The Cardinal
Two-Disc Special Edition
Youthful pride. Yearnings of flesh. Moments of doubt. The courage of conviction. All enter into a dedicated American's decades-long rise from priesthood to the leadership elite of the College of Cardinals.
Otto Preminger presents The Cardinal, a winner of a Golden Globe Best Picture Award and nominated for six 1963 Academy Awards, including Best Director. Typical of Preminger's films, The Cardinal is packed with stars and issues. Tom Tyron, Carol Lynley, Ossie Davis, Burgess Meredith and Best Supporting Actor Oscar nominee and Golden Globe winner John Huston are players in a rich storyline embracing interfaith marriage, abortion, racism and war.
Member Reviews
Pride is a Cardinal sin - CaptainDave
Oh, Otto, Otto, Otto. What happened? That's a rhetorical question, Otto. It's easy to see what happened. You got ambitious. You weren't happy making excellent studio films like Laura and Where the Sidewalk Ends. You thought you were better than that. You were wrong.
You left Twentieth Century-Fox. You thought you were too good for them. But look what you made after you left. Boring, bloated (3 hours, Otto!), trite, pretentious and -- worse -- predictable trash. Trash, and not even entertaining trash.
The Cardinal hits such big themes: Judaism, interfaith marriage, extramarital sex, abortion, loss of faith, racism, even Nazism. Such big themes. Such superficial treatment. (You missed homosexuality and pedophilia, but I guess those weren't making headlines in the early 1960s.)
And your lead character, Father Fermoyle (that rhymes with turmoil, yeah, I get it)--what a saint. More than that, he's practically the Second Coming. And such subtle symbolism when he was flogged in front of a burning cross. Clever? No.
You had talent Otto. You committed the sin of pride and you wasted it. Your cardinal may have been a saviour, but all your single-camera setups and long takes couldn't save this movie.Good, not great, movie - kevinm
I thought this could have been muche better, but as a whole it is still a good movie. It's the story of the rise of a american catholic priest to the level of cardinal. The best part is the scenematography, as it seems to have been filmed in large part in Rome. The main problem I found was the lead actor, Tom Tryon, who was on the whole not bad, but wooden. A great actor could have made this movie much better, for the supporting cast is excellent (Romy Schneider, John Huston). If the inner workings of the catholic church interests you, you shooul see it.
Member Reviews
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Pride is a Cardinal sin - CaptainDave
Oh, Otto, Otto, Otto. What happened? That's a rhetorical question, Otto. It's easy to see what happened. You got ambitious. You weren't happy making excellent studio films like Laura and Where the Sidewalk Ends. You thought you were better than that. You were ...Good, not great, movie - kevinm
I thought this could have been muche better, but as a whole it is still a good movie. It's the story of the rise of a american catholic priest to the level of cardinal. The best part is the scenematography, as it seems to have been filmed in large part in ...