A Latino favorite: The Shoes of the Fisherman (1968) starring Anthony Quinn, Won 2 Oscars
By Elia Esparza
Pope Benedict stunned the Roman Catholic Church on Monday when he announced he would stand down, the first pope to do so in 700 years, saying he no longer had the mental and physical strength to carry on. That got me thinking about the best Catholic/Christian films of all time and began digging in the archives.
Maybe while Vatican church officials try to relay a climate of calm confidence in the running of a 2,000 year-old institution, maybe you will enjoy pulling the family together and watch some of the following classics:
(List is in order based on IMDB.com star ratings)
The Passion of the Christ (2004) Director: Mel Gibson, Stars: Jim Caviezel, Maia Morgenstern Worldwide Gross: $604M (all time highest grossing inspirational movie)
The Song of Bernadette (1943) Director: Henry King, Stars: Jennifer Jones, Vincent Price Budget: $2M (Estimated), won 4 Oscars
The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima(1952) Director: John Brahm, Stars: Gilbert Roland, Angela Clarke, Frank Silvera USA Gross: $3M
A Man for All Seasons (1966)
Director: Fred Zinnemann, Stars:Paul Scofield, Wendy Hiller, Robert Shaw Budget: $2M (Estimated), USA Gross: $12.8M Won 6 Oscars
The Agony and the Ecstasy (1965) Director: Carol Reed, Stars: Charlton Heston, Res Harrison Diane Cilento Budget: $10M, Worldwide Gross: $8.2M
Joan of Arc (1948) Director: Victor Fleming, Stars: Ingrid Bergman, Jose Ferrer, Francis L. Sullivan USA Gross: $4.1M Won 2 Oscars
The Scarlet and the Black (1983 CBS TV Movie) Director: Jerry London, Stars: Gregory Peck, Christopher Plummer, John Gielgud Won 1 EMMY
Ben Hur (1959) Director: William Wyler, Stars: Charlton Heston, Jack Hawkins, Stephen Boyd, Haya Harareet Budget: $15.9 (Estimated) USA Gross: $70M Won 11 Oscars
The Ten Commandments (1956) Director: Cecil B. de Mille, Stars: Charlton Heston, Yul Brynner, Anne Baxter, Edward G. Robinson Budget: $13.3M USA Gross: $80M Won 1 Oscar, received 6 other Oscar nominations
Come To The Stable (1949) Director: Henry Koster, Stars: Loretta Young, Celeste Holm, Hugh Marlowe, Elsa Lanchester USA Gross: $3M 7 Oscar nominations
The Miracle of Marcelino (1955/Spain) Director: Ladislao Vajda, Stars: Rafael Rivelles, Antonio Vico, Juan Calvo, Jose Marco Davo Cannes Film Festival winner that year
Quo Vadis (1951) Director: Mervyn LeRoy, Stars: Robert Taylor, Deborah Kerr, Leo Genn, Peter Ustinov Budget: $7.6M (Estimated) USA Gross: $12.5M 8 Oscar nominations
Barabbas (1961) Director: Richard Fleischer, Stars: Anthony Quinn, Silvana Mangano, Arthur Kennedy, Katy Jurado
The Bells of St. Mary’s (1945) Director: Leo McCarey, Stars: Bing Crosby, Ingrid Bergman, Henry Travers, William Gargan USA Gross: $21.3M 1 Oscar won, 7 other Oscar nominations
I Confess (1953) Director: Alfred Hitchcock, Stars: Montgomery Clift, Anne Baxter, Karl Malden
The Keys of the Kingdom Director: John M. Stahl, Stars: Gregory Peck, Thomas Mitchell, Vincent Price, Rose Stradner Budget: $3M 4 Oscar nominations
Dolores Hart and Bradford Dillman
Francis of Assisi (1961) Director: Michael Curtiz, Stars: Bradford Dillman, Dolores Hart, Stuart Whitman, Cecil Kellaway Budget: $5M (Estimated) USA Gross: $36M Won 2 Oscars and Dolores Hart eventually left acting to become a nun.
The Robe (1953) Director: Henry Koster, Stars: Richard Burton, Jean Simmons, Victor Mature, Michael Rennie Budget: $5M (Estimated) USA Gross: $36M Won 2 Oscars
Captain from Castile (1947) Director: Henry King, Stars: Tyrone Power, Jean Peters, Cesar Romero, Lee J. Cobb Budget: $4.5M USA Gross: $3.7 Nominated for Oscar
Therese: The story of Saint Therese of Lisieux (2004) Director: Leonardo Defilippis, Stars: Lindsay Younce, Leonardo Defilippis, Maggie Rose Fleck, Susan Funk USA Opening Weekend: $357K USA Gross: $2.61M
Conflict (1973) Director: Jack Gold, Stars: Trevor Howard, Martin Sheen, Raf Vallone Post Vatican II Catholic drama about changing the Latin Mass
Saintly Sinners (1962) Director: Jean Yarbrough, Stars: Don Beddoe, Ellen Corby, Stanley Clements, Paul Bryar A comedy about sin
Monsieur Vincent (1947) Director: Maurice Cloche, Stars: Pierre Fresnay, Aime Clariond, Jean Debucourt, Lise Delamare Won a Golden Globe
Reluctant Saint (1962) Director: Edward Dmytryk, Stars: Maximilian Schell, Ricardo Montalban, Lea Padovani, Akim Tamiroff Our beloved Ricardo Montalban is in this film
Prince of Foxes (1949) Director: Henry King, Stars: Tyrone Power, Orson Welles, Wanda Hendrix, Marina Berti 2 Oscar nominations
The Prisoner (1955) Director: Peter Glenville, Stars: Alec Guinness, Jack Hawkins, Wilfrid Lawson, Kenneth Griffith
The Detective (1954) Director: Robert Hamer, Stars: Alec Guinnes, Joan Greenwood, Peter Finch, Cecil Parker
Most of these films can be rented on Netflix or purchased at Amazon.com. Which one is your all time favorite?
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