Powerful

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

This was the most beautiful and most inspiring movie in Cinemascope of the 50s decade. Very well directed and a box office hit in rural America and other parts of the world (lines to see it formed around the block all over Scottland, but also in cities like Havana, Madrid, London, Dublin, etc.), yet the Academy of Arts and Science ignored it as best film and passed on nominations to its players. It won only one award for screenplay adaptation (from the best selling biography). The reason for this may have been that Jean Peters, its star, quit the screen all too suddenly after its release, and Fox made no effort to push or promote the film within the academy when nominations were being selected. Releasing companies normally do that. Richard Todd certainly delivered the best performance of his career in a very difficult role. The strikingly beautiful Jean Peters amazed critics with a down to earth and totally believable performance that certainly merited a best actress nomination. And Marjorie Rambeau (of Tobacco Road fame)won other awards as supporting actress for her portrayal(including Critic's Choice), but wasn't even nominated for an Academy Award. If you check the 1955 nominees for best acting, you'll discover that only Susan Hayward, for I'll Cry Tomorrow, was at par with Peters' portrayal in this flick. True of the film as well. It was a much better picture than most of those nominated. Fox had scheduled this film as the first in Cinemascope to be released, with Peters and Richard Burton in the lead roles, but producer Lamarr Troti died; and so, Fox offered The Robe as an alternative-which was an inferior film in regards to content, facts and script. At any rate, see this film believing it did win "best picture of 1955". As it ends you'll likely become certain that it did.

A true gem. Ten times better than today's Chritian movies. Taken from the main character's wife true story, ( the well - known Catherine Marshall). The sermons are really Dr. Marshall's word.s, this was back in the day when church was about God and not entertaining everybody so they could feel good about themselves.He really never pulled any punches, kind of a President Hartry Truman (Plain Speaking) of preachers. It is sad when Americans neither know or ever heard about a real American hero. It is a classic tale of from rags to success. Recent Christian films by Steve Taylor, Michael W. Smith, and T. D. Jakes, all big names in ministry, are gutless and mindless, even preachy compared to this fine film

It's refreshing to see a film about faith without all the dogmatic posturing and self-righteousness so prevalent among today's more evangelical "clergy".This is a good film biography of a remarkable man, whose true calling to the ministry influenced so many lives. His inclusive message of the all-encompassing love of God and the Christ spirit seems more meaningful today than in its own time.The best part of the film are Marshall's own concise and lucid sermons, lifted straight from the page and thrillingly delivered by the actor Richard Todd. The actor listened carefully to recordings of Marshall's speaking style and the memories others had of it and carefully replicated it. One doesn't hear public speaking like THIS anymore, without a microphone, the text delivered with style and passion.This film changed my life as a teenager, forty years ago, introducing me to the spiritual life. I then read the book from which it derives (even better than the picture), all the collections of Marshall's sermons and prayers then in print (the prayers even more wonderful than the sermons!) and these books carried me through many bleak times in my life, as did the subsequent books by Peter's wife.I hope this film can do the same for you.

In this particular time in history when we have so many obvious charlatans in pulpits, making good money and spewing out their own version of exclusive Christianity; Peter Marshall's life story stands as a stinging rebuke.This man certainly didn't make any money as a Christian, I think if he were alive today, he'd be embarrassed by a Pat Robertson or a Jerry Falwell. Peter Marshall(1902-1949) was a kid born in humble circumstances near Glasgow, Scotland. He had two loves, the sea and Christianity and in time the latter overtook the former.In Scotland to get the passage to come to America and then later in America he worked at a variety of very humble manual labor to get the money to go to seminary to fulfill what he conceived as his life's calling. Pastoring first in the Atlanta area and later at the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in Washington, DC. his reputation as a moving speaker eventually went national.Marshall identified very strongly with Jesus the carpenter. He saw Jesus as a working class hero as relevant for his time as in biblical times. The film makes it very clear that Marshall's own efforts at humble labor made him think of Jesus in that way. His church in Washington, DC a place once for a few privileged dowagers became a place where all became welcome.The movie is based on Catherine Marshall's book about her life with her husband. Jean Peters narrates and gives a strong performance as Catherine Marshall. She meets Marshall while attending college in the Atlanta area. Her best scene in the film when she gives her own sermon at a youth rally to combat the effects of drinking that Prohibition era alcohol.Ironically Prohibition's biggest boosters were American fundamentalist preachers of that era. Marshall himself doesn't take a position on Prohibition, but the effects of drinking that bootleg product were certainly real enough, especially among the young people of the Twenties.Richard Todd first became known to American audiences playing a terminally ill Scotch soldier in The Hasty Heart. He was a natural to play Peter Marshall. His best scenes are in the pulpit, delivering sermons that were taken from the texts of Peter Marshall's own sermons.Todd certainly doesn't play Marshall as arrogant and smug as so many of our prominent Christian preachers of today are. Another wonderful scene of his is when Catherine Marshall is stricken with tuberculosis and on the basement stairs of his house as he prays for the recovery of his wife and asks God if in fact he's become arrogant and self- assured. It's his own Gethsemene experience.The film is directed by Henry Koster who did a whole lot of fine religious themed films like The Bishop's Wife, The Robe and The Singing Nun. I think this was his best effort.Certainly believers will find this an inspirational film. Non-believers will appreciate the care that went into this product, the quality of the performances and the fact that one certainly can proclaim Christianity and actually live it.