The Assisi Underground ** (1985, Ben Cross, James Mason, Irene Papas) – Classic Movie Review 10,263

Writer-director Alexander Ramati’s 1985 The Assisi Underground is a well-meaning, costly, but largely ineptly told wartime adventure about Catholic monks in Assisi (Perugia, Umbria, Italy) hiding Italian Jewish refugees from the Nazis in 1943 and helping them to escape. In the inspiring real-life story, many lives were saved.

James Mason stars as Bishop Nicolini in his final movie, which flopped in America when it was released by Cannon Film Distributors in 1985, and Cannon didn’t bother to release it in many countries, though it was released in Italy, Spain and West Germany. Made by Golan-Globus Productions, it runs a compact 115 minutes. Luckily for Cannon’s coffers there was also a TV mini-series version, running 175 minutes.

Ben Cross gives an uninspiring performance as Father Rufino, the priest leading the moving real-life escape. Mason and Maximilian Schell as Colonel Müller are expectedly good value, though.

The director based his screenplay on his own novel While the Pope Kept Silent.

Also in the cast are Irene Papas, Maximilian Schell, Edmund Purdom, Karlheinz Hackl, Riccardo Cucciolla, Marne Maitland, and Giancarlo Prete.

It is shot by Giuseppe Rotunno in Technicolor in Assisi, Perugia, Umbria, Italy.

It was released a year after Mason’s death.

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 10,263

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