The Hoodlum Priest (1961)

Sorry, this movie sucks

Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

I am 75 years of age and I remember seeing the movie sometime when it came to TV. It was not my sort of movie then or now. I could not recommend this movie to anyone today. I do think however that Don Murray, as Father Clark, did some great acting in this movie.I started my freshman year at a Catholic high school, De La Salle Military Academy, in 1955. The entire first week was a Catholic retreat (religion). I can not remember now if Father Clark did one day of the retreat or the entire week. I seem to think he did the entire week.I was 14 years old and a Catholic and had gone to only Catholic schools. I had never heard of Father Clark.As soon as I saw and heard Father Clark I was thinking this guy is crazy. I was thinking why are the Christian Brothers allowing a crazy man to be around a bunch of kids? Later they had confession and I was sent into a room, alone, with Father Clark to hear my confession. He grabbed me and started to wail or say something about it will be OK or something like that. I did the confession thing and got the hell out of there.I think the movie got a lot correct about Father Clark. But if they had shown the real Father Clark it would have been a much different movie and I do not think it would have been shown.But if you want to get a little bit of an idea about what Father Clark was like then the movie and Don Murray do a pretty good job of it.

I was 13 when this film came out and while I don't know for sure why I never got to see this. I'm guessing, morals being what they were at the time; this was probably judged to rough a movie for a boy my age. It probably would have been a R rated movie in it's day. So when I saw it listed on Turner Classic Movies I thought great, I finally get a chance to see this old film. Well now that I've seen it I'm amazed this film gets so much buzz. I found it to be way to melodramatic, over acted and just plain hammy. I'm not sure how this could have ever been relevant. I know that Father Clark did great work in his time; but this seems a poor way to tell his story. Almost everyone in this movie is over acting. I'm guessing that's the fault of the director, but that doesn't make it any easier to sit through. I'm sure many will be drawn to this film by Keir Dullea's name in the cast. Dullea's fame comes from 2001 a film whose uniqueness at the time; pulled along most of the actors who happened to be in it. Like the Hoodlum Priest there were no great performances in that film either. A film for film school students, theater majors, and nostalgia buffs. A corny waste of time.

The true story of Jesuit priest Father Charles Dismas Clark and his struggles in opening a halfway house for recently-paroled convicts in '50s-era St. Louis. Lead actor Don Murray (who also co-produced the film and co-wrote the screenplay under a pseudonym) was reportedly inspired to tackle this project after meeting the real Father Dismas Clark, who is credited as technical adviser; still, one can see right away how this production got funded, what with a violent police standoff in the third act, capped with a dramatic gas chamber sequence. Despite talented Irvin Kershner as director and Haskell Wexler as cinematographer, the picture isn't any more weighty or profound than the juvenile delinquent programmers of the previous decade. Keir Dullea makes a strong debut as a troubled youth, but Murray and the other cast members generally fail to impress. *1/2 from ****

I first saw this film on T.V. when I was around 12 years old. It made a lasting and powerful impression. I remember actually sobbing at the end. The performances by both Don Murray and Keir Dullea were riveting. I've always been sorry that both actors had only a handful of truly great roles to play because they were/are capable of much more than they have been allowed to show us. Whenever I notice this film is appearing on T.V., I usually tune in. If you've never seen it or haven't seen it for a long time, watch for a chance to view it. I think you'll be moved by it.