I saw this one years back on a perfectly awful VHS print. Now I have the sparkling DVD copy; which is awesome. I'm always worried about praising any Catholic-themed film. Too many people simply have no interest, for their own reasons.
I have obvious *spoilers* about this one: Firstly, it doesn't say anything sinister about the Italian clergy. And leave out a gang of Cupertino delinquents, why; you have no Mafiosi.
If you don't care for the holiness hook in your stories you'll hate The Reluctant Saint. Ignore this one.
However; if you love Italy as I do; this one's a treat! A true joy to watch and also rocks with Nino Rota's humorous film music. Where it really shines is in the superb acting; you'll be amazed! Imagine a German actor playing a half-wit Italian stable boy and doing it ten times more convincingly than anyone could expect. We never had a smarter, better actor than Maximillian Schell. He leaves you breathless! What we see at last is an actor of real RANGE! Is that all? NO; the fine Italian actress playing his Mama; Lea Padovani, is perfect in the role of a suffering matron who becomes the happiest Mama in the world! She is truly lovely! Akim Tamiroff played a remarkable Bishop Durso; in what I would say is the best movie role he ever got. In all his other roles he was a caricature of the buffoon. Here he's the blessing over all the other Catholic nuances; you gotta love him! Ricardo Montalban, I'm afraid; didn't seem happy in the part of the heavy. He just acted sullen.
Producer-Director Edward Dmytryk made a superb film. The reviews were unflattering even for 1962. It's not surprising. That's when car chases, explosions and death all became popular. And we all know any Italian movie with brutal Mafiosi would have gotten rave reviews.
To me this film is a classic; and I rate it at 9 from a hard ten; as they say in Vegas. Ciao, Ragazzi!
I have obvious *spoilers* about this one: Firstly, it doesn't say anything sinister about the Italian clergy. And leave out a gang of Cupertino delinquents, why; you have no Mafiosi.
If you don't care for the holiness hook in your stories you'll hate The Reluctant Saint. Ignore this one.
However; if you love Italy as I do; this one's a treat! A true joy to watch and also rocks with Nino Rota's humorous film music. Where it really shines is in the superb acting; you'll be amazed! Imagine a German actor playing a half-wit Italian stable boy and doing it ten times more convincingly than anyone could expect. We never had a smarter, better actor than Maximillian Schell. He leaves you breathless! What we see at last is an actor of real RANGE! Is that all? NO; the fine Italian actress playing his Mama; Lea Padovani, is perfect in the role of a suffering matron who becomes the happiest Mama in the world! She is truly lovely! Akim Tamiroff played a remarkable Bishop Durso; in what I would say is the best movie role he ever got. In all his other roles he was a caricature of the buffoon. Here he's the blessing over all the other Catholic nuances; you gotta love him! Ricardo Montalban, I'm afraid; didn't seem happy in the part of the heavy. He just acted sullen.
Producer-Director Edward Dmytryk made a superb film. The reviews were unflattering even for 1962. It's not surprising. That's when car chases, explosions and death all became popular. And we all know any Italian movie with brutal Mafiosi would have gotten rave reviews.
To me this film is a classic; and I rate it at 9 from a hard ten; as they say in Vegas. Ciao, Ragazzi!