Posted on 10/10/2011 12:23:55 PM PDT by NYer
There have been many movies that have priests as important characters. There are movies about saints and some of them are awesome. But my post today is about priests as characters, as men involved in a story. I was watching the excellent Tom Wilkinson as Father Moore in “The Exorcism of Emily Rose” the other day on cable. It got me to thinking about some of my favorite priests as characters and also some of my least favorite.
So for discussion purposes, I thought I would get into the who’s and whys. After all, what is a Catholic blog for if not discussing movie priests. On with it.
Let’s just get this one out of the way. Max Von Awesome (aka Sydow) as Father Merrin in the Exorcist. Max played Merrin perfectly. He flawlessly embodied Merrin with reluctance, resolution, and resignation. He knew he would likely die in this exorcism, but he went ahead with it. He conveys an aged and long earned wisdom that is doubly remarkable considering he was only 44 at the time. Max has the dubious honor of being tops on my list of the creepiest movie Jesuses, But for Merrin, Max was perfect.
This bring up a point. I like to see men cast as priests portraying priests as men. Not crazy macho or anything silly like that, just men. A couple of examples.
Pat O’Brien in “Angels with Dirty Faces.” Karl Malden in “On the Waterfront” and Ward Bond in “The Quiet Man” These were some of the manliest actors of their time. The frequently portrayed characters that were tough but with hearts of gold and that’s what we got from their priest portrayals. I wish we would see more of this in the movies.
(Excerpt) Read more at ncregister.com ...
He may play an Anglican. I think he was married to Hope Lang is the movie. Anglicans are very close to Catholics (although I’ll probably be corrected on that one!)
On the “worst” list you can add Gene Hackman in “The Posiden Adventure”.
He was married to Pippa Scott.
Oh, I’ll say it. You guys just love her because she’s kinda easy, right? I never really got her allure but some men just go crazy for her. She’s outta control in that movie! It’s somewhat based on Madame Bovary, if I recall.
I had a crush on Christopher Jones in that movie. He turned into a hippy freak in reality but he’s lovely in the film.
I think we BOTH better view this movie again!
Karl Malden as Father Barry in "On the Waterfront"
Some people think the Crucifixion only took place on Calvary. They better wise up. Taking Joey Doyle’s life to stop him from testifying is a crucifixion. And droppin’ a sling on Kayo Dugan because he was ready to spill his guts tomorrow – that’s a crucifixion! And every time the mob puts the crusher on a good man, tries to stop him from doing his duty as a citizen – it’s a crucifixion. And anybody who sits around and lets it happen, keeps silent about something he knows has happened, shares the guilt of it just as much as the Roman soldier who pierced the flesh of Our Lord to see if He was dead. Boys, this is my church! And if you don’t think Christ is down here on the waterfront, you’ve got another guess coming! Every morning when the hiring boss blows his whistle, Jesus stands alongside you in the shape up. He sees why some of you get picked and some of you get passed over. He sees the family men worrying about gettin’ the rent and gettin’ food in the house for the wife and the kids. He sees you sellin’ your souls to the mob for a day’s pay and what does Christ think of the easy-money boys who do none of the work and take all of the gravy? And how does he feel about the fellows who wear a hundred-and-fifty dollar suits and diamond rings, on your union dues and your kickback money? And how does He, who spoke up without fear against every evil, feel about your silence?… You want to know what’s wrong with our waterfront? It’s the love of a lousy buck. It’s makin’ the love of the lousy buck, the cushy job, more important than the love of man! It’s forgettin’ that every fellow down here is your brother in Christ! But remember, Christ is always with you. Christ is in the shape up. He’s in the hatch. He’s in the union hall. He’s kneeling right here beside Dugan. And He’s sayin’ with all of you, if you do it to the least of mine, you do it to me! And what they did to Joey, and what they did to Dugan, they’re doin’ to you. And you. You. All of you! And only you, only you with God’s help, have the power to knock ‘em out for good.
Charles Bickford in THE SONG OF BERNADETTE.
Lothaire Bluteau in BLACKROBE.
Barry Fitzgerald seeing his mother again, at the end of Going My Way
Ward Bond as the village priest narrating the story The Quiet Man.
worst priest ever: poltergeist 2
Tom Conti in “Saving Grace.”
Brilliant performance; brilliant actor. Budd Schulburg based him on a real priest, I believe.
He doesn’t play a priest in “Pollyanna” but he does play a minister. He’s brilliant in that film, too.
Bing Crosby “Going my Way” and “ The Bells of St. Marys”
I also like the suggestion of Spencer Tracy in “Boy’s Town.” Especially when he punches out Mickey Rooney’s lights.
Bing and Barry are two of my favorites. While I can’t recall the gentleman’s name, this has one of my faves, too:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDp5OovmNEA
Hill Number One, which also has the debut of one James Dean, and is on archive.org, since it’s public domain.
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