Vatican efforts, led by Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty, to save Allied P.O.W.s and downed Allied airmen as the Nazis invade Rome.Vatican efforts, led by Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty, to save Allied P.O.W.s and downed Allied airmen as the Nazis invade Rome.Vatican efforts, led by Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty, to save Allied P.O.W.s and downed Allied airmen as the Nazis invade Rome.
- Won 1 Primetime Emmy
- 1 win & 2 nominations total
- Pope Pius XII
- (as Sir John Gielgud)
- Capt. Hirsch
- (as Ken Colley)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaWhile serving his sentence in prison, Herbert Kappler divorced his first wife and married his nurse, Anneliese, in 1972. In 1975, he was diagnosed with cancer. As the authorities refused to release him, in 1977, Anneliese carried Kappler out of prison in a large suitcase (he weighed less than one hundred five pounds at the time). They escaped to West Germany, where Kappler died six months later.
- GoofsIn at least four scenes, Herbert Kappler wears a black SS parade tunic instead of his usual office gray uniform. By 1943, when the film is set, the SS had completely phased the black SS tunic out of service and this uniform would not have been worn at even the most formal of functions.
- Quotes
Col. Herbert Kappler: You're alone?
Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty: I am.
Col. Herbert Kappler: Not afraid I'll shoot you?
Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty: No. If you were going to kill me, your man would have already done it in my room.
Col. Herbert Kappler: That is so.
[pause]
Col. Herbert Kappler: But believe me, at this moment, nothing would give me greater pleasure.
Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty: Well, when it comes down to it, a bullet's your answer to just about everything, isn't it? The only argument you've got.
- Alternate versionsAn edited version of approximately 110 minutes (120 minutes when broadcast with adverts) is sometimes shown on TV in the UK.
- ConnectionsReferences Massacre in Rome (1973)
- SoundtracksLa Boheme
Composed by Giacomo Puccini
Although Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty, an Irish national attached to the Vatican staff, was providing aid to refugees of all kinds from the Nazis before, this film covers a period between September of 1943 and June 5, 1944 when Mark Clark and the Fifth American Army liberated Rome.
Gregory Peck plays the resourceful monsignor who's got a whole bag of tricks from the land of leprechauns to outwit the Nazis. He develops quite a network of people who house escaped prisoners. When Italy threw out Mussolini and switched sides in World War II, a whole lot of Allied prisoners were freed and roaming the countryside. You might remember the novel and film Von Ryan's Express which detailed that phenomenon. The word got out if you could make your way to the Vatican, Monsignor O'Flaherty could help.
What I like about The Scarlet and the Black is the fact that Peck's chief antagonist Christopher Plummer is shown as a three dimensional character. We see him as the ruthless Nazi who dogs Peck and his operation every step of the way. We also see him as father and husband who's enjoying Christmas in Rome with his family and also acting like any other tourist taking the family to see the sights of the Eternal City.
Peck and Plummer are a pair of well matched antagonists. Presiding over it all is John Gielgud as Pius XII. The criticisms I have of Pius occur before he reached the Papacy in 1939. At the point in time that The Scarlet and Black is taking place, there was very little he or anyone else as Pope could have done. He feared, probably with good reason, an Avignon captivity situation for the Papacy if he appeared to be overtly pro-Ally. And of course the Soviet Union which was his big fear was an Ally.
I would recommend watching this film about a good man who happened to be a priest who stepped up to the plate when no one would and fulfilled a great need. A whole lot of lives were saved because of him.
- bkoganbing
- Mar 30, 2006
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