''The Reluctant Saint'' is a 1962 American-Italian

historical History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some theorists categ ...

comedy drama film Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together.

which tells the story of

Joseph of Cupertino Joseph of Cupertino (Copertino), OFM Conv. (; 17 June 1603 – 18 September 1663) was an Italian Conventual Franciscan friar who is honored as a Christian mystic and saint. According to traditional Franciscan accounts, he was "remarkably uncle ...

, a 17th-century Italian

Conventual Franciscan The Order of Friars Minor Conventual (O.F.M. Conv.) is a male religious fraternity in the Catholic Church and a branch of the Franciscan Order. Conventual Franciscan Friars are identified by the affix O.F.M. Conv. after their names. They are ...

friar A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders in the Catholic Church. There are also friars outside of the Catholic Church, such as within the Anglican Communion. The term, first used in the 12th or 13th century, distinguishes the mendi ...

and mystic,

venerated Veneration (; ), or veneration of saints, is the act of honoring a saint, a person who has been identified as having a high degree of sanctity or holiness. Angels are shown similar veneration in many religions. Veneration of saints is practiced, ...

as a

saint In Christianity, Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of sanctification in Christianity, holiness, imitation of God, likeness, or closeness to God in Christianity, God. However, the use of the ...

by the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. It stars

Maximilian Schell Maximilian Schell (8 December 1930 – 1 February 2014) was a Swiss actor. Born in First Austrian Republic, Austria, his parents were involved in the arts and he grew up surrounded by performance and literature. While he was still a child, his fa ...

as Giuseppe Desa, as well as Ricardo Montalbán, Lea Padovani,

Akim Tamiroff Akim Mikhailovich Tamiroff (born Hovakim Tamiryants; October 29, 1899 – September 17, 1972) was an Armenian-American actor of film, stage, and television. One of the premier character actors of Hollywood's Golden Age, Tamiroff developed a pr ...

, and Harold Goldblatt. The movie was written by

John Fante John Fante (April 8, 1909 – May 8, 1983) was an American novelist, short story writer, and screenwriter. He is best known for his semi-autobiographical novel ''Ask the Dust'' (1939) about the life of Arturo Bandini, a struggling writer in Depre ...

and

Joseph Petracca Joseph Petracca (December 16, 1913 – September 28, 1963) was an American novelist, short story writer, screenwriter, and television writer of Italian descent. Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Petracca moved to Los Angeles after the e ...

and directed by

Edward Dmytryk Edward Dmytryk (September 4, 1908 – July 1, 1999) was a Canadian-born American film director and editor. He was known for his 1940s films noir, noir films and received an Academy Award for Best Director, Oscar nomination for Best Director for ...

. It was made in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, with the sets designed by the

art director Art director is a title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, live-action and animated film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supe ...

, Mario Chiari.

Plot

Most of the key events in the movie are based on historical events or reports about the life of Saint

. Born Giuseppe Desa, he was said to have been remarkably unclever, but was recorded by many witnesses during his life as prone to miraculous

levitation Levitation, Levitate, or Levitating may refer to: Concepts *Levitation (illusion), an illusion where a magician appears to levitate a person or object *Levitation (paranormal), the claimed paranormal phenomenon of levitation, occurring without an ...

and intense ecstasies. The film begins with Giuseppe (

) spending his final days at home with his mother ( Lea Padovani). Due to his slow wits, she has kept him in school despite his being a grown man, older than the other students. He is seen bearing patiently and good-heartedly the ridicule of his fellow villagers, and enduring failed attempts at work as a laborer. At the insistence of his mother, who saw no other viable alternative, he enters a

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...

friary A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which may ...

through the influence of his uncle Father Giovanni ( Harold Goldblatt), an authority in the

religious order A religious order is a subgroup within a larger confessional community with a distinctive high-religiosity lifestyle and clear membership. Religious orders often trace their lineage from revered teachers, venerate their Organizational founder, ...

. Trouble follows Giuseppe wherever he goes, including the friary, because he is slow. Eventually, his good heart is noticed by the visiting

Bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

Durso (

), a man of similar peasant background who then orders the friars train Giuseppe for the priesthood. Despite Giuseppe's incapacity for the necessary academic studies, and preference for tending the sheep and other animals in the friary’s stable, he is

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

a priest. Although he learns little from the tutoring of other friars like Brother Orlando (

Giulio Bosetti Giulio Bosetti (26 December 1930 – 24 December 2009) was an Italian actor and director. Career Giulio Bosetti appeared in film, on television and on stage over 30 times. In 1972, he narrated the television special ''La vita di Leonardo da Vi ...

), Giuseppe passes the necessary examinations for the priesthood through a series of unlikely or possibly miraculous events. Soon after, when Giuseppe is seen levitating in ecstatic prayer to the

Blessed Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

and during the conventual

Mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

, one of the superiors in the community, Father Raspi ( Ricardo Montalbán), accuses Giuseppe of suffering from

demonic possession Spirit Possession is an altered state of consciousness and associated behaviors which are purportedly caused by the control of a human body and its functions by Supernatural#Spirit, spirits, ghosts, demons, angels, or Deity, gods. The concept ...

. Giuseppe is thus chained to the ground by his brother friars then subjected to an

exorcism Exorcism () is the religious or spiritual practice of evicting demons, jinns, or other malevolent spiritual entities from a person, or an area, that is believed to be possessed. Depending on the spiritual beliefs of the exorcist, this may be do ...

, but his levitations continue, persuading everyone – including his former critic Father Raspi – of the divine origins of his powers.

Cast

as Giuseppe * Ricardo Montalbán as Father Raspi * Lea Padovani as Giuseppe's Mother *

as Bishop Durso * Harold Goldblatt as Father Giovanni *

Arnoldo Foà Arnoldo Foà (24 January 1916 – 11 January 2014) was an Italian actor, voice actor, theatre director, singer and writer. He appeared in more than 130 films between 1938 and 2014. Biography Foà was born in Ferrara, Italy, to a Jewish f ...

as Felixa - Giuseppe's Father *

Carlo Croccolo Carlo Croccolo (9 April 1927 – 12 October 2019) was an Italian actor, voice artist, director and screenwriter. Biography Born in Naples, Croccolo began his acting career on the radio and appeared in more than 100 films since 1949. His debut ca ...

as The Gobbo - the Hunchback *

as Brother Orlando *

Elisa Cegani Elisa Cegani (11 June 1911 – 23 February 1996) was an Italian actress. She appeared in 60 films between 1935 and 1983. Partial filmography * '' Aldebaran'' (1935) - Nora Bandi * ''Cavalry'' (1936) - Speranza di Frassineto * '' The Counte ...

as Sister *

Giacomo Rossi Stuart Giacomo Rossi Stuart (25 August 1925 – 20 October 1994) was an Italian film actor often credited as Jack Stuart or Giacomo Rossi-Stuart. He appeared in more than 80 films between 1953 and 1989. including the ''Gamma One'' science fiction f ...

as Young Examining Prelate *

Tonio Selwart Antonio Franz Theus "Tonio" Selmair-Selwart (June 9, 1896 – November 2, 2002) was a German actor. Biography Selwart was born in Wartenberg, Bavaria, Germany, and raised in Munich. After studying medicine like his father (a well known s ...

as Examining Prelate * Odoardo Spadaro as Old Examining Prelate

Reception

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, vi ...

review says: "A light-hearted tone is kept throughout, but the stereotyped performances, unbelievable settings, and lifeless direction hurt whatever promises are inherent in the material". Other more favorable reviews can be found at IMDB.com, as well as decentfilms.com. http://decentfilms.com/articles/reluctantsaint

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Reluctant Saint, The 1962 films Films about Catholicism 1962 drama films Films about Catholic priests Films scored by Nino Rota Films directed by Edward Dmytryk Films set in the 17th century Italian historical drama films American historical drama films 1960s historical drama films English-language Italian films 1960s English-language films 1960s American films 1960s Italian films English-language historical drama films