By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Director Jerry London brought together some great actors, a fine script, and true life events to create an exceptional television film Based on the efforts of a Irish priest to smuggle Allied prisoners through the Vatican and under the noses of the Nazis, this is a very suspenseful and dramatic story. Gregory Peck as the priest and Chistopher Plummer as the Nazi commander are truly superb and the cat and mouse game they act out is mesmerizing. Intense, moving, and sometimes brilliant, The Scarlet and the Black is one of the more intelligent television movies of the era and one that holds up well to this day.

What can I say about this story?Not enough!This story could have easily been made into a major motion picture.I am glad that it was made for television because then it wasn't perverted by George Clooney or Jessica Lange with filthy language,nudity and bad acting.Gregory Peck played the part of the Roman Catholic priest just right.Christopher Plummer as the Nazi officer who comes to Rome and the Vatican because he has the bizarre idea that he and Hitler own them was amazing.Christophe Plummer and Gregory Peck were the perfect duo of older talented actors to play off against one another as the good priest a man of God against the bad Nazi a man whose two gods are Satan and Hitler.I was transfixed the minute I started watching this movie so many years ago.I liked the music with the percussion in parts of the movie.Quite a good effect.Check this one out if you are looking for a good story that is based on actual incidents.I have this movie on DVD.

A well acted film though somewhat historically inaccurate. Though O'Flarety was instrumental in saving the lives of many Jews and allied escapees in Rome during the war, he did so at the express order of the Pope, Pius XII. In fact since the war began in 1939 Pius XII instructed many Catholic officials throughout occupied Europe to do all that they could to assist Jews from the Final Solution and those allied soldiers airmen, sailors, and officials to escape Nazi imprisonment. Nevertheless, Plummer and Peck give outstanding performance of real live historical characters.Knowing that music can be 50% of the success of the film, the film score left a lot to be desired.

Based on a true story set during World War II in Rome, this made for television movie stars Gregory Peck in yet another fine role,(as if he could ever do a bad one.)The supporting cast is also amazing with fine performances from Christopher Plummer and Sir John Gielgud, with Raf Valone, Vernon Dobchef and Walter Gotell among others. It is a fast paced history/war/drama/thriller in the mold of such films as "The Third Man," and "The Thirty Nine Steps." The frenetic musical score of Ennio Morricone (The Good, The Bad and The Ugly) helps to keep the pace on the edge of you seat. This is simply some fine film making at its very best, and I highly recommend it, if you have not already had a chance to see it. Just a beautiful film.