The Scarlet and the Black

Director: Jerry London Jerry London

Overview

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.

Product Details

Release Date:	01/21/2014
UPC:	0011301693365
Original Release:	1983
Rating:	NR
Source:	STUDIO DISTRIBUTION SERVS LLC
Region Code:	1
Language:	English
Time:	2:18:00
Sales rank:	12,627

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

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

Technical Credits

J.P. Gallagher

David Butler

Jerry London	Director
J.P. Gallagher	Screenwriter
David Butler	Screenwriter
Bill McCutchen	Producer

Editorial Reviews

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.