The Cardinal

1963
Approved
2h 55m

IMDb RATING

6.7/10

YOUR RATING

Romy Schneider and Tom Tryon in The Cardinal (1963)

A young Catholic priest from Boston confronts bigotry, Nazism, and his own personal conflicts as he rises to the office of cardinal.

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Drama History War

A young Catholic priest from Boston confronts bigotry, Nazism, and his own personal conflicts as he rises to the office of cardinal.A young Catholic priest from Boston confronts bigotry, Nazism, and his own personal conflicts as he rises to the office of cardinal.A young Catholic priest from Boston confronts bigotry, Nazism, and his own personal conflicts as he rises to the office of cardinal.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.7/10

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Nominated for 6 Oscars
- 3 wins & 13 nominations total

Trivia
The Vatican bankrolled some of the film, and the Vatican liaison was a young Joseph Ratzinger, who in 2005 became the 265th Catholic Pope as Benedict XVI.

Goofs
All along the movie, we see, leading to St Peter's square, the Via della Conciliazione and its palazzi, built for the Holy Year of 1950, under the pontificate of Pius XII, whose election Cardinal Fermoyle is supposed to take part at the very end of the movie.

Quotes
Cardinal Glennon: We've never had a priest working with the Mafia before. But I suppose you made some interesting contacts in Rome.
Stephen Fermoyle: I had no choice, Your Eminence. I had to work my way through the seminary by selling opium in St. Peter's Square.
Cardinal Glennon: You're not afraid of me.
Stephen Fermoyle: No.
Cardinal Glennon: Why not? Most people are.
Stephen Fermoyle: I think it's because you remind me of my father. He was known as "Den the Down Shouter," but I soon learned his roar was the only fierce thing about him.
Cardinal Glennon: He's a lucky man to have a son who's not afraid of him.

Connections
Featured in Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker (1991)

Soundtracks
They Haven't Got the Girls in the U.S.A.
Lyrics by Al Stillman
Music by Jerome Moross (uncredited)
Performed by Robert Morse (uncredited)

User reviews56

Review

Featured review

9/10

A great film; entertaining, insightful, historically significant.

The Cardinal tracks the life of a young priest through an upwardly-mobile career to the point just prior to his being elevated to Cardinal. The historical time frame falls between the beginning of WWI and the beginning of WWII, and this volatile time in our country's history is reflected by the career of Father (later Monsignor, then Bishop) Fermoyle. Fr. Fermoyle encounters many people who touch his life and have an impact on his career which shakes his faith, and even threatens to end it at one point. You don't have to be Catholic to enjoy this film, but it would certainly help!

The location scenes in Rome, Vienna and Boston give this film a feel which helps the viewer really get involved in the plot. The moral values truly reflect the era depicted; I only wish that a return to those values were possible today.

If you like a good, dramatic story that develops characters you really get to know and care about, please see this film!