The recently released Conclave takes viewers inside the room where the Catholic Church’s cardinals must select a new pope, all while conspiracy threatens the proceedings. But the film is far from the first to scrutinize the inner workings of the church. In 1964, the Golden Globe for best drama went to The Cardinal, which includes a conclave of its own. It also features everything from Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan to the ballrooms of Vienna in a history-sweeping narrative. The Columbia movie, directed by Otto Preminger, is based on the best-selling 1950 novel of the same name by Henry Morton Robinson. It follows Father Stephen Fermoyle (Tom Tryon) from his days as a newly ordained priest in Boston through a career that culminates in one of the church’s highest offices. Along the way, he grapples with his calling after facing a life-and-death moral dilemma.
Although the plot includes such hot-button issues as interfaith marriage, abortion and racial segregation and spans both World Wars, reviewers had mixed opinions. THR noted it was full of “spectacle, color, humor, ambition and topical interest.” The New York Times, meanwhile, raved about John Huston’s turn as an older priest but bashed lead actor Tryon as a “callow cliché” in the “Bing Crosby priest tradition” without the charm.
As for the production, Preminger eschewed soundstages in favor of shooting at historic churches in New England and Europe and sites in the American South, Vienna and Rome. In fact, the film’s Vatican liaison for European locations was a young German priest named Joseph Ratzinger — later elected by conclave as Pope Benedict XVI.
This story first appeared in a November stand-alone issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.
