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By
NICK ZEGARAC
An intercontinental journey
spanning nearly 25 years, "The Cardinal" is a
masterfully told saga.
Otto Preminger directs with his usual adroit
perception of the human condition as he tempts the
faith of a Catholic cardinal (Tom Tryon) from Rome
to Boston and Vienna. Along the way the film
tackles such grandiose social issues as abortion,
racism, celibacy and Fascism.
Co-star John Huston was Oscar-nominated for his
role as a fiery cardinal. Catholic priest Steven
Fermoyle (Tryon) returns to his home from taking
his vows to discover that his sister Mona (Carol
Lynley) is in love with a Jewish man who is
unwilling to give up his faith, and that his
brother Frank (Bill Hayes) has abandoned the
priesthood. Mona's obsession to marry leads her to
a life of wanton debauchery that results in her
death. In the meantime, Cardinal Glennon (Huston)
is determined to drive all of Steven's false pride
from his soul. To this end he sends the young
novice to work in a forgotten, frozen parish
presided over by the Rev. Ned Halley (Burgess
Meredith). When Halley dies, Steven is recalled to
Rome where he meets a black southern priest,
Father Gillis (Ossie Davis), who has come to ask
for aid in fighting racism in his parish. The
Vatican denies Gillis' request but Steven does
indeed take a leave to administer aid to Gillis'
parish, and he is attacked and brutally beaten by
a sect of good ol' boys and nearly dies. The plot,
from this point forward is rather rushed, unworthy
of Preminger's usually sterling attention to pace.
One gets the sense that Preminger would have liked
another two or three hours to unfold the remainder
of his tale -- that includes having Stephen return
to Rome, and then travel to Austria to regain is
moral center, where he falls in love with
Annemarie von Hartman (Romy Schneider) who does
not know he is a priest. But Steven returns to his
love of God, leaving Anna to marry a resistance
fighter during WWII, who, unfortunately, is
discovered and jumps out a third story window to
his death. From there, Steven barely escapes Nazi
persecution to return once again home to his
family.
Warner delivers another wonderful transfer. Though
the colors have dated somewhat, this 1963 classic
sparkles in a nicely balanced transfer. Over all,
colors are vibrant. Blacks are deep. Contrast and
shadow levels are fully realized. There appears to
be little in the way of age-related artifacts.
Digital anomalies are equally absent. The audio is
5.1 and captures the essence of early stereo
recording.
Extras include the masterful feature length
documentary on Otto Preminger, a featurette of the
same vintage as the film and a theatrical trailer.
"The Cardinal" is an unusual religious epic;
legitimate and introspective, bold and
magnificent. It is a film of great emotional power
and quiet, graceful elegance. |
