- Film Review
- Reviewed By Tony Sloman
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4 out of 5
This moving and underrated tale from Rank about nuns helping Jewish children escape the Nazis in war-torn Italy was made with sincerity and feeling by Ralph Thomas, himself a Jew. The movie boasts an immensely talented cast, headed by the luminous Lilli Palmer as the Mother Superior, with Sylvia Syms and Yvonne Mitchell as caring nuns, David Kossoff as a rabbi and an early appearance by stage actor Henry Goodman as one of the children. This thoughtful casting lends the film resonance, and it's far better than its potentially mawkish plot combination of children and nuns would suggest.
Plot Summary
Second World War drama starring Lilli Palmer. Italy, 1943: the Sisters of Charity are smuggling children out of a nearby Italian-controlled concentration camp. But then Mussolini is deposed and the nuns must pit their wits against a ruthless new Nazi commandant.
Cast and crew
Cast
- Mother Katherine
- Lilli Palmer
- Sister Mitya
- Sylvia Syms
- Major Spoletti
- Ronald Lewis
- Colonel Horsten
- Albert Lieven
- Sister Gerta
- Yvonne Mitchell
- Lt Schmidt
- Peter Arne
- Sister Tia
- Nora Swinburne
- Fr Desmaines
- Michael Goodliffe
- Sister Constance
- Megs Jenkins
- Rabbi
- David Kossoff
Crew
- Director
- Ralph Thomas
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