I am not just recommending this film. I am pontificating upon it's message, as I see it.
Father John Fulton is a Jesuit instructor in a seminary school, who feels he has lost his faith and desire to continue in his role. A talk with his friend Father Marc Arnoux, played by Charles Boyer, is of no help.
The Head of the Order wants to throw him out. But an issue of theology arises which can make or break the whole outcome. Father Arnoux is supportive of his decision, but also sensitive to the needs of the Rectory. He is marvelous in this role.
The issue is finally decided by H. B. Warner as Fr. Jose Sierr, who has been in a coma for three years. He is expected to die soon and his body is completely atrophied from being bed bound for so long. It would take years of physical therapy to get him to even sit up in bed, let alone walk again. In short, it would take a Miracle.
On the eve of the young Priest's departure the other Priests and the Monsignor, played by William Demarest, are all gathered for dinner in the ground floor dining hall. Father Sierr is upstairs in bed. He cannot possibly know of the situation concerning Father Fulton leaving the Order.
Suddenly, alone, he awakens from his coma and miraculously rises from his bed as if he has just taken a nap. He is crying. From his bed chamber he goes to the stairway and comes down the stairs to the dining hall.
All of the Priests, the reigning Monsignor and even the secular Doctor are astonished to see him. They rush to his side, but he doesn't need their help. They ask why him why he is crying. He, in turn, completely and rationally explains what he cannot possibly know.
If the Brother is leaving he is breaking God's will, but it is God who has also implanted Self will within each of us. The dilemma, as he sees it is this;
If God saw fit to lead the young Priest to the Jesuits, he must stay. But if God also gave him Self will, then he must be allowed to leave. The others argue that God surrounded the Brother with a mission in life to serve a higher cause than his own.
The older, formerly comatose Father Sierr reasons back that God has also now called upon Father Fulton to honor his Self will, and he must be permitted to leave in order to follow that call.
When asked why he weeps he replies that he is weeping because they are losing a brother who can help them all in fulfilling God's will. But at the same time, Father Fulton may have now been called upon to answer another, even higher calling. Who is to say what is right or wrong? Who is qualified to speak for God?
And that is the message of this film, as I see it. There are other subplots going on as the town becomes a magnet for hucksters and lost souls. There is even the question of arguing for recognition of Father Sierr's recovery as a genuine Miracle, to be recognized by the Vatican. But to me that is all just stuff and nonesense.
This film is not for everyone, but the message is. I hope that others will find it as meaningful as I have.
