HotToastyRag As it is, this tv movie is two and a half hours, but it could have easily been stretched out and doubled its running time. The Scarlet and the Black is such a fascinating story, and it's also based on a true one. The end of the movie is not the end of the true story, and if you look up the facts afterwards, you'll wish the movie continued documenting the remaining decades of what happened! But no spoilers here, don't worry.Bless his heart, but Gregory Peck just can't do accents. He plays an Irish priest, but you'll just have to forgive him his terrible attempt at an Irish accent; if you don't, you might not make it through the movie. Everything else in the film is fantastic, though, so I recommend you forgive him. His character is an active participant in the Italian Resistance in Nazi-occupied Rome. He smuggles refugees and prisoners of war out, but since he's such a big-wig in the religious community, Christopher Plummer, a big-wig in the Nazi community, can't arrest him. The film shows their struggle to outsmart each other, and the risks Greg takes to save lives, even when risking his own.My favorite scene in the film is so tense, I found myself actually nibbling on my fingernail until the scene was over. Christopher Plummer has threatened Gregory Peck with arrest should he cross a painted line on the street outside the Vatican. Chris stands in a neighboring window, watching, as Greg approaches the line. He aims a gun at Greg, and as Greg looks up and sees his nemesis, he maintains his eye contact as he paces back and forth parallel to the line, occasionally swinging his leg over the line to call Chris's bluff. It's a fantastic scene and a perfect representation of the rest of the film. Both leads-despite Greg's lack of accent-are wonderful. Up until recently, I haven't appreciated Christopher Plummer's acting talents, and this is one of the movies that helped me cross over. He's really wonderful in the role, extremely averse but somewhat amused and even admiring of Greg's tenacity, and strict but fearful for his family. I keep waiting for a remake of this movie, starring Tom Hanks and Christoph Waltz. Even if the remake started when this movie ended, there would be plenty of fascinating material to create an irresistible film. Until Hollywood decides to make a modern reboot, watch the original. It's really very good, and you can see a very handsome Christopher Plummer in his prime.

Armand a remarkable artistic meeting. and picture of a dark page. a war. and a form of victories out of definition. an old delicate subject, not nice for Vatican. and an impressive performance. that is all. at first sigh. but it is not a history lesson, it is not really a show. it is only a memento. and occasion to view two extraordinary actors in skin of special characters. nothing else. but the precise art of Gregory Peck and Christopher Plummer, the presence of John Gielgut are remarkable. the tension, the story, the music are parts of delicate and touching circle of sand and blood. it is not a case but an universal story. because many fathers Hugo are present in different periods, in many places. for me, it remains a precious memory. about resistance against evil. about force of values.

merklekranz Gregory Peck as Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty and Christopher Plummer as Colonial Kappler, head of the gestapo, play a magnificent cat and mouse game, walking the thin tightrope of Vatican neutrality during the 1943 Nazi occupation of Rome. Peck and Plummer are excellent. The film gets better the longer you watch, which brings me to my major criticism of "The Scarlet and the Black". The film is about 30 minutes too long, noticeably dragging due to redundant scenes of hide and seek. Ennio Morricone's score is another issue, as it is far from memorable. The movie is entertaining and informative, but flawed by it's excessive length of 2.5 plus hours. - MERK

ma-cortes The priest Hugh O'Flaherty (Gregory Peck) turns into the rescuer of the persecuted by Nazis. The Monsignore clandestinely within the shield of the Vatican's diplomatic immunity to shelter allied military from the Gestapo Chief Herbert Kappler (Christopher Plummer) . Then O'Flaherty masquerades as nun, seller, or Nazi officer in order to outwit the German plans in occupied Rome. At the ending the scene where bad guy , Plummer, and good priest ,Peck, finally confront each other is a high point.This story is inspired on actual facts and based on the nonfiction novel titled ¨The Scarlet Pimpernel of the Vatican¨ by J.P.Gallaher. This interesting story drags in some place but is well realized and contains good cinematography by Giuseppe Rotunno and excellent musical score by Ennio Morricone. It's a lavish production by Bill McCutchen , an ITC-RAI Radiotelevisione Italiana Co-production for world distribution, well filmed by Jerry London entirely on location in Rome. The real events are the following : In the early years of World War II, O'Flaherty (Gregory Peck)toured prisoner of war camps in Italy and tried to find out about prisoners who had been reported missing in action.When Italy changed sides in 1943, thousands of British POWs were released. Some of them (John Terry), remembering visits by O'Flaherty , reached Rome and asked him for help. O'Flaherty did not wait for permission from his superiors. He recruited the help of other priests (Raf Vallone, Angelo Infanti), and a Swiss count (Vernon Dobtcheff). He also kept contact with Sir D'Arcy Osborne (Peter Burton), British Ambassador to the Vatican. O'Flaherty and his allies concealed 4,000 escapees − Allied soldiers and Jews − in flats, farms and convents. One of the hideouts was beside the local SS headquarters. O'Flaherty coordinated all this and when he was visiting outside the Vatican, he wore various disguises.The German occupiers of Rome commanded by Col. Herbert Kappler (Christopher Plummer) under orders of Reichsfuhrer Heinrich Himmler (T. P. McKenna) tried to stop him and eventually they found out that the leader of the network was a priest.His efforts put him at odds with the Pope Pius XII (John Gielgud) and SS attempts to assassinate him failed. They found out his identity, but could not arrest him inside the Vatican. When the German ambassador revealed this to O'Flaherty, he began to meet his contacts on the stairs of the St. Peter's Basilica.Several others, including priests, nuns and lay people, worked in secret with Msgr. O'Flaherty, and even hid refugees in their own private homes around Rome. Another person who contributed significantly to this operation was the Malta-born widow Chetta Chevalier (Olga Karlatos), who hid some refugees in her house with her sons (Fabiana Udenio), and was lucky to escape detection. When the Allies arrived in Rome in June 1944, 3,925 of the escapees were still alive. O'Flaherty demanded that German prisoners be treated properly as well. He took a plane to South Africa to meet Italian POWs and to Jerusalem to visit Jewish refugees. Of the 9,700 Jews in Rome, 1,007 had been shipped to Auschwitz. The rest were hidden, 5,000 of them by the official Church − 3,000 in Castel Gandolfo, 200 or 400 as "members" of the Palatine Guard and some 1,500 in monasteries, convents and colleges. The remaining 3,700 were hidden in private homes. After liberation Monsignor O'Flaherty was honored by Italy, Canada and Australia given the US medal of Freedom and made a Commander of the British Empire. Herbert Kappler was sentenced to life imprisonment for war crimes. In the long years that followed in his Italian prison, Kappler had only one visitor. Every month, year in and year out, O'Flaherty came to see him. In 1959, the former head of the dreaded Gestapo in Rome was baptized into the Catholic faith at the hand of the Irish priest.