The Scarlet and the Black

• Director: Jerry London
• AMG Rating:
• Genre: War
• Movie Type: War Drama, Docudrama
• Themes: Assumed Identities, Fighting the System
• Main Cast: Gregory Peck
• Release Year: 1983
• Country: IT/US
• Run Time: 145 minutes

Plot

Gregory Peck had made scattered television appearances before, but the 3-hour Scarlet and the Black was his first starring assignment in a made-for-TV movie. Peck plays Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty, a real-life cleric who, during World War II, rescued thousands of escaped POWs from the Gestapo. Christopher Plummer co-stars as the Rome-based SS official who tries to catch O'Flaherty in the act. The film won several industry and religious awards, and earned three Emmy nominations. Based on J. P. Gallagher's book The Scarlet Pimpernel in the Vatican, The Scarlet and the Black premiered on February 2, 1983. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Review

Nazi jackboots echo in the Vatican as Hitler's henchmen try to find out who has been smuggling Jews and English soldiers out of Rome. And the game is on in this unheralded 1983 thriller based on a true story. The film pits Irish priest Msgr. Hugh O'Flaherty (Gregory Peck) against Rome's Gestapo chief Lt. Col. Herbert Kappler (Christopher Plummer). Peck plays the priest as a wily and witty man of conscience who is as quick with his fists and tongue as he is with his elusive feet. He is a kind of Scarlet Pimpernel. Disguised as a street vendor, a nun, or even a German officer, he steals past Kappler's men again and again. Viewers may shout huzzas at the success of one of O'Flaherty's stratagems. Early on in the film, he and Kappler run into each other while leaving an opera house. After they exchange pleasantries -- O'Flaherty's have subtle double meanings, the second ones insulting -- the priest asks Kappler to autograph an opera program. Flattered, Kappler obliges. Later O'Flaherty uses the autograph to forge Kappler's signature on a document ordering the release of a prisoner. Plummer is excellent as Kappler, who is under pressure from Hitler himself to subjugate Rome and counter subversive activity. At home, he is a loving father and husband. At work, he is a ruthless. On occasion, guilt pricks his conscience. (Sir John Gielgud) portrays Pope Pius XII as a man of dignity, humanity, and ambiguity. Clearly, in its sympathetic presentation of Pius, the film is on the pope's side. It does not shrink from drawing attention to his controversial policy of appeasement with the Nazis. While viewing this film, be sure to watch until the epilogue appears. ~ Mike Cummings, All Movie Guide

Cast

Barbara Bouchet - Minna Kappler; Kenneth Colley - Captain Hirsch; John Gielgud - Pope Pius XII; Walter Gotell - Max Helm; Julian Holloway - Alfred West; Angelo Infanti; Olga Karlatos; T.P. McKenna; Gregory Peck - Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty; Christopher Plummer - Colonel Herbert Kappler; Fabiana Udenio; Raf Vallone - Father Vittorio; Edmund Purdom

Credit

Jerry London - Director, Benjamin A. Weissman - Editor, Ennio Morricone - Composer (Music Score), Pier Luigi Basile - Production Designer, John Stoll - Production Designer, Giuseppe Rotunno - Cinematographer, Bill McCutchen - Producer, David Butler - Screenwriter, J.P. Gallagher - Book Author

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