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Related Pages:
- Films Suggested by Catholics - Top 50 Greatest Jewish Movies |
ABSTRACT (from Park's article): The best religious films, and therefore the best Catholic films, convey the great truths of Christianity implicitly rather than explicitly. This list consists primarily of films that deal with Catholic characters, Catholic society, and the Bible in ways that are not hostile to the Church. Most of them were made by Catholic directors.
WEBMASTER'S NOTE: To be completely fair, a large number of this films have no Catholic characters at all. Clearly Park's criteria for listing these films relies heavily on their deeper thematic content and moral quality. These are excellent films, and we certainly have no disagreement with William Park's position that these are among the "best Catholic movies of all time." But it may be pointed out that while most of the filmmakers who made these films were Catholic, many of these films were made by filmmakers of other faiths, including directors or screenwriters who were Jews, Methodists, Latter-day Saints (Mormons), etc. If one can identify these as "Catholic films", then certainly there are many who would argue that some of these films are among (for example) the "greatest Jewish" or "greatest LDS" or "greatest Presbyterian" films of all time.
Best "Catholic" Movies of All Time (listed alphabetically) | ||||
| Film Title (year) | Director | Rated | Religious Affiliation of the Director | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Age of Innocence (1993) | Martin Scorsese | PG | Catholic (lapsed former seminarian) | |
| Angels with Dirty Faces (1938) | Michael Curtiz | Approved | Jewish | |
| The Assisi Underground (1984) | Alexander Ramati | PG | ||
| Au Revoir, Les Enfants (1987) | Louis Malle | PG | Catholic (lapsed) | |
| Babette's Feast (1987) | Gabriel Axel | G | ||
| Bachelor Mother (1939) | Garson Kanin | Approved | ||
| Ladri di biciclette (1947) (U.S.: The Bicycle Thief; U.K.: Bicycle Thieves) | Vittorio De Sica | UK:U | Catholic | |
| Blue (1992) | Don McKellar | |||
| Ben-Hur (1959) | William Wyler | G | Jewish | |
| Casablanca (1942) | Michael Curtiz | PG | Jewish | |
| The Champ (1931) | King Vidor | Christian Science | ||
| Chariots of Fire (1981) | Hugh Hudson | PG | ||
| El Cid (1961) | Anthony Mann | NR | ||
| City Lights (1931) | Charlie Chaplin | NR | Anglican; agnostic | |
| Un Condamne a Mort S'est Echappe (1956) (a.k.a. A Man Escaped) | Robert Bresson | UK:U | Jansenist Catholic | |
| Journal d'un cure de campagne (1950) (a.k.a. Diary of a Country Priest) | Robert Bresson | Approved | Jansenist Catholic | |
| Going My Way (1944) | Leo McCarey | Approved | Catholic | |
| Il Vangelo secondo Matteo (1964) (a.k.a. The Gospel According to St. Matthew) | Pier Paolo Pasolini | UK:U | ||
| La Grande illusion (a.k.a. Grand Illusion) (1937) | Jean Renoir | NR | Catholic | |
| The Grapes of Wrath (1940) | John Ford | Approved | Catholic | |
| Groundhog Day (1993) | Harold Ramis | PG | Jewish | |
| Ikiru (1952) | Akira Kurosawa | PG | Buddhist-Shinto culture | |
| It Happened One Night (1934) | Frank Capra | UK:U | Catholic; Christian Science | |
| It's a Wonderful Life (1946) | Frank Capra | Approved | Catholic; Christian Science | |
| La Ultima cena (a.k.a. The Last Supper) (1976) | Tomas Gutierrez Alea | Spain:18 | ||
| Banshun (a.k.a. Late Spring) (1949) | Yasujiro Ozu | Buddhist-Shinto culture | ||
| A Man for All Seasons (1966) | Fred Zinnemann | Approved | Jewish | |
| The Miracle Worker (1962) | Arthur Penn | Australia:PG | ||
| Ma nuit chez Maud (1969) (a.k.a. My Night at Maud's) | Eric Rohmer | Catholic | Catholic | |
| Nazarin (1959) | Luis Bunuel | Catholic; atheist | ||
| North by Northwest (1959) | Alfred Hitchcock | UK:PG | Catholic | |
| On the Waterfront (1954) | Elia Kazan | PG | Greek Orthodox (lapsed); Communist | |
| La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc (1928) (a.k.a. The Passion of Joan of Arc) | Carl Theodor Dreyer | UK:PG | ||
| Pickpocket (1959) | Robert Bresson | Argentina:16 | Jansenist Catholic | |
| Pinocchio (1940) | Hamilton Luske, Ben Sharpsteen | G | ||
| The Quiet Man (1952) | John Ford | Approved | Catholic | |
| Quiz Show (1994) | Robert Redford | PG-13 | ||
| Roma, citta aperta (a.k.a. Rome, Open City) (1945) | Roberto Rossellini | Approved | Communist; Catholic | |
| The Sign of the Cross (1932) | Cecil B. DeMille | Approved | Episcopalian | |
| The Song of Bernadette (1943) | Henry King | Approved | Jewish | |
| Therese (1986) | Alain Cavalier | |||
| 3 Godfathers (1948) | John Ford | UK:A | Catholic | |
| Viaggio in Italia (1953) (a.k.a. Voyage to Italy; a.k.a. Strangers) | Roberto Rossellini | Communist; Catholic | ||
| You Can't Take It With You (1938) | Frank Capra | NR | Catholic; Christian Science | |
| Vertigo (1958) | Alfred Hitchcock | PG | Catholic | |
NOTE: There are only 45 movies on the list.