''The Devil's Advocate'', originally released as ''Des Teufels Advokat'', is a 1977

West German West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

English-language drama film, directed by Guy Green (his final theatrical film) and based on the 1959 novel of the same name by the Australian writer

Morris West Morris Langlo West (26 April 19169 October 1999) was an Australian novelist and playwright, best known for his novels '' The Devil's Advocate'' (1959), '' The Shoes of the Fisherman'' (1963) and ''The Clowns of God'' (1981). His books were pub ...

. It stars

John Mills Sir John Mills (born Lewis Ernest Watts Mills; 22 February 190823 April 2005) was an English actor who appeared in more than 120 films in a career spanning seven decades. He excelled on camera as an appealing British everyman who often portra ...

Paola Pitagora Paola Pitagora (born 24 August 1941) is an Italian film actress. She has appeared in 50 films since 1959. Biography Born in Parma, Pitagora attended the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia and the acting school by Alessandro Fersen. In 1960 s ...

Stéphane Audran Stéphane Audran (born Colette Suzanne Dacheville; 8 November 1932 – 27 March 2018) was a French actress. She was known for her performances in award-winning films such as ''The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie'' (1972) and ''Babette's Feast'' ...

Leigh Lawson Allan Leigh Lawson (born 21 July 1945) is an English actor, director and writer. Life and career Lawson was born in Atherstone, Warwickshire. He initially studied at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts before training further at the Royal Aca ...

, Jason Miller and Daniel Massey. The film is set in Italy but was filmed predominantly in

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

Plot

In 1958, the Catholic Church is investigating the case of a mysterious individual, Giacomo Nerone (

), who is said to have performed miracles in a remote village in

Southern Italy Southern Italy ( it, Sud Italia or ) also known as ''Meridione'' or ''Mezzogiorno'' (), is a macroregion of the Italian Republic consisting of its southern half. The term ''Mezzogiorno'' today refers to regions that are associated with the peop ...

(Scontrone), before being executed by Italian Communist partisans in 1944. The process involves a "

Devil's advocate The (Latin for Devil's advocate) is a former official position within the Catholic Church, the Promoter of the Faith: one who "argued against the canonization ( sainthood) of a candidate in order to uncover any character flaws or misrepresent ...

", who is tasked with discovering any details about the subject's life which would indicate that canonisation would be inappropriate. Monsignor Blaise Meredith (

) is given this responsibility, shortly after he learns he has terminal cancer. Meredith discovers that Nerone was actually a British soldier named James Black, who had become detached from the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

during World War II and was hiding in this village, where he began a relationship with a local woman. The film touches on homosexuality, priests cohabiting, the Italian Holocaust, and other sensitive topics.

Cast

as Monsignor Blaise Meredith *

as Anne, Contessa di Sanctis * Jason Miller as Dr Aldo Meyer *

as Nina Sanduzzi *

as James Black aka Giacomo Nerone *

Timothy West Timothy Lancaster West, CBE (born 20 October 1934) is an English actor and presenter. He has appeared frequently on both stage and television, including stints in both ''Coronation Street'' (as Eric Babbage) and ''EastEnders'' (as Stan Carter) ...

as Father Anselmo *

Patrick Mower Patrick Mower (born Patrick Archibald Shaw; 12 September 1938) is an English actor who has portrayed the role of Rodney Blackstock in the ITV soap opera ''Emmerdale'' since 2000. As well as portraying Rodney, Mower has appeared in various film ...

as Il Lupo *

Raf Vallone The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's Air force, air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal ...

as Bishop Aurelio * Daniel Massey as Nicholas Black *

Romolo Valli Romolo Valli (7 February 1925 – 1 February 1980) was an Italian actor. Valli was born in Reggio Emilia. He was one of the best known Italian actors from the 1950s to his death. He worked for both the stage and the silver screen. Among the ...

as Cardinal Marotta

Production

Morris West wrote the screenplay from his novel of the same name. In January 1976

J. Lee Thompson John Lee Thompson (1 August 1914 – 30 August 2002) was a British film director, active in London and Hollywood, best known for award-winning films such as ''Woman in a Dressing Gown'', ''Ice Cold in Alex'' and '' The Guns of Navarone'' along w ...

was announced as director.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Devils Advocate, The 1977 films 1977 drama films 1970s English-language films English-language German films Films about Catholicism Films based on works by Morris West Films directed by Guy Green Films set in 1958 Films set in Italy West German films German drama films 1970s German films