Matrixston Wow! Such a good movie.

Doomtomylo a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

Erica Derrick By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Mehdi Hoffman There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

gavin6942 A young priest, Father Chisholm is sent to China to establish a Catholic parish among the non-Christian Chinese. While his boyhood friend, also a priest, flourishes in his calling as a priest in a more Christian area of the world, Father Chisholm struggles.First of all, Vincent Price is the third credited actor on this film. How did that happen? In the well over two hours of movie, he gets less than ten minutes of screen time. Of course, for Price fans, it is ten very good minutes, but still...What is so great about this film is that it simultaneously promotes religion and calls out those who use it for their own ends. Father Chisholm hopes to spread the message of Christ, but he wants to do it by example. He refuses to accept converts who do not truly believe or those who have been paid to "believe". I love this. Being Christian is a good thing, but only if done for the right reasons. It seems far too many people forget this.

bkoganbing In his second film Gregory Peck got the first of his Best Actor nominations for playing the pious and devote Father Francis Chisholm in The Keys of the Kingdom.When we meet Peck he's an elderly priest who's got a visitor in Monsignor Cedric Hardwicke who has come to the Scottish town where he's from and now is a pastor. Hardwicke's there to investigate complaints about him. Peck puts him up for the night in his own room where he keeps a journal that he has faithfully recorded his life. On an impulse, Hardwicke decides it might be good bedtime reading.When we first meet Peck, elderly and infirm that he is, he looks like he could be the model for Alec Guinness's muddled old reverend in Kind Hearts and Coronets. But as Hardwicke reads Peck's words and we go back over his life, it's been a pious and rewarding one as a missionary in China.The film is a flashback narrative of his life as a missionary. And the film is held together by the sincere and deeply felt performance of Gregory Peck as Father Chisholm. Peck has some terribly unorthodox ideas as a priest. For one thing he's not preaching that his own denomination has the corner on a good afterlife. Late in the film, some Protestant missionaries come, James Gleason and Anne Revere, and he becomes great friends with both. He's even friends with a self styled atheist in Thomas Mitchell who is an atheist, a medical doctor and a good man indeed. Mitchell's deathbed scene with Peck is quite touching and avoids a lot of the clichés associated with such scenes.Another thing is Peck and the sisters led by Rose Stradner who later come to help live as simply and modestly as the Chinese around them. They gain some converts, but even more importantly they gain the respect of those around them. This is contrasted when Peck's childhood friend Vincent Price who has become a bishop and takes the phrase Prince of the Church quite literally. The casting in the film is first rate and 20th Century Fox did a good job in recreating the feel and atmosphere of China which at that point was engaged in expelling the Japanese from their soil. The Keys of the Kingdom got several Oscar nominations including Peck's, but came up short on the statues.I enjoyed the film a whole lot and I don't think one has to be a firm believer in any Christian denomination to enjoy it. Peck's Father Francis Chisholm may have led an obscure life, but his faith sustains him through all and he leads by sheer example. It's something that a lot of religious leaders fall short of, but not in this case.Peck's life will surely gain him possession of The Keys of the Kingdom and we could all use a lot more Father Chisholms in this world.

ccthemovieman-1 Gregory Peck plays a nice role, exhibiting a kind, caring face and demeanor as he did years later in To Kill A Mockingbird.The first 30-40 minutes of this movie dragged somewhat and had some very misleading and dangerous theology (i.e. atheists still go to heaven because they're people, too! Give me a break! . Once that part is over, the movie gets better as the scenery shifts to China a little action is inserted. The story finishes on a very touching note There is a good Methodist missionary and good Catholic priest both shown, despite some of the too-liberal and non-Bblical theology that pervades this script.The cast includes Thomas Mitchell, Vincent Price, Edmund Gween, Key Luke, Roddy McDowall, Rose Stradner and Peggy Ann Garner. Actually, I bought the tape to see Peggy Ann but she only had two scenes and a couple of lines.

esteban1747 This is an interesting story about a priest Father Francis Chisholm(Gregory Peck), who went to China to establish a parish. He never wanted to get money easily, for him was much more important to get more people really devoted to catholicism than to get funds from any people, and for this he made all efforts serving even as a doctor in the community. Another important aspect shown although not deep, was the difference among the priests. Some are humble like the hero of the film but others are arrogant and look more for the wealth of the church instead of looking for the wealth of poor people. Catholicism have lost many areas because of the lack of sacrifice of many of its priests otherwise it would reign nearly everywhere in the world. Priests like Father Chisholm would have been the salvation.