El cardenal

I have seen his film so many times and with very few exceptions have come to the conclusion that it is one of the most rewarding films I have ever enjoyed. The photography and art direction are beautiful but the music is stunning and available on a recent CD release. I truly feel it has been very much forgotten and am delighted that it is available in letterbox format for all to enjoy.

The Cardinal is a historically significant film because of what was happening in the Roman Catholic Church at the time it premiered -- the Second Vatican Council. Called by Pope John XXVIII to bring about reforms in the Church, many of the issues touched upon in the film -- the liturgy, the role of lay persons and women in the Church, rights of the mother vs. the child, mixed marriage, ecumenism -- were being hotly debated by the bishops in Rome. The film added to that debate among ordinary Catholics.

I was a student at a Catholic high school in 1963. To many of us who hoped to see significant and even radical changes toward a more modern Church, the Cardinal dramatized many of the problems that we believed needed correcting. The Second Vatican Council didn't go as far as some of us would like, and the Church hasn't seen much reform since, but when I see the Cardinal today, I'm reminded how much more confining Church doctrine was before the Council did its work.

By the way, in response to the comment that no one could have done all the things that the Cardinal was portrayed as doing in the film, my understanding is that the story is based on the life of Cardinal Spellman of New York. The details are changed, but in fact Cardinal Spellman was from Boston and did undertake many of the same roles in his career, including working as a Vatican diplomat from 1925-1932.

Tom Tryon is one of the better but less appreciated actors of the '50s and '60s when mature top stars were the likes of Rock Hudson. Tryon, however, is not only an excellent actor but a good writer as well with a number of books to his name just like Sterling Hayden, another almost forgotten actor of the period.

This movie should be required viewing in Moral Theology as it provides guidance on how a serious practicing Catholic should act when faced with moral dilemmas. With the current moral divide on the question of abortion, I am reminded of that crucial scene in the movie when the character portrayed by Tryon had to decide on what medical procedure to choose in the case of an emergency arising out of a childbirth gone awry. He was the nearest of kin of the woman involved and the doctors advised him that there was a choice as to whether to abort the baby (by crushing its head with forceps) or let the childbirth proceed in which case the mother's life would be compromised. In such cases, Catholic morality requires that the best effort should be made to save both infant and mother but in no case may an intervention be made to kill either one of them.

The Cardinal l'd watched in 1984 on TV, an overlong movie, in that time l didn't have any idea how meaning of the pictures itself, today after a long time l've the opportunity to re-watch this one from Otto Preminger's unknown movie, after almost three hours long l finally recognized this picture is really amazing, telling a story about a young priest in Boston until a high position in Catholic Church, the movie is showing in flashbacks since the beginning, all the facts one of the most remarkable is about the Father Ned Halley played by Burgess Meredith who died in poverty, another was when he has to help a nigro priest in Georgia and has to confront the segregationist system in this town, the story through the time have many faces until the final, once more Otto Preminger proves as one of best directors for all times!! Underrated movie!!

Resume:

First watch: 1984 / How many: 2 / Source: TV-DVD / Rating: 8.5

TOM TRYON has the central role in Otto Preminger's majestic looking film version of THE CARDINAL, but he's one of those handsome actors with an impassive face whose emotions never come to the surface. Instead, we get a hint of what he might be thinking without any real clue. And since the film is all about the moral and personal issues facing him as he enters the College of Cardinals, an actor with more emotional capabilities would have been more impressive.

The other flaw is the three hour length for a film in which the story is simply not that compelling. Furthermore, director Preminger has chosen to direct whole scenes at medium length lensing (no close-ups inserted) which gives a flat affect to the dynamics involved.

Aside from these weaknesses, the film has a lot about it to commend. All the interiors of church activities are impressively staged and photographed in beautiful WideScreen photography. The performances around Tryon range from good to excellent, including John Huston, Carol Lynley, Bill Hayes, John Saxon and Burgess Meredith. Huston is particularly commanding as the brusque Cardinal Glennon, who confronts Tryon with: "You're not afraid of me, are you?" when the young man speaks his mind.

All of the technical aspects of the film are professional, giving the story more credibility than it deserves from a rather lumbering script. The icing on the cake is the rich musical score by Jerome Moross.

Holds the interest despite the length as it deals with a young man confronting bigotry, Naziism, and his own personal beliefs as he ascends the ladder of success in the Catholic Church.