica (as Rosa Stradner)
Roddy McDowall	...	Francis Chisholm, as a boy
Edmund Gwenn	...	Father Hamish MacNabb
Cedric Hardwicke	...	Monsignor at Tweedside (as Sir Cedric Hardwicke)
Peggy Ann Garner	...	Nora, as a girl
Jane Ball	...	Nora, as an adult
James Gleason	...	Rev. Dr. Wilbur Fiske
Anne Revere	...	Agnes Fiske
Ruth Nelson	...	Mrs. Chisholm, Francis' mother
Benson Fong	...	Joseph
Leonard Strong	...	Mr. Chia
Philip Ahn	...	Mr. Pao, envoy for Mr. Chia

Runtime:

137 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Mandarin | Cantonese

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Canada:PG (video rating) | Argentina:13 | Finland:S | Spain:T | USA:Approved (certificate #10003) | Sweden:Btl

Filming Locations:

20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Quotes:

[first lines]
Title card: On a September evening in 1938, Father Francis Chisholm returned to his little church near Tweedside, Scotland.
Father Francis Chisholm: Good afternoon, Monsignor.
Monsignor: Good afternoon, Father.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Brotherhood (2001) (V)

Keys of the Kingdom

This movie would have to be the greatest movie ever made. The sheer brilliance of Gregory Peck in the manner he displays as a Missionary Catholic Priest is just mind boggling, the support from the Nuns is just spot on. Real People in a Real world. Relationships are formed congenially and with love and affection of the right kind. To see it in black and white makes the movie real. The melodrama that Thomas Mitchell and Sir Cedric Hardwicke gives to movies provides the right tone to their scenes Gregory Peck show his capabilities and indicates his greatness in other movies such as Gentleman's Agreement and To Kill a Mockingbird (his greatest performance ever). The ability to communicate with non-English speaking Chinese is depicted calmly and sensitively . Finally the wonderful Edmund Gwen as the Seminary mentor shows the characteristic of a keen thinking priest when he refers to "ecclesastical mechanics", those bureaucrats who are inflexible and forget the ordinary People of God. I am sure God will bless all who watch this move with good heart

I just wish I could get a copy of it somewhere.