''Murder in the Cathedral'' is a 1951 British

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed and produced by

George Hoellering George Michael Hoellering (20 July 1897 – 10 February 1980) was an Austrian film director, producer and cinema manager. He directed ''Hortobagy'' (1936) about the Puszta in Hungary, as well as the 1951 British film ''Murder in the Cathedral'', w ...

and co-written by Hoellering and

T. S. Eliot Thomas Stearns Eliot (26 September 18884 January 1965) was a poet, essayist, publisher, playwright, literary critic and editor.Bush, Ronald. "T. S. Eliot's Life and Career", in John A Garraty and Mark C. Carnes (eds), ''American National Biogr ...

based on Eliot's 1935

verse drama Verse drama is any drama written significantly in verse (that is: with line endings) to be performed by an actor before an audience. Although verse drama does not need to be ''primarily'' in verse to be considered verse drama, significant portion ...

of the same name and starring Father

John Groser St John Beverley Groser (23 June 1890 – 19 March 1966) was an English Anglican priest and prominent Christian socialist. Hannen Swaffer described him as "the best-known priest in the East End London.html"_;"title="f_London">f_London/nowiki ...

. The film competed at the

12th Venice International Film Festival The 12th annual Venice International Film Festival was held from 20 August to 10 September 1951. Jury * Mario Gromo * Antonio Baldini * Ermanno Contini * Fabrizio Dentice * Piero Gadda Conti * Vinicio Marinucci * Gian Gaspare Napolitano * ...

and received the award for Best Production Design, given to Peter Pendrey. It was released in the United Kingdom in 1952.

Plot

Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

Thomas Becket Thomas Becket (), also known as Saint Thomas of Canterbury, Thomas of London and later Thomas à Becket (21 December 1119 or 1120 – 29 December 1170), was an English nobleman who served as Lord Chancellor from 1155 to 1162, and then ...

(Father

) deals with his temptations before his murder in the

Canterbury Cathedral Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, Kent, is one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in England. It forms part of a World Heritage Site. It is the cathedral of the Archbishop of Canterbury, currently Justin Welby, leader of the ...

in 1170.

Differences from the play

A number of changes were made for the film. Three of them are particularly notable. The fourth tempter is not seen; only a voice is heard, which was Eliot himself speaking the lines.

, the film's director, recognized that general audiences might not know the events that preceded the action of the play. He informed Eliot of this and asked for a new scene which depicted the central reasons leading to the events in the play. Eliot complied. Hoellering also thought the knights' final speeches were a problem because "in stage productions these speeches amused the audience instead of shocking them, and thereby made them miss the point—the whole point of the play." He asked Eliot for changes; and Eliot made major reductions to the speeches and added a shorter speech.

Cast

* Father

, Archbishop of Canterbury *

Alexander Gauge Alexander Gauge (29 July 1914 – 29 August 1960) was a British actor best known for playing Friar Tuck in ''The Adventures of Robin Hood'' from 1955 to 1959. Born in a Methodist Mission station in Wenzhou in China,Henry II * David Ward as First Tempter *

George Woodbridge George Woodbridge may refer to: * George Woodbridge (actor) (1907-1973), English actor * George Woodbridge (illustrator) George Woodbridge (October 3, 1930 – January 20, 2004) was an American illustrator known for his exhaustive researc ...

as Second Tempter * Basil Burton as Third Tempter *

as Voice of Fourth Tempter *

Donald Bisset Donald Bisset (30 August 1910 – 10 August 1995), was an English actor. He also wrote stories for children which he mostly illustrated himself. They have been translated into 16 languages. Selected filmography * ''Murder in the Cathedral'' ...

as First Priest *

Clement McCallin Clement Schuyler McCallin (6 March 1913 – 7 August 1977) was a British actor from London. RADA trained, he made his stage debut in 1931, and worked extensively with the RSC and The Old Vic. He was married to actress Brenda Bruce, with whom he a ...

as First Knight *

Michael Aldridge Michael William ffolliott Aldridge (9 September 1920 – 10 January 1994) was an English actor. He was known for playing Seymour Utterthwaite in the television series ''Last of the Summer Wine'' from 1986 to 1990 and he had a long career as a ...

as Second Knight *

Leo McKern Reginald "Leo" McKern, Order of Australia, AO (16 March 1920 – 23 July 2002) was an Australian actor who appeared in numerous British, Australian and American television programmes and films, and in more than 200 stage roles. His notabl ...

as Third Knight * Paul Rogers as Fourth Knight * Alban Blakelock as Bishop Foliot *

Niall MacGinnis Patrick Niall MacGinnis (29 March 1913 – 6 January 1977) was an Irish actor who made around 80 screen appearances. Early life MacGinnis was born in Dublin in 1913.

as Herald

Release

''Murder in the Cathedral'' premiered at the

in 1951 before being theatrically released by Film Traders Ltd in the United Kingdom in March 1952 and in the United States by Classic Pictures on 25 March 1952.

Reception

Bosley Crowther Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though his ...

wrote in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'':

References

External links

*
Cinema and Poetry: T. S. Eliot’s ''Murder in the Cathedral''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Murder In The Cathedral 1951 films 1950s biographical drama films 1950s historical drama films British biographical drama films British historical drama films Adaptations of works by T. S. Eliot Films about Catholic priests Films about Catholicism Films set in religious buildings and structures British films based on plays Films set in Kent Films set in the 12th century Cultural depictions of Thomas Becket Martyrdom in fiction 1951 drama films British black-and-white films 1950s English-language films 1950s British films