The Cardinal (1963)

Director:

Otto Preminger

Writers:

Henry Morton Robinson (novel)
Robert Dozier (writer)

Release Date:

12 December 1963 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A young Catholic priest from Boston confronts bigotry, Naziism, and his own personal conflicts as he rises to the office of cardinal.

Plot Keywords:

Priest | Bigotry | Archbishop | Bishop | Predjudice

Awards:

Nominated for 6 Oscars. Another 4 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Tom Tryon	...	Stephen Fermoyle
Carol Lynley	...	Mona Fermoyle / Regina Fermoyle
Dorothy Gish	...	Celia Fermoyle
Maggie McNamara	...	Florrie Fermoyle
Bill Hayes	...	Frank Fermoyle
Cameron Prud'Homme	...	Din Fermoyle
Cecil Kellaway	...	Monsignor Monaghan
Loring Smith	...	Cornelius J. Deegan
John Saxon	...	Benny Rampell
James Hickman	...	Father Lyons
Berenice Gahm	...	Mrs. Rampell
John Huston	...	Cardinal Glennon
Jose Duvall	...	Ramon Gongaro (as Jose Duval)
Peter MacLean	...	Father Callahan
Robert Morse	...	Bobby and His Adora-Belles

Runtime:

175 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

West Germany:12 (f) | Argentina:13 | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Malden, Massachusetts, USA

Company:

Otto Preminger Films

Trivia:

The Special Edition DVD features the documentary Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker (1991).

Goofs:

Continuity: When the blood is flowing from the statue's heart and Father Fermoyle addresses the worshiping crowd, the length of the flow on the statue is inconsistent between cuts going from nearly all the way down the statue to being shown at midway down the statue and returning to be all the way down the statue.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker (1991)

Soundtrack:

Jubilante Alleluja

Maybe they should remake this one

I saw this film years ago on television AFTER I had read the excellent book on which it is very loosely based. What a disappointment!.So many integral characters are eliminated,ie, Gaetano Orselli, most of Stephens family, and several of his clergy friends. Although Tom(Thomas) Tryon, Burgess Meredith and John Huston are excellent, there is very little thread to tie them together in this over long film. And will someone please tell me why the character of Ghislana Falerni Orselli was turned into the student temptress for lack of a better term, Anne-Marie. The character only cheapened the film. Even today with the crises in the Roman Catholic church, this film is dated and downright silly. There was so much potential in the book that Preminger chose to ignore for the sake of heaven knows what. Maybe this one should be remade(NOT UPDATED,but using the original source to show how a man of the cloth really should behave.