Just when I thought I had seen all Cary Grant films, I spot his face while scrolling through Amazon Prime, attached to a movie called The Pride and the Passion (1957).  Being a fan of his work, it seemed like a natural choice.  Further, it is about the Napoleonic Wars, the historical period that first enkindled my curiosity about the past at a young age.  Then, while viewing the film, there was a great deal of Catholic imagery.  This sounds like a perfect title for this reviewer.  Yet, I found myself struggling to keep my attention on the proceedings, and annoyed by other details.  How could something with so many positive elements be such a letdown?  All I can do is describe it to you.

The opening crawl to The Pride and the Passion describes Spain in 1810 as being overrun by French forces under Napoleon (not pictured).  To illustrate this fact, the first shot is of a defeated Spanish army in a disorderly retreat following defeat.  They are dragging with them a massive cannon that is proving a hinderance to their flight.  To speed their way, their general orders it discarded, and the soldiers push it into a ravine before continuing their march.  Such a weapon is of interest to the French and Spain’s allies, namely the British.  As to the latter, they send Captain Anthony Trumbull (Cary Grant), a naval officer, with orders to retrieve the humungous artillery piece.  How they expect him to move such a heavy object on his own is a mystery to me, but he is to find General Larena to begin that process.  Instead, he is brought to Miguel (Frank Sinatra).  Miguel is aware of the weapon and its location.  However, instead of handing it over to the English, he intends to use it to retake his beloved hometown of Avila.  If you are a Catholic, that name should be familiar, but I digress.  Captain Trumbull insists that he is to transport it to a waiting ship, but this is where being a solitary figure becomes quite the disadvantage.  What he is able to do is to get them to agree to let him have the cannon after it has been used against Avila.  Thus, they commence the enormous job of hoisting the ponderously heavy piece of metal from its resting place and getting it on its way, all while dodging French patrols looking for it.  There is some doubt as to whether Miguel can accomplish the feat, which is voiced by Captain Trumbull among others.  For one thing, they will be crossing much of Spain to get to Avila, which means plenty of people will see their progress.  The French under General Henri Jouvet (Theodore Bikel) are counting on learning of its whereabouts from those same people, but are thwarted early on by the closed lips of the common Spanish peasant.  In response, General Jouvet, headquartered in Avila, starts hanging ten Spaniards a day until someone comes forward with the information the French desire.  That such random killing is taking place only spurs Miguel all the more.  However, he has another problem dividing his attention.  His longtime companion, Juana (Sophia Loren), is beginning to develop feelings for Captain Trumbull.  Though Miguel does not exactly stand in the way of the romance, it is clear that he believes her attention should be focused the capture of Avila.  It is because of the mutual affection that Captain Trumbull has for Juana that he begins to care about their cause as much as her.  As to that cause, most of the movie is about this large group of Spaniards playing a sort of game of hide-and-seek with the French as they march along.  There is no point in detailing every pitfall they overcome because that would be tedious.  One of the ways in which they avoid detection involves the Church, but I will get into that in a moment.  Shortly before getting to their destination, Juana and Captain Trumbull share an intimate moment as they look ahead to what they will do once they have achieved their goal.  They talk of a life together in London, and how she will have a dress with a cape that will match his uniform.  He also expects her to tell Miguel of her decision to go, though she believes her old friend will know.  However, the next time she sees Miguel, he has just finished a new pair of shoes for her (which she eschews in favor of remaining barefoot, for some reason), which causes her to reconsider her intentions.  Thus, on the eve of the battle, she goes to Captain Trumbull to tell him that instead of staying near him and the gun, she will be surging forward with her people when they finally bring down the wall.  If you are familiar with these kinds of dramas, I think you can guess what comes next.  Avila is successfully stormed, but she is mortally wounded before getting inside.  Once the fighting has subsided, Captain Trumbull finds Juana and she dies in her arms.  Captain Trumbull also notices Miguel’s lifeless body not far away.  With nothing left to do, he gathers a group of people to drag the cannon presumably to its original intended destination.

While seeing these people do what you have witnessed for most of The Pride and the Passion, you might ask why Captain Trumbull did not originally make the necessary arrangements.  Then again, Miguel makes it clear what the peasantry of Spain intends to do.  What is less clear is the oppression Spain is experiencing under the French, save for the hangings ordered by General Jouvet.  To put this a different way, the history is a bit off.  While viewing it, I had the sense that those responsible for its content saw paintings by Francisco de Goya, who did several pieces on this era, and decided they represented the totality of the Napoleonic Wars in Spain.  Further, none of what you see in the movie actually happened.  Speaking of inventing things, I had the most trouble with the Catholic aspects of the film.  While St. Teresa, whose statue is seen at the end, was born in Ávila, and the representation of the city walls is remarkably accurate, there is a scene when Juana is praying to the Virgin Mary.  As an adherent to the Church, I have to be disturbed by such moments because they obfuscate the truth.  It is the most common misconception about Catholicism that people who profess that Faith pray to Mary as if she is equal to God.  That is simply and unequivocally not true, or if there are some who do that, they are not following Church teachings.  Indeed, the leadership is quite sensitive to these accusations.  Recently, there was an update to what Catholicism says about the Mother of God, rejecting the titles of “Mediatrix” and “Co-redemptrix,” wishing to re-emphasize the Jesus as our sole Savior.  I am getting off topic, but these are the kinds of things that go through my head when watching a film such as this one.

Among the many Catholic things in The Pride and the Passion is a sequence in which they hide the cannon in a religious procession during Holy Week.  That is not the most kosher of things to do to a Catholic, but neither did they care about such things at this time.  I also did not care for this film.