One would have expected this film to be a magnet for the faithful but alas not enough of them paid the price of admission to enable it to emerge with a profit.
The 1960's was a decade of seismic social and political change. It also marked a change in people's viewing habits and with increasingly younger, less literate audiences, spiralling costs and the disintegration of the studio system the film industry had to adapt or die. Whatever its merits this 'blockbuster' with its intelligent script, 160-minute length and 'intermission', seems strangely anachronistic.
Good acting is timeless of course and there are performances here that are absolutely riveting.
It is the individual scenes between seasoned professionals that are so impressive, notably Anthony Quinn as Pope Kiril, Oskar Werner as Father Telemond , Laurence Olivier as Premier Kamenev and Leo McKern and Vittorio de Sica as Cardinals Leone and Rinaldi. I am not the only reviewer to regret the strange absence of inveterate scene-stealer de Sica from the second half of the film. Olivier is a great presence and looks suitably menacing behind his spectacles but his Russian accent here is no more convincing than it was in 'Demi-Paradise' twenty five years earlier. Leo Mckern's acting can be a little 'fruity' at times but he is wonderfully restrained here and really impresses in his reconciliation scene with Quinn, who gives arguably the finest of his post-Zorba performances. There are insufficient superlatives to apply to Oskar Werner who is simply stunning.
Great support from Frank Finlay, Paul Rogers and John Gielgud who prove that there are no small parts, only small actors.
David Janssen has a totally thankless role as a link man and the two women in his life simply confirm that the female of the species has a different agenda.
Needless to say the production values are excellent and the fabulous art direction reflects the fact that permission to film in the Vatican was denied.
The score by Alex North includes music from his score to '2001' which had been rejected by Stanley Kubrick.
By far the most interesting issue raised is that of the Vatican's political stance. The main objection to Pope Kiril's meeting with Premier Kamenev and Chairman Peng is that they represent Communist regimes. This calls to mind the Vatican's support for Fascism earlier in the century.
Also striking are scenes where Father Telemond, whose character is supposedly based on Darwinian Pierre de Chardin, is questioned regarding his alleged heresy. Definite shades of the Inquisition here.
Although the ending seems simplistic it does raise the inevitable question as to why there is such a massive disparity between the wealth of the Catholic Church and poverty of the majority of those it purports to represent.
