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{{other uses|The Scarlet and the Black (disambiguation)}}

{{Infobox television
| image = TheScarletandtheBlack.jpg
| image_size =
| image_alt =
| caption =
| genre = Drama History War
| based_on = ''The Scarlet Pimpernel of the Vatican'' by J.P. Gallagher
| writer = [[David Butler (screenwriter)|David Butler]]
| director = [[Jerry London]]
| starring = [[Gregory Peck]] [[Christopher Plummer]] [[John Gielgud]] [[Raf Vallone]] [[Kenneth Colley]] [[Walter Gotell]] [[Barbara Bouchet]] [[Julian Holloway]] [[Angelo Infanti]] [[Olga Karlatos]]
| music = [[Ennio Morricone]]
| country = United States
| language = English
| producer = Bill McCutchen
| executive_producer = Howard P. Alston Alfio Sugaroni (associate producer)
| location = [[Rome, Italy]] Vatican City
| editor = Benjamin A. Weissman
| cinematography = [[Giuseppe Rotunno]]
| runtime = 143 minutes
| company = [[ITC Entertainment]]
| distributor = [[CBS]]
| budget =
| network = CBS
| picture_format = Color
| audio_format = [[Monaural|Mono]]
| first_aired = {{Start date|1983|2|2}}
}}

'''''The Scarlet and the Black''''' is a 1983 Italian-American [[international co-production]] [[television film|made-for-television]] [[historical drama|historical]] [[war film|war]] [[drama (film and television)|drama film]] directed by [[Jerry London]], and starring [[Gregory Peck]] and [[Christopher Plummer]]. Based on J. P. Gallagher's book ''The Scarlet Pimpernel of the Vatican'' (published in 1967), the film tells the story of [[Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty]], a real-life Irish Catholic priest who saved thousands of Jews and escaped Allied [[POW]]s in [[Rome]].<ref name=Corry>{{cite magazine| last1=Corry |first1=John | title='TV: MOVIE ABOUT NAZIS AND PAPAL DIPLOMACY'|url= https://www.nytimes.com/1983/02/02/arts/tv-movie-about-nazis-and-papal-diplomacy.html|magazine=[[The New York Times]] |date=February 2, 1983 |access-date=February 4, 2022}}</ref> CBS distributed more than 500,000 scripts of ''The Scarlet and the Black'' to students in elementary and high schools throughout the country, to be read aloud in class to stimulate student interest in English and history.<ref name=Corry /> The title ''The Scarlet and the Black'' is a reference not only to the black cassock and scarlet sash worn by [[Monsignore]]s and [[Catholic bishop|bishop]]s in the [[Catholic Church]], but also to the dominant colors of Nazi Party regalia.

==Plot==
In September 1943, the German army occupies Rome following Italy's [[Armistice of Cassibile|surrender]] to the Allies. [[Pope Pius XII]] meets General Max Helm and SS Head of Police for Rome Lieutenant Colonel [[Herbert Kappler]]. The Colonel expresses concern that escaped Allied prisoners may attempt to seek refuge in the Vatican, and requests permission to paint a white line across [[St. Peter's Square]] in order to mark the extent of Vatican sovereignty. The Pope does not protest, but when the SS officers leave, he sees out of the window that the white line had already begun to be painted.

Opposing Kappler is Monsignor O'Flaherty, an Irish-born Vatican priest who runs an underground organization which provides safe haven and escape to escaped [[Prisoner of war|POWs]], Jews, and refugees in Rome. O'Flaherty is assisted in this enterprise by others, including locals, the clergy and members of the Vatican's diplomatic corps. The Nazis attempt to destroy the group, but Kappler is frustrated by O'Flaherty's successes, due to his cleverness, disguises, and his straining the limits of the Vatican's [[Country neutrality (international relations)|neutrality]].

Met with continuous failure, Kappler begins to develop a personal vendetta against O'Flaherty. Despite O'Flaherty's efforts, Kappler manages to recapture many escaped POWs, deport many Jews to death camps, and exploit and oppress the general population; a number of O'Flaherty's friends are also arrested or killed. O'Flaherty is himself the target of an assassination attempt instigated by Kappler, which however fails due to the monsignor's boxing skills. The rescue organization continues operating, and succeeds in saving many lives.

As the war progresses, the Allies succeed in landing in Italy and begin to overcome German resistance, eventually breaking through and heading towards Rome itself. Colonel Kappler worries for his family's safety from vengeful [[Italian resistance movement|partisans]], and, in a one-to-one meeting with O'Flaherty, asks him to save his family, appealing to the same values that motivated O'Flaherty to save so many others. The Monsignor, however, declines, refusing to believe that, after all the Colonel has done and all the atrocities he is responsible for, he would expect mercy and forgiveness automatically without repentance, simply because he asks for it, and departs in disgust.

As the Allies enter Rome in June 1944, Monsignor O'Flaherty joins in the celebration of the liberation, and somberly toasts those who did not live to see it. Kappler is captured in 1945 and interrogated by the Allies. In the course of his interrogation, he is informed that his wife and children were smuggled out of Italy and escaped unharmed to Switzerland. Upon being asked who helped them, Kappler realizes who it must have been, but responds simply that he does not know.

The film epilogue states that O'Flaherty was decorated by several Allied governments after the war. Kappler was sentenced to life imprisonment, but was visited in prison every month by O'Flaherty, his only regular visitor. Eventually, the former SS officer converted to the Catholic faith, and was baptized by the Monsignor in 1959.

==Cast==
'''Vatican Officials'''
* [[Gregory Peck]] as [[Monsignor]] [[Hugh O'Flaherty]]
* [[John Gielgud]] as [[Pope Pius XII]]
* [[Raf Vallone]] as Father Vittorio
* [[Angelo Infanti]] as Father Morosini
* [[Marne Maitland]] as Papal Secretary
* [[Stelio Candelli]] as O'Flaherty's Secretary
* Gabriella D'Olive as Mother Superior

'''SS Personnel'''
* [[Christopher Plummer]] as [[SS]]-[[Obersturmbannführer]] [[Herbert Kappler]]
* [[Kenneth Colley]] as SS-[[Hauptsturmführer]] Hirsch (representing [[Erich Priebke]]) (as Ken Colley)
* [[Walter Gotell]] as SS-[[Obergruppenführer]] Max Helm (representing [[Karl Wolff]])
* [[Michael Byrne (actor)|Michael Byrne]] as Reinhard Beck
* [[T. P. McKenna]] as [[Reichsführer]] [[Heinrich Himmler]]
* David Brandon as SS officer

'''Allied Personnel'''

* [[John Terry (actor)|John Terry]] as Lt. Jack Manning
* Phillip Hatton as Lt. Harry Barnett
* Mark Lewis as Cpl. Les Tate
* [[William Berger (actor)|William Berger]] as U.S. Intelligence Officer (as Bill Berger)
* [[Edmund Purdom]] as British Intelligence Officer / Epilogue Narrator (as Edmond Purdom)

'''Civilians'''
* [[Barbara Bouchet]] as Minna Kappler
* [[Julian Holloway]] as Alfred West (John May)
* [[Olga Karlatos]] as Francesca Lombardo (representing [[Chetta Chevalier]])
* [[Vernon Dobtcheff]] as Count Langenthal (representing Count Demetris Sarsfield Salazar)
* [[Peter Burton]] as Sir [[D'Arcy Osborne]]
*[[Fabiana Udenio]] as Guila Lombardo
* [[Remo Remotti]] as Rabbi Leoni
* Giovanni Crippa as Simon Weiss
* [[Billy Boyle]] as Paddy Doyle
* Itaco Nardulli as Franz Kappler
* Cariddi Nardulli as Liesel Kappler (as Carridi Nardulli)
* Alessandra Cozzo as Emilia Lombardo
* Cesarina Tacconi as Pregnant Woman
* Sergio Nicolai as Firing Squad Officer
* [[Bruno Corazzari]] as Coalman
* Francesco Carnelutti as Cameriere Segreto

==Historical accuracy==
Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty was a real Irish-born priest and Vatican official, credited with saving 6,500 Jews and Allied war prisoners.

The portrayal of [[Pope Pius XII]] is notable. He "answers questions that the film hasn't even raised. The world, in fact, didn't raise the questions until the 1960s." Answering protests that came decades later, including by Rolf Hochhuth's play ''The Deputy'' and the writings of [[Hannah Arendt]], the film wrestles with the role of the [[Holy See]] in the War at multiple points. During the conclusion of the film, Pope Pius XII tells O'Flaherty: 'In my heart I honor you'.<ref name=Corry />

The character of General Max Helm was based entirely on the real life of ''SS-[[Obergruppenführer]]'' [[Karl Wolff]], who served in 1944 as the [[SS and Police Leader|Supreme SS and Police Leader]] of Italy. The film was unable to use Wolff's real name, since the former SS general was still living when the film was in production; he died in 1984.

Herbert Kappler converted from Protestant to Catholic in 1949; however, that fact only became known in 1959.<ref name=Walker>{{cite magazine| last1=Walker |first1=Stephen | title='The priest who outfoxed the Nazis'|url= https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/the-priest-who-outfoxed-the-nazis-1.562998|magazine= [[The Irish Times]]|date=March 4, 2011 |access-date=February 4, 2022}}</ref>

Herbert Kappler was instrumental in carrying out the [[Ardeatine massacre]], one of the worst World War II atrocities on Italian soil. His life imprisonment sentence was largely in relation to that crime.<ref name=Walker/> He was eventually transferred to a prison hospital on account of poor health. It was there that he was smuggled out in a suitcase by his wife in 1977 (Kappler weighed less than 105 pounds at the time). He escaped to West Germany, where he died at age 70 in 1978.

Actor Christopher Plummer was 53 years old during the production of the film. Herbert Kappler was only 36 when he served as SS Security Chief in Rome.

==Awards==
During the [[35th Primetime Emmy Awards]], the film was nominated in the categories of ''Outstanding Individual Achievement - graphic design and title sequences'' for Phil Norman, ''Outstanding Film Editing for a Limited Series or a Special'' for Benjamin Weissman and winning for ''Outstanding Film Sound Mixing for a Limited Series or a Special'' for Gordon L. Day, John Mitchell, Stanley A. Wetzel and Howard Wilmarth.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb title|id=0086251}}
* {{amg movie|43086}}
* {{tcmdb title|id=414733}}
* [http://planetreview.blogspot.com/2002/07/scarlet-and-black.html Planet Review Blog for ''The Scarlet and the Black'']
* [http://www.themoviescene.co.uk/reviews/the-scarlet-and-the-black/the-scarlet-and-the-black.html The Movie Scene for ''The Scarlet and the Black'']

{{Jerry London}}
{{ITC Distributions Chronology |state=expanded}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scarlet and the Black}}
[[Category:1983 television films]]
[[Category:1983 films]]
[[Category:1980s war drama films]]
[[Category:1980s historical drama films]]
[[Category:Films about Catholicism]]
[[Category:American historical drama films]]
[[Category:American war drama films]]
[[Category:Italian Campaign of World War II films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Jerry London]]
[[Category:Films set in Vatican City]]
[[Category:Films about Catholic priests]]
[[Category:Films about Nazis]]
[[Category:Films about Nazism]]
[[Category:Films scored by Ennio Morricone]]
[[Category:ITC Entertainment films]]
[[Category:CBS network films]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Heinrich Himmler]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Pope Pius XII]]
[[Category:1980s American films]]
[[Category:American World War II films]]
[[Category:World War II films based on actual events]]

The Scarlet and the Black - Revision history

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