‘When In Rome’ Is the Best Catholic Conversion Movie You’ve Never Seen

Michie

Well-Known Member
Supporter
Feb 5, 2002
165,522
55,220
Woods
✟4,586,217.00
Country
United States
Faith
Catholic
Marital Status
Married
Politics
US-Others
The 1952 MGM production gives a rare glimpse of Pope Pius XII’s 1950 Holy Year.


Finding a copy of When in Rome might be difficult, but despite its obscurity it is an absolute must-watch — a black-and-white, low-budget MGM picture centered around the Holy Year of 1950. The film opens with this screen card:

“1950 was a Holy Year. Three million pilgrims from every part of the world thronged to Rome, the Eternal City. Our story is about two men who journeyed to Rome that year. One was Father John X. Halligan, a young priest from Coletown, Pennsylvania, whose mission was a holy one. The other was Joe Brewster, late of Sing Sing, San Quentin, Joliet and Atlanta, whose mission was not so holy. If our story has a moral, it’s a simple one. God may move in mysterious ways, but He gets there just the same.”

An original screenplay not based on previous material, it is at once a comedy of mistaken identity and a drama of moral conversion. Father Halligan meets Joe Brewster on a ship from New York to Genoa. Unbeknownst to Father Halligan, Brewster is a con man on the run from U.S. authorities.

Brewster attempts to elude his pursuers by stealing and donning Father Halligan’s priestly garb. But instead of instantly reporting Brewster to the Italian authorities, Father Halligan allows Brewster to roam free. As Brewster finds himself immersed with the Holy Year pilgrims in Rome, he recalls his own days as a choirboy. Father Halligan even sees Brewster participate in a Eucharistic procession trying to blend in with the crowd; later, they clean the Trevi Fountain together; in the Colosseum, Brewster makes his first confession in 20 years.

Continued below.
‘When In Rome’ Is the Best Catholic Conversion Movie You’ve Never Seen