As it is, this tv movie is two and a half hours, but it could have easily been stretched out and doubled its running time. The Scarlet and the Black is such a fascinating story, and it's also based on a true one. The end of the movie is not the end of the true story, and if you look up the facts afterwards, you'll wish the movie continued documenting the remaining decades of what happened! But no spoilers here, don't worry.Bless his heart, but Gregory Peck just can't do accents. He plays an Irish priest, but you'll just have to forgive him his terrible attempt at an Irish accent; if you don't, you might not make it through the movie. Everything else in the film is fantastic, though, so I recommend you forgive him. His character is an active participant in the Italian Resistance in Nazi-occupied Rome. He smuggles refugees and prisoners of war out, but since he's such a big-wig in the religious community, Christopher Plummer, a big-wig in the Nazi community, can't arrest him. The film shows their struggle to outsmart each other, and the risks Greg takes to save lives, even when risking his own.My favorite scene in the film is so tense, I found myself actually nibbling on my fingernail until the scene was over. Christopher Plummer has threatened Gregory Peck with arrest should he cross a painted line on the street outside the Vatican. Chris stands in a neighboring window, watching, as Greg approaches the line. He aims a gun at Greg, and as Greg looks up and sees his nemesis, he maintains his eye contact as he paces back and forth parallel to the line, occasionally swinging his leg over the line to call Chris's bluff. It's a fantastic scene and a perfect representation of the rest of the film. Both leads-despite Greg's lack of accent-are wonderful. Up until recently, I haven't appreciated Christopher Plummer's acting talents, and this is one of the movies that helped me cross over. He's really wonderful in the role, extremely averse but somewhat amused and even admiring of Greg's tenacity, and strict but fearful for his family. I keep waiting for a remake of this movie, starring Tom Hanks and Christoph Waltz. Even if the remake started when this movie ended, there would be plenty of fascinating material to create an irresistible film. Until Hollywood decides to make a modern reboot, watch the original. It's really very good, and you can see a very handsome Christopher Plummer in his prime.

Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty was a priest and high-ranking official of the Vatican Curia who, along with an underground network he supervised, helped save the lives of thousands of refugees, Jews, and POW's from the Nazis when they occupied Rome from 1943-1944. O'Flaherty's heroism has been somewhat eclipsed, partly because history has shown much ambivalence and controversy towards the decisions of the Vatican's leader of the time, Pope Puis XII. Hugh O'Flaherty was one of the great heroes who fought against the Nazis, as important as any of the leaders of the Resistance in France. "The Scarlet and the Black" is a fitting portrayal and tribute to the man some called the "Scarlet Pimpernel of the Vatican". The film centers around how O'Flaherty undermined the Nazi occupation in Rome with deception, charisma, and even a little bit of wit, in order to save the lives of those labeled as enemies of the Reich.The film is outstanding primarily because of the two leads, Gregory Peck as O'Flaherty and Christopher Plummer as his nemesis, Colonel Herbert Kappler, who was charged with "maintaining order in the city", which included the deportation of Italian Jews to slave and death camps. (Apparently, Hitler included Italian Jews in his "final solution".) Both actors play their parts with enough subtlety and deftness that we never feel the movie is trying to make an overt propaganda statement. Instead, the filmmakers allowed the setting and actors tell their story without pushing a message, allowing viewers to draw their own conclusions, which is, in the end, a far more compelling statement. O'Flaherty is not entirely idealized, as he comes off stubborn, quick-tempered, and self-righteous. Being of Irish decent, he does not hesitate to express his anti-British sentiments. In a similar vein, Colonel Kappler is not completely vilified. Even Kappler is allowed a few moments of tenderness, although he is determined to carry out his orders at all costs. He does rationalize the crimes he commits as simply following the will of the Fuhrer. One of the most striking scenes involves Kappler meeting his high command and explaining why his control of Rome is not complete, which shows the complexity of the Nazi high command and the enormous pressures on high-ranking officers. His superior tells him that he must report directly to Hitler.The other aspect which should not be overlooked is the fine screenplay by David Butler, based on the book "The Scarlet Pimpernel of the Vatican" by J.P. Gallagher. The film never lapses into cliché or over-the-top sentimentality, but rather opts for depicting the circumstances as true to history as much as can be expected from a feature film. The film also leaves ambiguous the "right or wrong" of the decisions made by Pope Pius XII. While some have criticized him for not denouncing the Nazis categorically during the war, he, before he became pope when he still a Cardinal, helped pen "Mit brennender Sorge" (1937), the first document by an international organization denouncing the Nazi regime. In the 1940's, Pope Pius and the Vatican embraced a policy of strict neutrality. Some in Poland felt betrayed by the Papacy while others felt it was necessary in order to save the church when Nazis imprisoned many thousands of the clergy, including monks and nuns.Overall, a thoroughly compelling World War II drama that tells a story of great heroism. Hopefully, this film helped to remind the public about other acts of great import that were done by those with no pretense to greatness. Some of these did what they did while wearing a priest's collar. As a footnote, the film imparts that when Colonel Kappler was a prisoner for war crimes after Rome's liberation from Nazi occupation, O'Flaherty visited him every month.

Remember Henry II's oblique wish about his former friend Thomas Becket which got carried out? Christopher Plummer tried more explicit methods to get rid of his meddlesome priest all without success.Although Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty, an Irish national attached to the Vatican staff, was providing aid to refugees of all kinds from the Nazis before, this film covers a period between September of 1943 and June 5, 1944 when Mark Clark and the Fifth American Army liberated Rome. Gregory Peck plays the resourceful monsignor who's got a whole bag of tricks from the land of leprechauns to outwit the Nazis. He develops quite a network of people who house escaped prisoners. When Italy threw out Mussolini and switched sides in World War II, a whole lot of Allied prisoners were freed and roaming the countryside. You might remember the novel and film Von Ryan's Express which detailed that phenomenon. The word got out if you could make your way to the Vatican, Monsignor O'Flaherty could help.What I like about The Scarlet and the Black is the fact that Peck's chief antagonist Christopher Plummer is shown as a three dimensional character. We see him as the ruthless Nazi who dogs Peck and his operation every step of the way. We also see him as father and husband who's enjoying Christmas in Rome with his family and also acting like any other tourist taking the family to see the sights of the Eternal City. Peck and Plummer are a pair of well matched antagonists. Presiding over it all is John Gielgud as Pius XII. The criticisms I have of Pius occur before he reached the Papacy in 1939. At the point in time that The Scarlet and Black is taking place, there was very little he or anyone else as Pope could have done. He feared, probably with good reason, an Avignon captivity situation for the Papacy if he appeared to be overtly pro-Ally. And of course the Soviet Union which was his big fear was an Ally.I would recommend watching this film about a good man who happened to be a priest who stepped up to the plate when no one would and fulfilled a great need. A whole lot of lives were saved because of him.

The film focuses on the dangerous situation faced by the Holy See in standing up to Nazi oppression. The Vatican, after all, has no military power and after the forcible confiscation of the Papal States by Italian nationalists during the pontificate of Pius IX near the close of the 19th century, he and at least two of his successors considered themselves as prisoners in the Vatican of the secular Italian state. Ignoring the warnings of the Popes against supranationalism in encyclicals like Non Abbiamo Biscogno and Mit Brenender Sorge, Italy and Germany persisted in pursuing social orders based on Fascism and Nazism. Yet despite the difficulties, many Catholics and religious like Msgr. Flaherty performed their Christian duties heroically by saving some of the persecuted Jews.John Gielgud makes a very convincing Pope Pius XII. Sir John aged very gracefully giving him that perpetual angelic half smile on that kind face. Contrast this to the fact that we remember him well as the blackguard Casca in Julius Caesar (with James Mason and Marlon Brando). As Pius XII, Gielgud portrays the late Pope as torn between his duty to ensure the safety of the Church and Catholics and the necessity of actively participating in rescuing the Jews of Europe lest that provoke the Nazis towards more brutalities. The recently released Actes et Documents du Saint Siege relatiffs a la Guerre Mondiale Seconde (Acts and Documents of the Holy See relative to WWII or ADSS) reveal that the Holy See saw a relation between increased persecution of both Jews and Catholics, especially the religious orders, every time Pius XII spoke against the Nazis. It also disclosed that Jewish leaders, both in and out of Nazi Germany, advised the Pope to speak and act more discreetly because of this. Gregory Peck is, as usual, dignified, likable and very convincing as a brave Catholic monsignor. An interesting political sidelight in the movie concerned Flaherty saving some British Tommies stranded behind enemy lines in Italy. One of them obviously not one fond of the Irish, upon hearing Flaherty's Celtic brogue exclaimed that he was Irish. Flaherty's response was to the effect, that he may not like what the British were doing in Ireland but it was still his Christian duty to help them. Remember, at the time Southern Ireland was still under British rule under very repressive conditions (cf. Leon Uris' book, Trinity). If you liked movies of this genre you should also see Portrait : A Man Whose Name was John which starred Raymond Burr as the Papal Nuncio in Turkey, Msgr. Roncalli, the future Pope John XXIII who used his position and his chancery to save thousands of Jews escaping from Nazi-occupied Hungary. Other Hollywood films which treated the Church kindly if not sympathetically are: The Shoes of the Fisherman (Anthony Quinn) and The Cardinal (Tom Tryon).