"The Cardinal," Otto Preminger Directed

I first saw this movie many years ago on television. I believe it was in the late 1960s, although the film was only released in 1963. The film was directed by Otto Preminger, often considered one of the greatest directors of all time, although his personality was highly volatile, and he was known for being "difficult." Preminger did often get results, as several of the stars he directed received Academy Award nominations for their performances in the films he directed, including this film, "The Cardinal, as John Huston, better known for his own movie directing, than for acting, received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Otto Preminger will certainly be known to you, if you've seen the movie, "Stalag 17, as he played the role of the German prison camp commandant. Never fear, Preminger was no Nazi, as he was Jewish, and he came to the United States in the 1930s, after Hitler had taken power in Germany. Earlier he lived primarily in Vienna. Preminger took on controversial subjects in some of his films, and he battled the television industry to keep his films intact, and not be cut to pieces to fit into time slots and for commercials.

The movie, based on the book of the same title by Henry Morton Robinson, which itself was loosely based on the life of Francis Cardinal Spellman, is about the rise of a young Catholic priest from Boston, Stephen Fermoyle, played by Tom Tryon, beginning in the era around World War One, and his eventual rise to the position of cardinal a couple of decades later. The movie begins with the preliminary ceremony for his appointment as cardinal, and as the necessary documents are read in Latin, Fermoyle stands and looks back on his life, and it is in this way that the film is presented. Remember he understood Latin and yet he drifted off to other matters. How about the people in attendance, likely many, who didn't understand Latin? Where do you think their minds were? *

Stephen's life reflects the stresses and strains in Catholicism, the religious doctrine, and the way every day Catholics really live their lives. Stephen's sister, Mona, played by Carol Lynley, wants to marry, but her boyfriend, Benny Rampell, played by John Saxon, is Jewish and Stephen wants the young man to convert, or at least to agree that any children will be brought up as Catholics. At first the young man agrees to being able to be persuaded, but when he and his parents are made to feel uneasy about not being Catholic and Irish, he decides not to convert. Mona goes to her brother for advice, which turns out to be the Catholic religious answer, to give up the boyfriend. Mona leaves home and, months later, she is found, in labor, and taken to a hospital, where the doctor tells Stephen that the baby will have to die to save his sister, but Stephen cannot give his consent and go against Catholic doctrine, so his sister dies, but the baby lives. This is a staggering blow to the young priest, as this is now religious belief actually having to be put into practice.

Cardinal Glennon, played by John Huston, sees Stephen as ambitious and in need of some humility, so he sends him to a very poor parish to assist and learn from Father Ned, played by Burgess Meredith. Father Ned lives a very simple life, and he is beloved by his parishioners, but the priest is seriously ill, something Stephen finally takes to Glennon, who goes off to visit his long time friend Father Ned. When the dying priest asks that he appoint Stephen as his successor, Cardinal Glennon thanks him for the suggestion, giving Father Ned the impression that's what will happen, but outside of the room, the cardinal tells Stephen he has other plans for him to become his secretary, not become the parish priest.

The pope dies (1922) and Stephen travels with Cardinal Glennon to Rome, where Glennon convinces the new pope to give Stephen a position in the Vatican, but Stephen, badly troubled by his priesthood so far, does not want the position, causing Glennon to give Stephen a leave of absence of two years for the priest to see what he wants to do. Stephen goes to Vienna (he speaks German) to teach English. He meets a young woman, Annemarie, played by Romy Schneider, and the two fall for each other, but he tells her he is a priest, and eventually, Stephen decides to stay with the priesthood.

Stephen returns to Rome, where he takes a position in the Vatican. In 1934 a black American priest from Georgia, Father Gillis, played by Ossie Davis, comes to Rome to seek help, as the only Catholic school in his area will not admit black Catholic students, and further, his church in Georgia has been burned down by the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). Stephen takes the priest to see Cardinal Giacobbi, a highly conservative close associate of the pope, but instead of helping him, Giacobbi essentially scolds Father Gillis when the priest tells him members of his congregation protested the discrimination of the school by holding a protest with signs, an act said by Giacobbi to be a method that is "inflammatory." This brings a statement from another cardinal present, played by Raf Vallone, "I'm not sure we can afford to use methods that tend to be glacial," but Giacobbi is generally unsympathetic, although Stephen tries to get the cardinal to understand the racism in the United States. The priest leaves with no help for the Catholic school racial discrimination. Stephen goes to Georgia to see what he can do and to gather information he can take back to the Vatican. He is met with hostility and both he and Father Gillis are severely beaten (even with a whip) by a group of the KKK. Standing on principle about racial justice in the American South can be very dangerous.** (Note: When this film was released in 1963, racial tensions in the U.S. were climbing.)

Finally, Hitler's influence is expanding in Europe, and heavily Catholic Austria has become a part of Germany. Stephen is sent to close the papal nuncio in Vienna (Austria is no longer a separate country), and to take a message to the head of the Catholic Church in Austria, Cardinal Innitzer, played by Josef Meinrad, to tone down his public support of Hitler and the Nazis. The cardinal seems detached from the reality of the situation, believing himself to have been non political in statements supporting Austria joining Germany. He curries favor with leading Nazis, but reality strikes when Hitler goes back on earlier promises about Catholicism in his native land. Then Nazi thugs vandalize Catholic properties. Stephen has to flee. Just as in Georgia, the same is true in Vienna, when you oppose hate and evil, be prepared for great difficulties, even possible death.

The film ends with Stephen addressing the people assembled, including his mother and other family members who traveled to Rome for the ceremonies of Stephen's becoming a cardinal.

* Originally the language of Christianity was Aramaic, a Semitic language of the Middle East akin to Hebrew (the language of the Old Testament) and Arabic. Then Christianity began to spread in the eastern Mediterranean area, a region where Greek was heavily used, making Greek a common part of early Christianity. As the religion became more popular further west in the Mediterranean and in the Roman Empire, Latin, the language of the Romans, began to be used more and more, until it became the acknowledged language by many in Christianity, with writings and masses often being in Latin. This didn't just happen one day, but rather it took place over a period from about 300, 400 and 500 AD. The interesting thing is, and it shows how religion can get out of step with, and fear, change, Latin itself was changing dramatically during these times and beyond, as it, or more specifically its dialects, were morphing into separate languages: Italian (right in what had become the center of Christianity and Latin... Rome), Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, Romansh, French and others too, but it took time for these languages to fully emerge as distinct entities. Meanwhile, Latin was the language of Christianity, with writings and religious services conducted in Latin up until the 1960s, even though most parishioners did not understand much, if not most, of what was said. Of course, there were those little things called "the Great Schism" and "the Reformation," that caused a major split in Christianity, and in the use of other languages as part of segments of Christianity, and since the 1960s, although better late than never, Roman Catholicism has permitted the use of national and local languages, although a small percentage of Latin masses have continued. Perhaps there will be a movement to, "make Latin great again."

** While the details in the movie are vague, some white men have been arrested and charged in the church arson in Georgia. Father Gillis is scheduled to testify, but many of the white residents of the town are in an uproar, prompting the priest's superior, Monsignor Whittle, played by Chill Wills, to order Gillis not to testify and to drop the complaint. Stephen challenges the monsignor, who disparagingly uses the term "Yankee," in reference to Stephen, but then finds out that Stephen is from the Vatican. When Stephen returns to Rome and Cardinal Giacobbi, who feels Stephen has gotten the Church into controversy (heaven forbid! ... hey, what a pun!), Stephen explains there was a conviction in the case, and while not for arson, but for disorderly conduct, it was the first time in Georgia that white men had been convicted for anything based upon the testimony of a black witness (the film uses the term, "Negro," long seen by American white society, and even by many people of black society, as the proper term for black people, especially in those times, mid 1930s in the film, but also still in the early 1960s, when the film was made and released). While it's firmly implied in the movie that Giacobbi is against Stephen being named a bishop, and that he will use the incident in Georgia to try to influence the pope in that direction, the pope makes Stephen a bishop; so a bit of hope for some change comes from the ordeal, both legally and religiously.             

Photo is from the 2005 Warner Home Video DVD.

WORD HISTORY:
Cardinal-The ultimate origin of this word are unknown, but it goes back to Latin "cardo," which meant, "hinge of a door," and from this developed the notion of, "important, prime," from the idea of "a matter or a person upon which others are dependent, upon which things turn or hinge," and this gave Latin the adjective "cardinalis." The Christian church initially applied the noun form to a clergyman of a church; thus, "the prime person, or person of importance for that church." Later, Christians elevated the meaning to a bishop who became, "a prince of the Church," as an elector of the pope. English borrowed the noun from Latin circa 1100, and it borrowed the adjective from French, a Latin-based language, in the 1200s. The use as the name for a particular red and reddish brown bird began in the second half of the 1600s, from the comparison of the red attire for the religious cardinals.

Stalag 17, Quite a Film

This 1953 film, a mixture of seriousness and lighthearted moments, may have you chuckling one moment, only to snap you back to the reality that this is a movie about a POW camp.* It was
produced and directed by Billy Wilder, who came to the United States as Hitler took power, as Wilder was Jewish. He was born in southern Poland, then under the control of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but he lived and got his start in 1920s Berlin. Wilder was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director for "Stalag 17." SPOILER ALERT: I will deal with many of the key parts of the movie, including the ending.

The story centers around more than 600 American aircrew sergeants held in Germany as POWs in a "Stalag," the abbreviated German form of "Stammlager;" that is, "POW camp." The prisoners determine that there is a spy, a "stoolie," in their midst, as the German commandant, Colonel von Scherbach, played to the utmost arrogant perfection by Otto Preminger, knows everything the prisoners do, including any escape plans. The story is narrated, as such, by one of the prisoners, "Cookie," played by Gil Stratton. Since one barracks seems to be the location of the "stoolie," the guys in that barracks try to do some secret things, while remaining on guard for the spy.

One of the prisoners, J.J. Sefton, played by William Holden,** a slick wheeler-dealer, makes sharp deals with the German guards, and because of these deals, he has some comforts unavailable to the other prisoners, which creates resentment, and makes him a target of the prisoners' suspicions, especially those of "Duke," played by tough guy, Neville Brand. Sefton's cocky attitude toward the guys only serves to heighten the tension. But no one is really sure who the stoolie is, as the barracks' security officer, named Price, played by Peter Graves (brother of "Gunsmoke's" James Arness), and the barracks' chief, named "Hoffy," played by Richard Erdman, try to figure out how to keep plans from getting to von Scherbach.

During the film, three characters provide some lighthearted moments: "Animal," played by Robert Strauss, *** who is in love with actress Betty Grable; his friend and sidekick, "Harry Shapiro," played by Harvey Lembeck; and German guard, "Sergeant Schultz," played by Sig Ruman (born in Hamburg), who often enters the barracks to get the men out for roll call by screaming, "Raus!" (colloquial German for ''Out!") ****

Things really get rolling when another POW is brought in, "temporarily," as he is an officer, a Lieutenant Dunbar, played by Don Taylor. It turns out, that while in custody in Frankfurt, the lieutenant had managed to throw a "time bomb" onto a German ammunition train, which exploded after a couple of miles down the track. The Germans had been unable to figure out exactly what had happened, let alone, who did it. But the general story comes out in the barracks, and sure enough, Colonel (German: Oberst) von Scherbach finds out and Dunbar is taken from the barracks for interrogation. Suspicion of Sefton now boils over into outright accusation, as just prior to this, a radio the prisoners had been smuggling around the camp to get the war news is found and confiscated by the Germans, who knew right where to look. Then Sefton is seen in the part of the camp housing Russian women prisoners, so the guys assume he traded the radio for the "visitation rights." When Sefton returns from the Russian compound, the men beat the hell out of him, then they raid his stash of trading goods.

A Red Cross official comes to inspect the camp and to make certain the Geneva Convention is being upheld. The prisoners tell him of Dunbar's being taken away, so he goes to von Scherbach's office, where Dunbar is being kept on his feet for hours of interrogation. The commandant tells the Red Cross official that Dunbar is no longer a prisoner of war, because he is a saboteur, but the man tells von Scherbach that he must be able to prove that, or he will be held responsible in trials after the war. This brings the commandant to call in Schultz to make contact with the spy in the barracks, so he can find out exactly how Dunbar could have carried a time bomb on him in Frankfurt, after being thoroughly searched.

Throughout the picture, we see a table with a chessboard and chess pieces set up in the barracks, and at times we see some of the guys playing chess. Above the table hangs a single light on a wire. Eventually we see the wire has a loop in it at times, and we also see Schultz taking a chess piece from the table and replacing it with another piece from his pocket when the men are out for roll call. So, we learn this is how the spy and the commandant communicate, by little notes placed inside a hollow chess piece. When either the spy or the commandant want to communicate with the other, a loop is placed in the light's wire, indicating there is a message in the chess piece. So, Schultz follows the commandant's order and leaves a message in the chess piece with instructions for the spy, and he then puts a loop in the wire for the spy to see.

As the guys celebrate Christmas Day with some music from a phonograph, we now get to see who the spy is. Security officer Price sees the loop in the wire, goes to the corner of his bed and removes a chess piece to exchange for the one with the message. He carefully makes the exchange and then straightens the wire. Sefton, badly injured from the beating he was given, is lying on his bed and he sees the shadow of the light's wire with a loop in it, but then a little later, the the loop is gone. This makes him curious.

Price now has his instructions from the commandant, and using "security" as a ruse, he asks another prisoner, who had been with Dunbar in Frankfurt, how Dunbar was able to carry a time bomb on him, after having been searched. The guy explains that he used a pack of matches with a lit cigarette stuck inside to burn down slowly, then ignite the matches and anything combustible around it. Because it is too complicated to explain in a note, Price puts a loop in the wire, and Sefton sees the loop again, but he is uncertain what it means, if anything. That night, the Germans sound the air raid sirens to get the prisoners out of the barracks, so that Price can explain the "time bomb" to Schultz. Price lags behind, closing the barracks' door when he thinks all of the prisoners are outside. He goes to Schultz and tells him in German to watch while he demonstrates how Dunbar blew up the train with the matches and cigarette. They leave the barracks and out of the darkness comes Sefton, who now knows who the spy is (it's evening and all lights are out because of the supposed air raid). The thing is, Sefton has to think about what to do with his new knowledge. He figures if he tells everyone about Price, the Germans will pull Price out and place him in another camp to do his spying. If he or the guys kill Price, they will face the same fate from von Scherbach in retaliation.

The guys learn that a couple of SS men are in the camp to take Dunbar to Berlin. They decide to pull a daring rescue of Dunbar by using a homemade smudge pot and creating a lot of noise and activity on the grounds outside. They have to act immediately. Price is now startled, because he needs a way to inform the commandant about the plans that are already going into operation, so he suggests that he go outside "to keep Schultz off balance." Sefton knows that Price will tell Schultz about the plan, so he speaks up and asks for a guard to be placed on him, since they think he's the stoolie, then he can't be blamed if anything goes wrong. He suggests Price, since he's the security officer, and the guys agree. So Sefton has neutralized Price for the operation, which goes off, and Dunbar is rescued and hidden somewhere in the camp by barracks' chief "Hoffy," who is the only guy to know Dunbar's whereabouts.

The Germans search and search, but no Dunbar. The thing is, the prisoners now know they must make a move to get Dunbar out of the camp, as otherwise, they know he'll be found. They decide to put all dog tags in a hat and draw to see who will try to get Dunbar, and himself, out of the camp. Now Price comes back into play, and he volunteers to do the job, saying how he wants to make up for the security failures of the past. The guys agree and then Hoffy tells where Dunbar is hidden; in a large water tank. Now Sefton speaks up and says he'll take bets that Dunbar will never get away. At first the guys think it is Sefton in his wheeler-dealer mode again, but when Price says they need to act before the Germans find out where Dunbar is, Sefton says, "The Germans know where Dunbar is." He confronts Price with, "Sprechen Sie Deutsch?" (Do you speak German?) Price immediately denies knowing German, but when Sefton asks him the date and time of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Price knows the date, December 7, but as to the time, he says he was having dinner. As Price had claimed to be from Cleveland, it was lunchtime in Cleveland at the time of the Pearl Harbor attack, but it was dinnertime in Berlin! Sefton then grabs the hollow chess piece from Price's jacket. He then shows the guys how the whole system had worked between Price and the commandant, with Schultz acting as go-between.

With the spy known, Sefton offers to take Dunbar out of the camp, because the "odds are better." All agree and he then tells them to give him 5 minutes to go out the trap door, to crawl under the barracks, and to get Dunbar out of the water tank." They are to then shove Price out into the compound to draw all of the lights and attention of the German guards in the towers around the camp. He hopes that will give him and Dunbar the chance to cut through the barbed wire (he has wire cutters) and to get outside the camp. The plan goes into operation and Sefton gets Dunbar. The guys throw Price out the door with cans tied to his ankles to make lots of noise. He yells out in German, but the siren is sounding and the guards in the towers are firing machine guns, so his cries of "Hilfe" (help) cannot be heard. He is killed. Sefton and Dunbar cut through the wire and run from the camp. Von Scherbach and Schultz come out of the commandant's office, thinking they will see Dunbar dead on the ground, but when the body is turned face up, the looks on their faces tell everything.       

* POW=prisoner of war

** Holden won the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his portrayal of Sefton.

*** Strauss was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

**** The Sergeant Schultz character became an important role in the television comedy "Hogan's Heroes" in the 1960s, which was also set in a Stalag, and played by John Banner, who became famous for saying, "I know nooooothing!"

Photo is from the Paramount Home Entertainment 2006 edition

WORD HISTORY:
Prison-This word, related to both "apprehend" and "comprehend" (both were borrowed into English), goes back to Indo European "per," which had the notion, "forward, in the front;" thus, "before, to the front, ahead, head toward." This gave Latin the prefix, "pre." Further, the core of the word goes back to Indo European "ghend/ghed," which meant, "to seize, to take." This, plus the prefix,^ gave Latin the verb "prehendo," meaning, "to take, to seize, to grasp." This then produced the Latin noun "prehensio," meaning, "a seizing, a taking;" thus also, "a taking into captivity." This eventually provided forms "prensionem," then "presionem," which passed to Old French as "prison/prisoun," which meant, "imprisonment," but then the word also broadened further into "the place of imprisonment." English borrowed the word in the 1100s, with both meanings, "imprisonment" and "place of imprisonment."

^ It isn't always clear why Latin used some prefixes on words or what the prefixes truly meant in every case.