03 April 2014

Lentorama 2014: We're Ready for Your Closeup, Your Holiness

Day 26: Monsignor

A shady priest (played by Christopher Reeve) uses his wartime heroics and connections to crooked Army figures and the Mafia to help build up the Vatican's finances during and after World War II. Along the way he and his mentor (played by Robert Prosky) work together to rise through the Vatican hierarchy and foil the mentor's rival. Then Reeve falls in love with a nun, and things take a turn.

The pope is played by Leonardo Cimino, a character actor who you might recognize from films like Moonstruck, The Freshman and various TV roles. The producer of the film apparently decided to make it after reading a synopsis of the book, which was originally written in French. That might explain why a film with a number of notable names, and with the publicity fitting a major release (I remember ads for the film) stiffed at the box office. Or maybe it was Superman playing a crooked cleric.

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