The Keys of the Kingdom (1944)

I sometimes wonder whether politics in the 21st century might be a bit more stable around the globe, were we not to have spent much of the last century sending folks like "Father Chisholm" all over the place imposing Christianity on peoples who had got along splendidly for aeons without it... This film depicts one such gentleman - a well meaning Father who struggles to find fulfilment at home in Scotland. His seminarian friend Edmund Gwenn is now the Bishop, and decides he needs a challenge - so he is duly dispatched to China where he is tasked with spreading his faith amongst those in a war-torn province coming to terms with the end of the Ming dynasty and the ascension of the new Republic. Oscar nominated Gregory Peck brings quite a bit of nuance to his role. He arrives to find his mission in ruins and a congregation he could count on one hand. His sense of humanity and his determination to help the poor, sick, and needy attracts the attention of the local mandarin, whose son he helps recover from a life-threatening illness. In return, he is provided with land and builders; builds a new mission and even manages to secure the services of three nuns - the senior of whom he has a bit of a contretemps with before war presents them all with more important issues to deal with... The story is told by way of a retrospective, so we know all along roughly what happens in the end - but Peck along with a solid supporting cast including Thomas Mitchell and Rosa Stradner keep this creatively photographed story engaging for an, admittedly, long 2¼ hours. Keep an eye out for a few short scenes from Vincent Price and a very young Roddy McDowell (just 16) too.