Best movie of this year hands down!

Instant Favorite.

Absolutely Fantastic

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

Although this film does present a rather idealized story about the rise of a humble priest from a lowly parish cleric to the rank of Cardinal, the issues through which the main character navigates and maneuvers are still as relevant today as in 1963. The Office of Cardinal is the second-highest ranking among Roman Catholic Church clergy, second only to the Pope. Cardinals who are able to make the journey to Rome during Conclave are called "The College of Cardinals", and at Conclave, they choose a new Pope. Not every Cardinal can make the journey and some, by certain decrees, are not allowed to participate and/or vote. The story is not about someone who is already a Cardinal, but rather the steps taken by a no-name cleric and his rise to the highest echelons of the Roman Church.The story begins when Bishop Stephen Fermoyle (Thomas Tyron in his most remembered performance) receives a formal letter from the Vatican in Rome. Such formal letters are read allowed in great ceremony where we learn he has been appointed a Cardinal by the Holy See. As the letter is being read, Fermoyle begins to remember in his own mind the religious and secular journey he has taken to arrive at this moment, a dream for many priests in the Roman Catholic. Many may aspire but few are called to become a Cardinal. Most of the film is essentially in flash-back. The story goes back in time to the ceremony in which he became an ordained priest in a ceremony officiated by the local Bishop back in Boston in the United States.The first issue with which the young priest faces concerns his sister and her current love relationship. The trouble is, her lover is not only not Roman Catholic, he's not a Christian; he's Jewish. Father Fermoyle than resolves he can solve the problem and entice the Jew to convert to Roman Catholicism. However, the plan doesn't work. At one point her sister comes to the church and enters the confessional, but she's looking for guidance from her older brother, not a cleric who simply wants to reinforce church doctrine. Eventually, the relationship between brother and sister is shattered, and tragic results eventually ensue. Father Fermoyle, now in service to Bishop-Cardinal Glennon (John Huston in an Academy-Award nominated performance) tells the bishop he may not be able to continue as a priest. He goes on leave from the church, and briefly entertains the joys of secular life in Paris.Father Fermoyle eventually begins working for the Vatican as a priest without a parish. Father Willis (Ossie Davis), an African-American priest from the United States pays Father Fermoyle an unexpected visit. He needs help with his church back home which was burned by white supremacists in his hometown in the rural American South. The American priest is asking for an audience with the Pope. Although he is unable to arrange an audience with the pontiff himself, Fermoyle is certain that one of the high-ranking Cardinal-bishops would give him an audience and aid in the cause against racism. To their astonishment, the Cardinal offers no help but feels it's something which the Americans need to resolve. They also feel it's too politically charged to enmesh themselves into the racist issues plaguing America. Father Willis leaves the Vatican disappointed.Then unexpectedly, at his home in the South, Willis receives a special guest: Father Fermoyle. Fermoyle has traveled from Rome to the American South to aid Father Willis, although his presence is "unofficial". Fermoyle is not in the local town as a representative from Rome but simply there under his own cognizance. He then learns the local authorities want to sweep the business of the church burning under the proverbial rug. Another local priest, probably Anglican, also tries to compel Willis not to testify in court. However, Father Fermoyle supports Willis in his resolve to confront the issue in the local court. The Vatican priest learns some of the white locals don't like outsiders meddling in their affairs, and they don white sheets at night to make their point.Why I think "the Cardinal" works as well as it does is because the story doesn't come off dated or sanguine. The issues confronted by the story are very real, and these episodes resonate today with the problems of racial and religious intolerance. I think the point of the story is that, to become a Cardinal from the rank of a lowly priest is a very arduous journey. The story rings slightly of the rise of Pope John-Paul II who, when he was a young parish priest in Poland, hid and helped Jewish refugees escape from the clutches of the Nazis. Even the current pontiff, Pope Francis I, became a vocal opponent of fascism in South America. While certainly, some priests rise to higher ranks because of their loyalty to doctrine, others gain the ranks because of engaging in blood, sweat and tears. While the Cardinal is a fictional account of such a rise, the film does demonstrate a few are given the privilege because of their contribution to humanity at large.

At the Vatican in 1917 Rome, stately American Tom Tryon (as Stephen "Steve" Fermoyle) is ordained a Catholic priest. After discussing the possibility of achieving even loftier positions, Mr. Tryon returns home to practice in Boston, Massachusetts. The first problem at home involves Tyron's free-spitted sister Carol Lynley (as Mona), who is dating a Jewish man. Her boyfriend John Saxon (as Benny Rampell) considers converting to Catholicism. Suddenly, everything changes. Possibly deemed too big for his britches, Tyron is transferred to another parish, by a superior John Huston (as Glennon)...In her last appearance, veteran "silent" actress Dorothy Gish has a featured role as Tyron's mother...Tyron meets ailing Burgess Meredith (as Ned Halley) and new parishioners. He deals with Mr. Meredith's multiple sclerosis and Ms. Lynley's marital infidelity. In a musical interlude, Robert Morse dances with sexy women. Lynley dances the tango. Abortion enters the story. Years pass. Tyron questions his vocation. In Vienna, Tyron is tempted by pretty Romy Schneider (as Annemarie). Lynley reappears in another role. Years pass. Tyron fights the Ku Klux Klan and Nazis. A new World War looms. "The Cardinal" produced (very well) and directed by Otto Preminger. Unfortunately, the movie is a bore.***** The Cardinal (12/12/63) Otto Preminger ~ Tom Tryon, Romy Schneider, Carol Lynley, John Huston

Just watched this on TCM (I had seen it once before, about fifteen years ago). It's a type of film that doesn't seem to get made anymore -- the cinematic equivalent of the "good read", examining the life of a character set against a backdrop of historical events. I've read that Henry Morton Robinson's hugely successful novel, one of the biggest bestsellers of the early '50s, was a key cultural landmark for American Catholics (I'm not Catholic myself). Telling the story of Irish immigrant's son Stephen Fermoyle from Boston altar boy to achieving the titular honor, the book clearly resonated with US Catholics seeking a new sort of identity in the postwar world. The fact that it was clearly based on the well-known Cardinal Spellman probably didn't hurt sales.Starting in the mid '50s Otto Preminger made a habit of filming recent bestsellers, to take marketing advantage of the books' established publicity. But The Cardinal was published well over a decade before Preminger filmed it in 1963. I'd guess part of this was due to censorship, as a major subplot deals with abortion.Why a Jew like Preminger would film a novel like The Cardinal can only be guessed at (I have not read the recent Preminger biography), but I wonder if it wasn't at least partly due to the fact that much of the story takes place in Preminger's native Vienna.The Cardinal has great work from title designer Saul Bass, cinematographer Leon Shamroy, and especially composer Jerome Moross -- his main theme should be much better known. Preminger himself directs in his usual "objective" style: long takes, few if any reaction shots, and occasional use of Preminger's trademark -- the actor starts from the side of the frame, walks toward the camera to CU range, then away from the camera (I can't be the first person to notice this -- have critics come up with a name for this shot?). As always with Preminger, there are moments when a few reactive close-ups might make things a bit clearer, notably the suicide jump in immediate response to the Gestapo visit. A CU or two of the panicking, paranoid victim might make the scene come across as a bit less jarringly out-of-nowhere.In the very long title role Tom Tryon is adequate. I'm not sure if a more expressive actor could have done much better, as religious uncertainty is hard to visualize. Perhaps someone like Richard Burton might have brought more vulnerability to the section where Fermoyle is tempted by an Austrian girl (Romy Schneider).John Huston steals all his scenes as a wily church politician, and got a Supporting Oscar nomination to boot. Indeed The Cardinal is the film that started him on his second career as an actor. Carol Lynley also got a nomination and does especially well in her confession scene, although the film fails to take much advantage of the gimmick of Lynley playing two characters. Burgess Meredith (as a saintly parish priest), Dorothy Gish, Raf Vallone, an unbilled David Opatoshu, and many others make effective appearances. I have to mention Bill "The Ballad Of Davy Crockett" Hayes as Fermoyle's piano-playing brother. He's quite lively (Hayes had been a second banana on Ernie Koxacs' 1956 TV show) and surprisingly good in the dramatic scenes. I wonder why he never had more of a Hollywood career (outside of a longtime soap gig).One other participant in the production should be cited. According to Wikipedia the Papal liaison for the film was one Joseph Ratzinger, now known as Pope Benedict.The Cardinal is definitely far better than the similar Shoes Of The Fisherman, and I prefer it to another priestly life-story The Keys Of The Kingdom. It could probably be considerably shortened without too much harm -- the Robert Morse musical number could definitely be cut, and the Ku Klux Klan episode is unnecessary as well as unconvincing. Among Preminger's "bestseller films" I rate The Cardinal higher than Exodus, if not as high as Anatomy Of A Murder.

I'm not a major fan of Otto Preminger's work. I find much of his work too long and self important. But I was wonderfully surprised at how much I loved this film, and now it's my favorite Otto Preminger film.This is a wonderful film. It's moving, complex, literate, articulate, and surprisingly thought provoking. The subjects it tackles are still relevant today. The subject of faith, entering the priesthood, sacrifice to God, dealing with abortion, sex, racism, and church leaders and their dealings with politics are issues that haven't gone away, and Preminger handles them quite well without resorting to melodrama and sledgehammer points.The Cardinal moves along at a beautiful pace, and it feels like a grand novel, leisurely, but enthralling. Out of the entire film, there is maybe one or two scenes that are superfluous and could have been cut (the inclusion of a song in a vaudeville theater is one of them), but overall, all the scenes here are valid and tell the story. The film's dialogue is excellent, quite literate and intelligent. The film's score is very subtle, and it's never used as a cue on how to make the viewer feel. In fact, most of the scenes have no music.Preminger's mise en scene has never been better. His framing is immaculate, using long takes extremely well, giving the literate dialogue extra weight by making the viewer really concentrate. Quite often, too much cutting simplifies things, but luckily, Otto avoids that. The cinematography and the production design are magnificent. The film reminded me of, surprisingly, Luchino Visconti's The Leopard. Not in the story (Visconti's film was about the unification of Italy as seen through the eyes of an aristocratic family), but in the production design (which is sumptuous in both The Leopard and The Cardinal), framing, cinematography, and beautiful performances.Tom Tryon, a relative unknown here, is quite good as The Cardinal. He's in nearly every scene and he holds his own very well. Many found him boring, or as least too stoic, but I thought he was pretty damn near perfect. John Huston is great as a cranky but caring Bishop, Burgess Meredith is excellent as a dying priest, and Ossie Davis is great as a black Catholic priest. The scene in which Tryon confronts a racist town where Davis's parish resides is one of the most powerful scenes in the entire film. The film has an abortion scene (which was shocking for 1963, when the film was made), and it's still incredibly powerful and uncomfortable to watch. Some of the film is dated (mostly attitudes about marriage and social mores), but most of it is still valid today.The film is not as deep, mystical, or as intellectual as a Tarkovsky, Bergman, or de Oliveira film, but it comes surprisingly close, and it doesn't have the usual Preminger manufactured controversy. Here he doesn't do that, and makes what I believe is, if not his best film, certainly his most underrated. I recommend this film highly.