BroadcastChic Excellent, a Must See

Siflutter It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Aneesa Wardle The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Raymond Sierra The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

clanciai This film becomes interesting towards the end when Francis goes to Egypt to meet the sultan, and while he is away his order is completely adjusted to worldly demands. None of the other St. Francis films have dared to bring up this problem. Francis is depicted as the incorrigible idealist who is betrayed by the necessity of pragmatism and political realists. Stuart Whitman is perfect as always, he is always an interesting ornament to any film he acts in, while Bradford Dillman makes more of a type than a character. Old Finlay Currie is excellent as the pope, and so is Dolores Hart as Sister Clare, but none of these can match any of the Italian actors in the Italian films, since this film completely misses the Italian mentality and is all Hollywood. This was Michael Curtiz' last film but one, (his last became "Comancheros", better although more muddled,) and his professionalism gives standard polish to the whole film, but it hardly becomes more than a filmed legend, like glossy sugared saintly illustrations spiced with typical Hollywood sentimentality on top of it. Sorry, the true St. Francis is nowhere to be found in this film.The only convincing character of some Franciscan credibility is brother Juniper played by Mervyn Johns. He has understood something of the Franciscan mentality, while all the rest is Hollywood, not at its worst but definitely at its most conventional.

thirteenprime When I was in fourth grade in Catholic school, the nuns trooped us over to the local theater one sunny afternoon in the fall of 1961 to see this film. I remembered nothing about it, except for a vague notion that it had bored my sandals off. When I saw that Fox Movie Channel had it On Demand, I gave it another try, just to see. (I don't think I've ever had such an enormous gap between viewings of a film.)And it's not bad at all. The first half-hour or so, unfortunately, is not good. It looks tacky and cheap, like a '60s TV-movie. There's a ludicrous battle scene early on, but this marks the point after which the film starts to get better. The Italian locations are beautiful. The film is overly reverential and was made for a general audience fifty years ago, so we don't really get to see how much of a party animal Francis was before his conversion. Bradford Dillman pulls off the near-impossible job of making this plaster saint interesting. The incredibly lovely Dolores Hart plays Clare, the noblewoman who becomes the first Franciscan nun (and Dolores actually did enter the convent the year after this film, and is still there today, and remains as lovely as ever). There is a subtlety in the relationship between Francis and Clare that often works, but occasionally you get the feeling that the two are behaving in such a restrained way that they might actually be 13th-century Vulcans. Of course, the director here, Michael Curtiz, is responsible for the most romantic movie of all time, Casablanca. Whatever is there between Francis and Clare is left subtle enough for us to appreciate while not peeving the more conservative members of the audience. Stuart Whitman, the nobleman who loves Clare and serves as the third member of this non-triangle, seems miscast here. Stu was never really the nobleman type.Interestingly, the film takes a dim view of the Crusades, as it shows Christian forces raping and pillaging their way to the Holy Land. There's a scene with Francis meeting the leader of the enemy Saracens that shows their Sultan in a much more civilized light. The film also states that Francis felt his mission from God was to save the Church from its own materialism and heresy, pretty much along the lines of what Martin Luther would try to do two and a half centuries later. I'm not sure the nuns of 1961 really understood what was going on here.My non-Catholic wife says that Francis has always been well thought of outside the Catholic religion, mainly because he loved animals and is generally felt to have been kind and modest. Not too many reputations have survived eight centuries of questioning and doubt intact. I really didn't expect to like this film, or to get all the way through it, but I was happily surprised to find that I rather enjoyed it.

whpratt1 Over the years I have heard many people talk about Francis of Assisi and how he loved all animals which our Creator made for our enjoyment and pleasure. I was surprised to see that the producer of this film also produced the Classic Film, "Casablanca" and if you would like to know more about this Saint, this is the film for you. It was not very long ago when I ran into a few neighbors who were bringing their pets to the church to be blessed on Francis of Assisi Day.This film shows that Francis started out as any ordinary young man and even was in love with a pretty young gal, Clare, (Dolores Hart). Francis also used swords in a war battle, but he is always troubled by voices telling him what he is suppose to do with his life and when he leaves the military, he is called a coward, deserter and it upsets his entire family. This film is very well produced and the acting by Bradford Dilman and Dolores Hart was outstanding. Enjoy.

DeeDee-10 Having seen Brother Sun Sister Moon, and Francisco, this 1961 version of the story of St. Francis pales next to the other two.It looked like something from Disney: all primary colored costumes, healthy looking, rosy-cheeked Middle Ages citizens of Assisi, smiling as if they hadn't a care in the world. What were the producers thinking?! There was a little more history in this version though, including Francis' visit to Jerusalem, and his meeting with the Sulton. While the story was certainly comprehensive than Brother Sun Sister Moon, I prefer the latter even with Donovan's soundtrack, which I'm getting used to since I bought the video! Bradford Dillman did a fair job, but Dolores Hart with her teased, helmet-head sprayed hair looked very out of place, sad to say. A lean Stuart Whitman as Paolo played a major part and helped carry the film. I was tempted to not watch the whole thing, but I gave in. If you are a St. Francis admirer you'll watch it and learn a few more things about this remarkable man.