Francis of Assisi (1961)

Director:

Michael Curtiz

Writers:

Ludwig von Wohl (novel), Eugene Vale (screenplay),

Stars:

Bradford Dillman, Dolores Hart, Stuart Whitman

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Bradford Dillman	...	Francis Bernardone of Assisi
Dolores Hart	...	Clare
Stuart Whitman	...	Count Paolo of Vandria
Cecil Kellaway	...	Cardinal Hugolino
Eduard Franz	...	Pietro Bernardone
Athene Seyler	...	Aunt Buona
Finlay Currie	...	The Pope
Mervyn Johns	...	Brother Juniper
Russell Napier	...	Brother Elias
John Welsh	...	Canon Cattanei
Harold Goldblatt	...	Bernard
Edith Sharpe	...	Donna Pica
Jack Lambert	...	Scefi
Oliver Johnston	...	Father Livoni
Malcolm Keen	...	Bishop Guido

Storyline

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Plot Keywords:

singing | cross | monk | poem | mother superior | 

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Taglines:

The story of a lusty, fighting young adventurer who exchanged his sword for a cross and rose to glory

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 July 1961 (USA)

Also Known As:

Francisco de Asís

Filming Locations:

Assisi, Perugia, Umbria, Italy

Company Credits

Production Co:

Perseus Productions, Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Average Shot Length = ~10.6 seconds. Median Shot Length = ~10.3 seconds.

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Goofs

Several times in the movie, you can see the Basilica of Saint Francis in the background. It wasn't built before 1230, four year after Saint Francis' death.

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Crazy Credits

[Right before the closing title card] Pax et Bonum ("peace and all good [be with you]"). This Latin phrase is the traditional greeting and goodbye of the Franciscans, and it was established by Francis himself.

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Connections

Version of Francesco (1989)

User Reviews

Some Interesting Reflections Weakened By Its Veneration Of Its Subject

This recreates a lot of the legends about Francis of Assisi - one of the best known of the Roman Catholic saints, who is also admired and much quoted by Protestants. There's no doubt that the movie also recreates some of the historical facts about his life - his disagreement with his father over the course his life should take, his visit to the Holy Land and encounter with the sultan and his struggle to gain recognition of his new order from the Pope. This also takes both the legends and the reality to unnecessary extremes at times - such as Francis' encounter with the cheetahs in the Sahara as he was seeking out the sultan. Throughout the whole movie, Francis is portrayed in a too pious light; his humanity (I mean by this his flesh and blood reality, as opposed to his kindness) seemed lost in the mix. This is not especially surprising when you consider that the movie is based on a hagiography (a biography of a saint) written by by the Catholic author Ludwig von Wohl, whose own commission from Pope Pius XII was to "write about the history and mission of the Church in the world." Clearly the Catholic Church wants its saints portrayed in the best light possible, and so a certain sense of veneration for Francis in a movie based on von Wohl's work is inevitable.

Setting that aside (and even Protestants admire Francis, so I have no major criticism) what I most enjoyed here was the continual reflection in the movie on the state of the church and the Christian faith and Christians; the constant temptation (to which we all give in) to compromise the standards of Christ in favour of the standards of the world. The movie continually comes back to that theme; one could even say it revolves around it, as the primary battle Francis fights is to keep his order true to his "rule" - which was essentially the teachings of Christ that His own followers should renounce worldly possessions. Considering the repeated inability of Christians and the church to truly live up to the standards of Christ, the most meaningful words here were probably put on Francis' lips (although I'm unclear whether he actually spoke them): "if men were more perfect, we would need less compassion." So true.

This is at times interesting - but it's still significantly weakened in my view by its veneration of Francis rather than its objective portrayal of his life.