Product Details

• Actors: Don Murray, Larry Gates, Cindi Wood, Keir Dullea, Logan Ramsey
• Directors: Irvin Kershner
• Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Letterboxed, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono), English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)
• Subtitles: English, Spanish, French
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
• DVD Release Date: October 15, 2002
• Run Time: 102 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00006FDAV
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #32,673 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "The Hoodlum Priest" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Don Murray (Bus Stop) and Keir Dullea (2001: A Space Odyssey) deliver "honest, heartfelt" (Time) performances in this riveting true-life story of an inner-city hero. Charged withan intelligent screenplay, masterful direction and a powerful cast, The Hoodlum Priest is a "forceful, moving [and] thoroughly unpredictable" (Newsweek) film. Reverend Charles Dismas Clark (Murray) is a man of the cloth who fights a never-ending battle to give ex-convicts a chance for a better life. His efforts are jeopardized, however, when a young parolee becomes caught in a tragic, horrifying conflict. As the wheels of justice turn, Clark's ideals are put to the ultimate testand a young man's very life hangs in the balance.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Worthy social problem drama, November 23, 2007

By	F. J. Harvey "Cricket ,country music and a go... (Birmingham England) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The Hoodlum Priest is based on the life and work of an actual Jesuit priest ,Father Clark, who was heavily involved in the provision of support to newly released former convicts in St Louis.The movie was co-scripted by its star Don Murray under the pseudonym Don Deer.The other scriptwriter was Joseph Landon .
The movie focuses on Father Clark's relationship with one particular man ,Billy (Keir Dullea-giving a striking and memorable performance on his movie debut).Billy is released from prison and with the help of the priest begins his adjustment to life on the outside very well .He secures a place to live ,gets a job and acquires a steady ,respectable girlfriend (Cindi Wood).Then things begin to go wrong -he is unjustly fired from his job ,decides to exact revenge by burglarising the place and ,when the robbery is interrupted, kills a man .Billy is put on trial for murder and his life hangs in the balance.
The movie was shot in 1961 but feels like an older movie in some ways ;it is easy to imagine the movie being made 2 decades earlier with Pat O'Brien as the priest and somebody like John Garfield in the Dullea role .The movie is well shot in crisp monochrome and the direction by Irvin Kerschner is restrained and semi-documentary in feel.The peformances are sincere and earnest .The one big bugbear I have with the movie is its script which is an odd mixture of the pious and the profane and inclined to moralise .It is a "message movie"about the need for aftercare for ex-convicts in order to make it easier for them to readjust to life in "normal society" .A worthy sentiment but here the story stops and starts too much as the script keeps making the point in a preachy way.

The movie is sincere and well intentioned and is not to be lightly brushed aside but it needed a sharper script to make its point without sermonising .

3.0 out of 5 stars Good period movie, March 7, 2009

By	D. Smith (USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This movie has regional appeal for those living in St. Louis, since it's true story occurred in that locale and also was filmed there. Also entertaining for those not from St. Louis.