Back to trending
The Cardinal

The Cardinal

Drama · History · War · 1963

A young Catholic priest from Boston confronts bigotry, Nazism, and his own personal conflicts as he rises to the office of cardinal.

Movie details

The Cardinal

“A motion picture that spans two decades of conflict and drama as it tells the story of a young American and his rise to prince of the church.”

1963 Drama · History · War 3h 5m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.5 / 10

Community rating

A young Catholic priest from Boston confronts bigotry, Nazism, and his own personal conflicts as he rises to the office of cardinal.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over The Cardinal?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

The Battle of the River Plate

The Battle of the River Plate

Drama · 1956

In the early years of the World War II, the Royal Navy is fighting a desperate battle to keep the Atlantic convoy routes open to supply the British Isles, facing the great danger posed by the many German warships, such as the Admiral Graf Spee, which are scouring the ocean for cargo ships to sink.

Tobruk

Tobruk

Drama · 1967

In September 1942, the German Afrika Korps under Rommel have successfully pushed the Allies back into Egypt. A counter-attack is planned, for which the fuel dumps at Tobruk are a critical impediment. In order to aid the attack, a group of British commandos and German Jews make their way undercover through 800 miles of desert, to destroy the fuel dumps starving the Germans of fuel.

Flyboys

Flyboys

Drama · 2006

The adventures of the Lafayette Escadrille, young Americans who volunteered for the French military before the U.S. entered World War I, and became the country's first fighter pilots.

Operation Mincemeat

Operation Mincemeat

War · 2022

In 1943, two British intelligence officers concoct Operation Mincemeat, wherein their plan to drop a corpse with false papers off the coast of Spain would fool Nazi spies into believing the Allied forces were planning to attack by way of Greece rather than Sicily.

The Last Rifleman

The Last Rifleman

Drama · 2023

A WWII veteran escapes his care home in Northern Ireland and embarks on an arduous but inspirational journey to France to attend the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings, finding the courage to face the ghosts of his past.

Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin

Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin

History · 2024

As the world teeters on the brink of annihilation, Dietrich Bonhoeffer joins a deadly plot to assassinate Hitler, risking his faith and fate to save millions of Jews from genocide.

Devotion

Devotion

War · 2022

The harrowing true story of two elite US Navy fighter pilots during the Korean War. Their heroic sacrifices would ultimately make them the Navy's most celebrated wingmen.

The Match

The Match

Drama · 2021

Inspired by true events from the spring of 1944 when the Nazis organized a football match between a team of camp inmates and an elite Nazi team on Adolf Hitler's birthday. A match the prisoners are determined to win, no matter what happens.

The Scarlet and the Black

The Scarlet and the Black

Drama · 1983

Fr. Hugh O'Flaherty is a Vatican official in 1943-45 who has been hiding downed pilots, escaped prisoners of war, and Italian resistance families. His activities become so large that the Nazis decide to assassinate him the next time he leaves the Vatican.

A Hidden Life

A Hidden Life

History · 2019

Austrian farmer Franz Jägerstätter faces the threat of execution for refusing to fight for the Nazis during World War II.

Where it lives

Watch in your region.

Cinema release signals and current streaming, rental, and purchase options for your region.

Streaming availability data supplied by JustWatch.

Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Otto Preminger

Written by

Robert Dozier · Ring Lardner, Jr.

Tom Tryon

Tom Tryon

Stephen Fermoyle

Romy Schneider

Romy Schneider

Annemarie von Hartman

John Huston

John Huston

Kardinal Glennon

Carol Lynley

Carol Lynley

Mona Fermoyle / Regina Fermoyle

Dorothy Gish

Dorothy Gish

Celia Fermoyle

Maggie McNamara

Maggie McNamara

Florrie Fermoyle

Bill Hayes

Bill Hayes

Frank Fermoyle

Court is in session

Put The Cardinal on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Prestige Tourist

“Ambition earns the room.”

The film reaches for consequence and scale, accepting the risk of seriousness instead of shrinking from it.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Importance has entered the chat.”

The production keeps announcing its significance, as though awards-season posture were proof of insight.