I love this movie! I love every foot, every minute, and every second of it! When I first saw this movie I was a practicing Mormon, and now that I am of the Catholic Faith, I love this movie even more than ever. There is a rumor about this movie that it was loosely based on the life of Cardinal Spellman. Was it? Could be, but I haven't found proof, but now that it has been completely restored on Video and in Wide-Screen; what a pleasurable experience, and what a cast. Perfection! And of course, even though briefly in the film, John Huston, as usual is the scene stealer, but when you watch it, I think that the reason this movie is so enjoyable is that not only does everyone look like they love being in the film, they all look like each one of them is trying to steal the scenes from one another and that just makes the film more enjoyable. In the book "The Hustons" John Huston was suppose to have told Preminger to watch himself when directing Tom Tyron because Tyron was a very nervous person and he was not to scream at him in any way, and the first thing that Preminger did, after hearing this, was to walk in back of Tryon and scream at him which sent him almost into having a nervous breakdown right there on the set. This was Tom Tryons last movie assignment and it could well be because of Premingers attitude toward him. Nevertheless, Tryon went on to become a very successful author and if it wasn't for him, we wouldn't have "The Dark Secret of Harvest Home" in which when it was filmed for television, we were to enjoy Bette Davis playing Widda, but back to The Cardinal, if anyone asks if this movie was the movie that made me convert from Mormonism to Cathocism; the answer is no. It was "The Sound of Music", although later, I was disappointed to find out that Mary Poppins was a Protestant!
Review of The Cardinal
