Rating: 
Summary: Sweeping, Big Budget, Soap Saga!
Review: This long, lavish epic may seem dated by today's standards, but it's a great one to watch on a rainy day. Great story, good actors....Tom Tryon and Carol Lynley are as compelling as they are gorgeous. Take a look at this one! Read the novel, too--a real education!
Rating:
Summary: Sweeping, Big Budget, Soap Saga!
Review: This long, lavish epic may seem dated by today's standards, but it's a great one to watch on a rainy day. Great story, good actors....Tom Tryon and Carol Lynley are as compelling as they are gorgeous. Take a look at this one! Read the novel, too--a real education!
Rating: 
Summary: Anti Italian
Review: This movie makes the Irish look like saints and the Italians look like pathetic idiots! The characters say "pastra" for pasta and have make the Italians out to be superstitious occult wary fools when a statue of the virgin Mary bleeds, and the blood turns out to be rust water! Whatever the merits of this film may be, I lost interest when I saw Italians so badly degraded!
Rating: 
Summary: Riveting!!!
Review: This movie was amazing. This deep and moving portrayal of a Irish American priest is honest and well done. It had profound statements and is a must see for everyone. It is a shame that this movie is un-known to most people for it is one of the best movies I have ever seen.
Rating:
Summary: Anthological film!
Review: This picture is literally overwhelming . Deep , complex and extraordinary well written , The plot is merciless and disturbing . It is about the hidden web of the power ; but it goes too far in its proposal . Tom Tyron gave the rol of his life with this performance . Unforgettable direction , and superb edition and art direction . Sublime photograph and admirable cast . What else can I say about this one hundred stars film?
One masterpiece all the way .
Rating:
Summary: It is a travesty
Review: Though Henry Morton Robinson's book, on which this film was based, is not the work of a literary giant, its themes (see my review of the novel) were valid and strong. I have no idea what Otto Preminger intended in this film, but the characters and plot of the novel are totally distorted, eliminating the very themes that gave the original merit.Stephen Fermoyle, who Robinson depicts as a dedicated and sincere priest whose downfall is a pride which it takes him many years to recognise, here is reduced to a chilly, stoic figure who seems totally remote. Though the novel also was inclined to excessive dramatics, in the film the very normal exercise of priestly ministry which gave the book some balance is all but gone. Robinson's Stephen frequently needs to confront how his meddling in others' lives has harmed them, particularly in cases where he seems to have "solved the problems" which the others presented. For example, in the book Stephen is crushed by the pain of remembering that his making his sister Mona promise to no longer see her Jewish boyfriend (because it is making the family unhappy) lead to her leaving and ultimately becoming involved with a highly shady character who abandons her during her pregnancy. In the film, since the plot was re-worked so that Mona's fiance decides to convert to Catholicism, then is insulted when Corny Deegan calls him an "honorary Irishman" and leaves Mona, the impact is lost. Rather than seeing Stephen struggle with the raw pain of his meddling, we are given the impression that he hates himself for not allowing a craniotomy on the baby. When Stephen does incorrectly assume he has solved a problem (in the book, with the penitent to whom he refuses absolution, James Splaine and Milky Lyons, to name just three other than the sister whose trust he betrayed), the book makes it clear that Stephen had been perfectly orthodox in the church teachings he presented. The honest message, that orthodoxy without pastoral sensitivity can be devastating rather than helpful, comes through. In the film, one gathers that a cold endurance test is the matter of faith. The entire climax present in the book is equally lost. Robinson's Stephen never leaves the active priesthood nor engages in any sort of love affair. His attraction to a woman (as a "would-be Lucifer" who is only absorbed in what he knows he cannot have, since he never intends to leave his priesthood) is the crucial point in the novel, where Stephen, facing all, sees how pride has dominated his life. The film's "leave of absence," and apparent consideration of marriage to a pretty student, gives the contrary view - as if he returned to the active ministry as a cold obligation. Since each scene of the film is short and much material missing, the characters have no chance of being developed. It is merely a series of puzzling, often overly dramatic vignettes, as the sphinx-like Cardinal looks on. Overall, this is one of the worst adaptations of a novel which I have seen onscreen.
Rating:
Summary: A complex, entertaining film that leaves you thinking
Review: To be sure, Otto Preminger was inconsistent (compare this with "EXODUS") but he was always interesting. THE CARDINAL is no exception. Covering 20 or so years in the life of Father Stephen Fermoyle (Tom Tryon), the film deals with issues like abortion, racism, religious conversion, degradation, and more. Fermoyle makes some wrong choices(allowing his sister to die; abruptly quitting his leave of absence), and yet you can't hate the guy; he did what he thought was right at the time, though he may regret it. The acting is excellent through and through, and the lack of really big names removes the possible artifice of a star performance. Tryon, Carol Lynley (Fermoyle's doomed sister), John Huston (the intimidating Cardinal Glennon), and Raf Vallone (Fermoyle's friend Bishop Alfeo Quarenghi) stand out, but there are no weak links. Preminger directs with a sure hand, aided by the striking visuals and Jerome Moross's beautiful music. The DVD is the roadshow 70mm 179 minute version with intermission. The bonus DVD contains an interesting documentary, a nondescript 1963 featurette, and a trailer. Jamie Teller
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