Francis of Assisi (1961)

57% of users liked it
(1,217 ratings)

This penultimate film by director Michael Curtiz, perhaps best known for his 1942 Casablanca, is a verbose, routine religious drama on the life of St. Francis of Assisi. After quickly passing over St. Francis' early life as the son of a wealthy cloth merchant in Assisi, the story notes his talents… More This penultimate film by director Michael Curtiz, perhaps best known for his 1942 Casablanca, is a verbose, routine religious drama on the life of St. Francis of Assisi. After quickly passing over St. Francis' early life as the son of a wealthy cloth merchant in Assisi, the story notes his talents in and out of battle. St. Francis hears the call to the cloth (in his hagiography, the call was repeated several times before he finally responded completely), and gives up all his worldly goods to dedicate himself to God. The main focus of attention is then on his relationship to Clare (Dolores Hart) a young aristocratic woman who was so taken with St. Francis that she left her family and became a nun. St. Francis by this time (1212 A.D.) had a well-established reputation for his vows of poverty, and aside from the dubious aspersions cast on his interest in Clare, the drama goes on to note miracles and other aspects of his life, up to and including his death on October 3, 1226. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 46 min.
Directed By: Michael Curtiz
Genres: Drama, Action & Adventure, Classics

In Theaters: Jul 12, 1961 Wide
On DVD: Feb 22, 2005
Studio: 20th Century Fox Pictures

Critic Reviews

Walter Chaw, Film Freak Central
Michael Curtiz, a man who never met a stationary camera he didn't romance.

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Cast

            Bradford Dillman as Francis Bemardone

            Dolores Hart as Clare Scefi

            Stuart Whitman as Paolo

            Pedro Armendáriz as Sultan

            Cecil Kellaway as Cardinal Hugolino

            Eduard Franz as Pietro Bernardino

            Athene Seyler as Aunt Buona

            Finlay Currie as Pope Innocent III

            Mervyn Johns as Brother Juniper

            Russell Napier as Brother Elias

            Harold Goldblatt as Bernard

            Edith Sharpe as Donna Pica Bemardone

            Jack Lambert as Scefi

            Oliver Johnston as Father Livoni

            Malcolm Keen as Bishop Guido

            Evi Marandi as Saracen Girl

            Manuel Ballard as Lucia

            Jole Mauro as Elfrida

            Peter Paul Muller as Friars

            John Karlsen as Friars

            Cyrus Elias as Friars

            Curt Lowens as Friars

            Walter Maslow as Friar

            Renzo Cesana as Friars

            Feodor Chaliapin Jr. as Cardinal Savelli

            Nicholas Hannen as Beggar

            John Welsh as Canon Cattanei
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