CinemaCloud
Drama

The First Legion

"It will give you that warm, wonderful feeling deep in your heart..."

User Score4 votes
68%6.8/10
Release1951
Runtime1H 26M
LanguageEnglish
StatusReleased

Synopsis

A Catholic priest fights against his colleagues' immediate acceptance of an ambiguous “miracle”.

Principal Cast8

Full Cast & Crew (35)

Media6

Backdrops

The First Legion backdrop 1
The First Legion backdrop 2
The First Legion backdrop 3
The First Legion backdrop 4

Posters

The First Legion poster 1
The First Legion poster 2

Director

Douglas Sirk

Douglas Sirk

Director →

Keywords

miraclepriestcatholic

External Links

Reviews1

CinemaSerf7/10

"Dr. Morrell" (Lyle Bettger) is adamant that the ageing "Fr. Sierra" (H.B. Warner) will never walk again, until - well, he does. Is this a miracle? There are those amongst this priestly, Jesuit, brotherhood who are all too eager to have it declared one, but "Fr. Arnoux" (Charles Boyer) is a tad more sceptical. His concerns aren't exactly assuaged when the wheelchair-bound young "Terri" (Barbara Rush) hopes that this is but a precursor to her own healing. "Arnoux" is also determined to stop the disillusioned "Fr. Fulton" (Wesley Addy) from abandoning his faith, but with all these shenanigans going on, he perhaps isn't so certain of his own - a fact that hasn't escaped the sagely "Father Rector" (Leo G. Carroll) who has quite a few plates to juggle, or the visiting and rather jolly "Monsignor Carey" (William Demarest). It's quite easy to dismiss this as a dose of Christian hokum, but it's actually quite a bit more of a subtle look at hope and how ready people are to believe in just anything when it is absent. That's well exemplified here by a personable effort from Rush and also from both Boyer and Addy, too. We sense all along that the doctor knows a great deal more than he's letting on, and that also helps create a sense of the perplexing that does raise a few questions about the power of prayer (or not). The photography also adds a bit of richness to the drama, intimate but never intrusive, and complemented by a gently effective score from Hans Sommer that gives this an extra humanity. I haven't a religious bone in my body, and the first half hour did make me wonder what moralising I was to expect, but by the end it proved a more thought-provoking look at belief, instead.

Dec 5, 2024

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Countries:United States of America
Production:United ArtistsSedif Pictures