The Cardinal

Stephen Fermoyle is a young priest out of a working-class Boston neighbourhood. He studies in Rome, then starts rising through the church hierarchy. The film follows him across decades. Every matter he runs into puts more strain on his faith: a sister whose case turns on a decision about abortion, the Ku Klux Klan in the American south, the rise of Nazism in Vienna, the church's own rules, and the life the priesthood forbids him. In the end he becomes a cardinal. Otto Preminger's film runs over three hours and is adapted from Henry Morton Robinson's novel. Tom Tryon plays Fermoyle and Romy Schneider the woman in the Vienna section. It was nominated for six Academy Awards, with John Huston among the supporting actor nominees.