The Badge or the Cross (22 Feb. 1971)

After his wife is murdered, a veteran cop quits the police department and becomes a priest. Several years later he is assigned to a parish where he meets the man who killed his wife--and ... See full summary »

Director:

Richard A. Colla

Writer:

Don Mankiewicz

Stars:

George Kennedy, Ricardo Montalban, Nico Minardos

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
George Kennedy	...	Sarge Swanson
Ricardo Montalban	...	Al Matteo
Nico Minardos	...	Nico
Diane Baker	...	Carol Swanson
Stewart Moss	...	Father Terrence
Sallie Shockley	...	Valerie
Larry Gates	...	Arnie Bigelow
Harold Sakata	...	Kenji Takichi
Naomi Stevens	...	Mama Bain
Henry Wilcoxon	...	Bishop Andrade
Stanley Livingston	...	Charlie
Dana Elcar	...	Father Frank Dinsmore
Ramon Bieri	...	Chief Dewey
Walter Brooke	...	Rector
Charles Tyner	...	Hawley

Storyline

After his wife is murdered, a veteran cop quits the police department and becomes a priest. Several years later he is assigned to a parish where he meets the man who killed his wife--and discovers that the killer was gunning for him instead.

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Plot Keywords:

tv series pilot

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 February 1971 (USA)

Filming Locations:

San Diego, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal TV

Technical Specs

Runtime:

120 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

User Reviews

A cop turned priest hunts down the killer of his wife

An unlikely plot deals with a cop, whose wife is murdered, and who then becomes ordained a Catholic priest, gets assigned to a poor parish with special needs in the district where he was a cop, and who somehow attempts to track down his wife's murderer. The cop-priest struggles to get his priorities straight--avenging the death of his wife as a cop or serving God in the role of a priest.

In my opinion, the best part of the movie is the "Mass" music. A minor subplot entails some youth pressuring the young, but stern monsignor to allow them to have a "folk mass" just once. Of course, the cop-priest intervenes; that is, up to the point the "folk mass" becomes a "rock mass." As music director at my church, I've completed the Mass music, written out the musical score, and used the music during services. Other than that, the movie--to me--was a time waster. The film offers little in the way of suspense or drama. It was nothing significant or exciting. But perhaps, I got distracted by the music??? There was a follow up to the movie, one that was equally uneventful, something about a plot to murder a number of priests. There wasn't even any good music to save the the sequel.