Francis of Assisi (1961)

In 13th century Italy, Francis Bernardone, the son of an Assisi merchant, renounces a promising army career in favor of a monastic life and starts his own religious order, sanctioned by the Pope.

Director:

Michael Curtiz

Writers:

Ludwig von Wohl (novel) (as Louis De Wohl), 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

Francis Bernardone (Bradford Dillman) is the son of a wealthy cloth merchant in Assisi, who gives up all his worldly goods to dedicate himself to God. Clare (Dolores Hart) is a young aristocratic woman who, according to the film, is so taken with St. Francis that she leaves her family and becomes a nun. By this time (1212 A.D.), St. Francis has a well-established reputation for his vows of poverty. The movie goes on to note miracles (such as the appearance of the stigmata on Francis's hands and feet) and other aspects of his life, up to and including his death on October 3, 1226.

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Plot Keywords:

italy | stigmata | nun | death | saint | 

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Taglines:

how a Lusty, Fighting Young "Rebel With Cause" Exchanged his Sword for a Cross!

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | History

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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

Box Office

Budget:

$2,015,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Perseus Productions,Twentieth Century Fox

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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Quotes

Francis Bernardone of Assisi: This could be so, a voice told me to rebuild the Lord's house. I thought I had to work with stone and mortar, but perhaps I was wrong.

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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

Referenced in Hollywood Screen Tests: Take 2 (1999)

User Reviews

Lame

Fairly uninteresting, but not particularly offensive. This is the most complete, most straightforward Francis of Assissi movie out of the four I've recently watched (including The Flowers of St. Francis (Rossellini), Brother Sun, Sister Moon (Zeffirelli) & Francesco (Cavani)). Somewhere in the middle of the film, I brought up the Wikipedia page about the saint, and it read pretty much like the script of this movie. The production is quite nice, but one would think the tale of a man who chose to live his life in poverty wouldn't concentrate so much on sets and costumes. Bradford Dillman is forgettable as Francis. Stuart Whitman plays his rival for Clare's love (of course, Clare's love for Francis is purely religious). The addition of this love triangle is perfectly representative of old Hollywood's frequent ridiculousness. The only person who really rises to the occasion is Dolores Hart as Clare. She's quite good. Two years after this film was made, she actually became a nun. She's a member of AMPAS and is the only nun who votes for the Oscars.