"The Scarlet and the Black"

"The Scarlet and the Black" starring Christopher Plummer as  Col. Herbert Kappler, the Nazi in charge of Romee, and Gregory Peck, as Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty, is an your seat true life story. John Gielgud is also brilliant as the Pope, who literally walked a political tightrope, just as O'Flaherty did on the white line painted around the entrance to the Vatican. He even ventured outside in Rome, at first in his Vatican clothes, and later in various disguises. He should be made a Saint for what he did in saving over 6,500 lives at the peril of losing his own.

How he won the battle of wits with Colonel Kappler, who tried to kill him, even personally wielding a sniper's rifle at one point, is nothing short of a miracle. Even the Colonel, as depraved as he was, could not bring himself to squeeze the trigger, while the Monseigneur smiled up at him in the crosshairs of the rifle's scope.

In total, of Rome's 9,700 Jews, most were saved, with only 1,007 shipped to Auschwitz. The rest were hidden, 5,000 of them by the official Church - 3,000 at the Pope’s Castel Gandolfo, 200 or 400 as "members" of the Palatine Guard, and some 1,500 in monasteries, convents and colleges.

The remaining 3,700 were hidden in private homes, including Msgr. O'Flaherty's network of apartments. After the war, O’Flaherty was honored by various Allied countries with awards and decorations for his heroic acts to save Jews and POWs alike. Inexplicably he has never been made a Saint.

Monseigneur O'Laherty's total includes the POW's, many of whom were RAF pilots, which is why his total is so high. It should also be remembered that as an Irishman he basically deplored the English and the Black and Tans of his youth for the 1916 Bloody Sunday and subsequent Irish War for Independence, which led to Ireland's being divided into two halves in 1921. Also, it should be bpnoted that Ireland was neutral against Germany in both World Wars.

"The Scarlet and the Black" has an even more amazing ending in real life. It is written on the screen at the close of the film. Sentenced to life in prison, the Colonel had no visitors save one. That was Msgr. O'Flaherty, who visited him each month until the colonel died. Additionally, the Colonel even converted to Catholicism at the hand of Msgr. O'Flaherty before he died. The Monsignor lived well past the Colonel, not passing away until Octobern of 1963, having converted the agnostic man who had, on many occassions, tried to have him killed.

This film will have you rooted tomykur seat as you watch 3 of the greatest stars play their craft telling the story that seems almost unreal.

Note: Scarlet and Black were the colors of both the Vatican and the Gestapo. Two forces, diametrically opposed yet both claiming the same colors, makes an interesting observation.

https://youtu.be/D0YbW0ZzaNQ