Huievest Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

Megamind To all those who have watched it: I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do.

Quiet Muffin This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

Nicole I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

RanchoTuVu This film seems to convincingly portray the inner workings of the Church in its central story of the rise of a newly ordained priest to the rank of cardinal. It has some excellent dialogue among the leaders of the Church that could strike some as stiff but actually reveals a deft combination of mutual respect under which lies Machiavelian diplomacy. The Vatican scenes are exquisitely detailed, with a keen eye to Church politics and ambition disguised behind very well delivered dialogues of diplomacy. The film is a historical dramatization that begins in Rome with Tom Tryon's ordainment as a priest just as World War 1 is about to begin and comes to an end as Tryon, now a bishop, is in immediate post-Anschluss Austria as the Nazis lead violent anti-Catholic riots. His part is very well played throughout, capturing the trials he faces with his family life in Boston as well as his strong convictions to uphold the teachings of the Church, especially when they conflict with political realities. This is a dense film.

lord woodburry I was surprised to read the many criticisms of this film as dated. In a real sense, as the film belongs to a particular historical era, it along with any film set in a particular time period would be dated. It is against that historical background, the licentiousness of the 1920s, the rise of dictatorships and totalitarian regimes in the roman church's heartland of southern Germany, Austria and Italy, and the onset of world war II that the priest, Stephen Fermoyle (Tom Tryon), always with an element of self-doubt, rises up the roman church's rigid hierarchy during those turbulent times to receive the red hat and deliver the acceptance speech at the end.The prime motivation for rushing this film into production was the uproar over the controversial play THE DEPUTY which openly criticized the Vatican for its involvement with Germany. This film suggests that the church of Rome was more a victim of the fascists than a conspirator with them. That issue may be the subject of endless debate. Yet, there is an important historical lapse in the film. The film correctly states that many officials of the roman church collaborated with the German New World Order, but the portrayal of the occupation of Austria as a violent act of aggression accompanied by a brutal assault on a church is not true. The Germans entered Austria with oompah bands and were enthusiastically greeted there.The US however never treated Austria as a full-fledged opponent and thus Austria needed to be liberated rather than defeated.Tom Tryon's performance received much criticism from others as weak. I found it worthy of a Jeffrey Hunter, a better known star of that time. Indeed Tryon's performance could stand up to Gregory Peck's portrayal of Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty in The Scarlet and the Black (1983) which dealt with similar issues.

edwagreen This was an absolute masterpiece for director Otto Preminger. The story of a conflicted priest who thinks back to his rise within the church on the day that he is to be made a cardinal.The film pulled absolutely no punches when it talks about the social issues of the period, whether it be racism in the south or the rise of Nazi Germany and its take over of Austria in March of 1938.This is a story of a priest in definite conflict. He allowed his religious views to literally end the life of his sister. The disgusting anti-Semitism reared in his own family and by neighborhood friends best described the era.

dowdosean The stiffness in the telling marks the destiny of this confused tale. At times is quite simply, unendurable. The wooden rigidity of Tom Tryon makes things even harder to take. Unconvincing should be the polite way of putting it. Preminger shows an eye for the travelogue part but a total diffidence in the subject at hand. No feel for it at all. Solemnity shouldn't be the way but it is and a rather phony solemnity at that. At times, they all behave like creatures from another planet and nothing they say or do sounds or looks credible. The over long saga is told in little disjointed episodes, the only thing that remains constant is the inexpressive brow of Mr Tryon. Most of Otto Preminger's opus looks terribly dated now. "The Cardinal" is, perhaps, the most dated. Carol Linley goes from saintly sister to exotic dancer in one single throw and Romy Schnaider has a brief and calculated moment. If I had to save something it would be the scene in which John Huston goes to visit his dying friend Burgess Meredith. But those kind of moments are rare. For some reason that I haven't been able to figure out there is a long musical number by Robert Morse, but as absurd as it was, it came as a welcome change from the agonizing pace the film suffers through its interminable length.