Tom Tryon plays an idealistic Irish-American priest in pre-World War II Boston who works his way up to Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church. Adaptation of Henry Morton Robinson's book becomes a woefully uneven melodrama directed by Otto Preminger, who seems to have an understanding of the material but who hasn't enlisted the faith of his large cast. Tryon, looking like a deer caught in the headlights of this mammoth actors' vehicle, is truly awful, but one is more apt to blame Preminger than Tryon (who has been capable in other pictures). Supporting cast (particularly Carol Lynley, John Huston, and Burgess Meredith) fares somewhat better, and the movie looks burnished and handsome, but it just isn't compelling; instead, it's overlong and under-nourished. ** from ****
Review of The Cardinal
