The Cardinal
Encyclopedia
The Cardinal is a 1963 film which was produced independently and directed by Otto Preminger
, and distributed by Columbia Pictures
. The screenplay
was written by Robert Dozier, based on the novel
by Henry Morton Robinson
.
The Cardinal cast featured Tom Tryon
, Romy Schneider
and John Huston
. It was nominated for six Academy Awards
.
The film was shot on location
in Boston, Rome and Vienna; the music score was written by Jerome Moross
. The Cardinal featured the final appearance by veteran film star Dorothy Gish
.
Robinson's original 1950 novel was based on the life of Cardinal
Francis Spellman, who was then archbishop
of New York. The Vatican
's liaison officer for the film was Joseph Ratzinger, later to become Pope Benedict XVI
.
priest
, Stephen Fermoyle, played by Tom Tryon
, from his ordination
in 1917 to his appointment as a cardinal on the eve of World War II
. Fermoyle goes through one crisis after another, first in his own family and then as he climbs up the ladder of the church hierarchy back in his Boston parish
and later in Rome within the Vatican
. The film touches on various social issues such as interfaith marriage, sex outside of marriage, abortion
, racial bigotry
, the rise of fascism
, and war.
.The only other films to have done this are East of Eden and Spartacus
. Preminger was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director; John Huston
was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
and won the Golden Globe. Huston's role as Cardinal Glennon was his official debut as an actor although he had previously played bit roles in several films including his own The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
. Other Academy Awards nominations were for Best Cinematography
(Leon Shamroy
), Best Art Direction
(Lyle R. Wheeler
and set decorator Gene Callahan
), Best Costume Design (Donald Brooks
), and Best Film Editing (Louis R. Loeffler
).
Otto Preminger
Otto Ludwig Preminger was an Austro–Hungarian-American theatre and film director.After moving from the theatre to Hollywood, he directed over 35 feature films in a five-decade career. He rose to prominence for stylish film noir mysteries such as Laura and Fallen Angel...
, and distributed by Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
. The screenplay
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
was written by Robert Dozier, based on the novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
by Henry Morton Robinson
Henry Morton Robinson
Henry Morton Robinson was an American novelist, best known for A Skeleton Key to Finnegans Wake written with Joseph Campbell and his 1950 novel The Cardinal, which Time magazine reported was "The year's most popular book, fiction or nonfiction."-Biography:Robinson was born in Boston and graduated...
.
The Cardinal cast featured Tom Tryon
Tom Tryon
Tom Tryon was an American film and television actor, best known for playing the title role in the film The Cardinal and the Walt Disney television character Texas John Slaughter...
, Romy Schneider
Romy Schneider
Romy Schneider was an Austrian-born German film actress who also held French citizenship.-Early life:Schneider was born Rosemarie Magdalena Albach in Nazi-era Vienna, six months after the Anschluss, into a family of actors that included her paternal grandmother Rosa Albach-Retty, her Austrian...
and John Huston
John Huston
John Marcellus Huston was an American film director, screenwriter and actor. He wrote most of the 37 feature films he directed, many of which are today considered classics: The Maltese Falcon , The Treasure of the Sierra Madre , Key Largo , The Asphalt Jungle , The African Queen , Moulin Rouge...
. It was nominated for six Academy Awards
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
.
The film was shot on location
Location shooting
Location shooting is the practice of filming in an actual setting rather than on a sound stage or back lot. In filmmaking a location is any place where a film crew will be filming actors and recording their dialog. A location where dialog is not recorded may be considered as a second unit...
in Boston, Rome and Vienna; the music score was written by Jerome Moross
Jerome Moross
Jerome Moross was an American-born composer for the stage, and a composer, conductor and orchestrator for motion pictures.-Biography:...
. The Cardinal featured the final appearance by veteran film star Dorothy Gish
Dorothy Gish
Dorothy Elizabeth Gish was an American actress, and the younger sister of actress Lillian Gish.-Early life:...
.
Robinson's original 1950 novel was based on the life of Cardinal
Cardinal (Catholicism)
A cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official, usually an ordained bishop, and ecclesiastical prince of the Catholic Church. They are collectively known as the College of Cardinals, which as a body elects a new pope. The duties of the cardinals include attending the meetings of the College and...
Francis Spellman, who was then archbishop
Archbishop
An archbishop is a bishop of higher rank, but not of higher sacramental order above that of the three orders of deacon, priest , and bishop...
of New York. The Vatican
Vatican City
Vatican City , or Vatican City State, in Italian officially Stato della Città del Vaticano , which translates literally as State of the City of the Vatican, is a landlocked sovereign city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, Italy. It has an area of...
's liaison officer for the film was Joseph Ratzinger, later to become Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI
Benedict XVI is the 265th and current Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the Sovereign of the Vatican City State and the leader of the Catholic Church as well as the other 22 sui iuris Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the Holy See...
.
Plot
The film shows the life of a fictional Irish CatholicIrish Catholic
Irish Catholic is a term used to describe people who are both Roman Catholic and Irish .Note: the term is not used to describe a variant of Catholicism. More particularly, it is not a separate creed or sect in the sense that "Anglo-Catholic", "Old Catholic", "Eastern Orthodox Catholic" might be...
priest
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
, Stephen Fermoyle, played by Tom Tryon
Tom Tryon
Tom Tryon was an American film and television actor, best known for playing the title role in the film The Cardinal and the Walt Disney television character Texas John Slaughter...
, from his ordination
Ordination
In general religious use, ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart as clergy to perform various religious rites and ceremonies. The process and ceremonies of ordination itself varies by religion and denomination. One who is in preparation for, or who is...
in 1917 to his appointment as a cardinal on the eve of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Fermoyle goes through one crisis after another, first in his own family and then as he climbs up the ladder of the church hierarchy back in his Boston parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
and later in Rome within the Vatican
Roman Curia
The Roman Curia is the administrative apparatus of the Holy See and the central governing body of the entire Catholic Church, together with the Pope...
. The film touches on various social issues such as interfaith marriage, sex outside of marriage, abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
, racial bigotry
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
, the rise of fascism
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
, and war.
Cast
- Tom TryonTom TryonTom Tryon was an American film and television actor, best known for playing the title role in the film The Cardinal and the Walt Disney television character Texas John Slaughter...
as Stephen Fermoyle - Carol LynleyCarol LynleyCarol Lynley is an American actress and former child model.-Life and career:Lynley was born Carole Ann Jones in New York City, the daughter of Frances , a waitress, and Cyril Jones. Her father was Irish and her mother, a native of New England, was of English, Scottish, Welsh, German, and Native...
as Mona Fermoyle / Regina Fermoyle - Dorothy GishDorothy GishDorothy Elizabeth Gish was an American actress, and the younger sister of actress Lillian Gish.-Early life:...
as Celia Fermoyle - Maggie McNamaraMaggie McNamaraMarguerite "Maggie" McNamara was an American stage, film, and television actress.-Early life:Born in New York City, McNamara was one of four children born to Irish American parents. Her mother was born in England to Irish parents. She attended Textile High School in New York and worked as a teen...
as Florrie Fermoyle - Bill Hayes as Frank Fermoyle
- Cameron Prud'Homme as Din Fermoyle
- Romy SchneiderRomy SchneiderRomy Schneider was an Austrian-born German film actress who also held French citizenship.-Early life:Schneider was born Rosemarie Magdalena Albach in Nazi-era Vienna, six months after the Anschluss, into a family of actors that included her paternal grandmother Rosa Albach-Retty, her Austrian...
as Annemarie von Hartman - Cecil KellawayCecil KellawayCecil Lauriston Kellaway was a South African-born character actor.Cecil Kellaway spent many years as an actor, author, and director in the Australian film industry until he tried his luck in Hollywood in the 1930s. Finding he could get only gangster bit parts, he got discouraged and returned to...
as Monsignor Monaghan - Loring SmithLoring SmithLoring B. Smith the Great was an American stage, film, radio and television actor, frequently of broadly comic and gregarious characters who enjoyed a 65-year career in every aspect of the entertainment business....
as Cornelius J. Deegan - John SaxonJohn Saxon (actor)John Saxon is an American actor who has worked on over 200 projects during the span of sixty years. Saxon is most known for his work in horror films such as A Nightmare on Elm Street and Black Christmas, both of which feature Saxon as a policeman in search of the killer...
as Benny Rampell - James Hickman as Father Lyons
- Berenice Gahm as Mrs Rampell
- John HustonJohn HustonJohn Marcellus Huston was an American film director, screenwriter and actor. He wrote most of the 37 feature films he directed, many of which are today considered classics: The Maltese Falcon , The Treasure of the Sierra Madre , Key Largo , The Asphalt Jungle , The African Queen , Moulin Rouge...
as Cardinal Glennon - Jose Duvall (as Jose Duval) as Ramon Gongaro
- Peter MacLean as Father Callahan
- Robert MorseRobert MorseRobert Morse is an American actor and singer. Morse is best known for his appearances in musicals and plays on Broadway. He has also acted in movies and television shows. His best known role is that of J. Pierrepont Finch in the 1961 Broadway musical, and 1967 film How to Succeed in Business...
as Bobby and His Adora-Belles - Burgess MeredithBurgess MeredithOliver Burgess Meredith , known professionally as Burgess Meredith, was an American actor in theatre, film, and television, who also worked as a director...
as Father Ned Halley - Josef MeinradJosef MeinradJosef Meinrad was an Austrian actor.Josef Meinrad was born Josef Moučka in Vienna, as the fourth and youngest child of the tramdriver Franz Moučka and his second wife Katharina. For his secondary education, he received a scholarship in a school run by Redemptorists in Katzelsdorf near Wiener...
as Cardinal Innitzer - Erik FreyErik FreyErik Frey was an Austrian film actor. He appeared in over 110 films between 1936 and 1988.He was born and died in Vienna, Austria.-Selected filmography:* Eroica * 1...
as Seyss-InquartArthur Seyss-InquartArthur Seyss-Inquart was a Chancellor of Austria, lawyer and later Nazi official in pre-Anschluss Austria, the Third Reich and for wartime Germany in Poland and the Netherlands... - Wolfgang PreissWolfgang PreissWolfgang Preiss was a German theatre, film and television actor.The son of a teacher, in the early 1930s Preiss studied philosophy, German and drama. He also took private acting classes with Hans Schlenck, making his stage début in Munich in 1932...
as SSSchutzstaffelThe Schutzstaffel |Sig runes]]) was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Built upon the Nazi ideology, the SS under Heinrich Himmler's command was responsible for many of the crimes against humanity during World War II...
major - Jill HaworthJill HaworthValerie Jill Haworth was an English actress.Haworth was born in Sussex, to a textile magnate father and a mother who trained as a ballet dancer ....
as Lalage Menton
Awards
The film won the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture Drama, marking the last time a film won that category without later being nominated for the Academy Award for Best PictureAcademy Award for Best Picture
The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only...
.The only other films to have done this are East of Eden and Spartacus
Spartacus (film)
Spartacus is a 1960 American epic historical drama film directed by Stanley Kubrick and based on the novel of the same name by Howard Fast...
. Preminger was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director; John Huston
John Huston
John Marcellus Huston was an American film director, screenwriter and actor. He wrote most of the 37 feature films he directed, many of which are today considered classics: The Maltese Falcon , The Treasure of the Sierra Madre , Key Largo , The Asphalt Jungle , The African Queen , Moulin Rouge...
was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
and won the Golden Globe. Huston's role as Cardinal Glennon was his official debut as an actor although he had previously played bit roles in several films including his own The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (film)
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre is a 1948 American film written and directed by John Huston, a feature film adaptation of B. Traven's 1927 novel of the same name, in which two Americans Fred C. Dobbs and Bob Curtin during the 1920s in Mexico join with an old-timer, Howard , to prospect for gold...
. Other Academy Awards nominations were for Best Cinematography
Academy Award for Best Cinematography
The Academy Award for Best Cinematography is an Academy Award awarded each year to a cinematographer for work in one particular motion picture.-History:...
(Leon Shamroy
Leon Shamroy
Leon Shamroy, A.S.C. was an American film cinematographer. Together with Charles Lang, he holds the record for most number of Academy Award nominations for Cinematography...
), Best Art Direction
Academy Award for Best Art Direction
The Academy Awards are the oldest awards ceremony for achievements in motion pictures. The Academy Award for Best Art Direction recognizes achievement in art direction on a film. The films below are listed with their production year, so the Oscar 2000 for best art direction went to a film from 1999...
(Lyle R. Wheeler
Lyle R. Wheeler
Lyle Reynolds Wheeler, , was an Academy Award-winning American motion picture art director....
and set decorator Gene Callahan
Gene Callahan (production designer)
Gene Callahan was an American art director as well as set and production designer who contributed to over fifty films and more than a thousand TV episodes. He received nominations for the British Academy Film Award and four Oscars, including two wins .A native of Louisiana, Eugene F...
), Best Costume Design (Donald Brooks
Donald Brooks
Donald Brooks was an American fashion designer. Though he was very successful, if not as famous as some of his contemporaries, his passion was his work for the stage and film, designing over 3500 costumes...
), and Best Film Editing (Louis R. Loeffler
Louis R. Loeffler
Louis R. Loeffler was an American film editor. Through his five-decade career, he worked on over one hundred films, including In Old Arizona , In the Meantime, Darling , Laura , The Iron Curtain , How to Marry a Millionaire , River of No Return , and Anatomy of a Murder...
).