Recently published secret meeting Takes viewers into the room where the cardinals of the Catholic Church must choose a new pope, while a conspiracy threatens the entire proceedings. But the film isn’t the first to examine the inner workings of the church. In 1964, the Golden Globe Award for Best Feature Film was awarded to cardinalwhich included a secret meeting of its own. It also features a comprehensive historical narrative covering everything from the Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan to the Viennese ballroom. Directed by Otto Preminger, Columbia Pictures is based on Henry Morton Robinson’s 1950 best-selling novel of the same name. The series follows the career of Father Stephen Fermoyle (Tom Tryon), who begins as a newly ordained priest in Boston and eventually assumes one of the highest offices in the church. Along the way, he grapples with his mission after facing life-or-death moral dilemmas.
Although the storyline covered hot-button issues such as interfaith marriage, abortion and apartheid, and spanned two world wars, critics were divided. THR Noting that it is full of “spectacle, colour, humour, ambition and topical interest”. new york timesMeanwhile, he was full of praise for John Huston’s portrayal of the older priest but slammed leading man Tryon as a “childish cliché” in the “Bing Crosby priest tradition”, without charm.
As for production, Preminger eschewed studios and instead shot in historic churches in New England and Europe, as well as locations in the American South, Vienna, and Rome. In fact, the Vatican’s liaison with European locations in the film is a young German priest named Joseph Ratzinger, who was later elected by a conclave as Pope Benedict XVI.
This story first appeared in the November issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.
