Thoughts on This Film

The Keys of the Kingdom, based on the book of the same title by A. J. Cronin, is about a young Scottish lad who grows up to become a priest in the Catholic church and opens a mission in China. It has a lot of fine acting talent, with Gregory Peck and Thomas Mitchell. Roddy McDowall and Peggy Ann Garner, two of the best child actors of the 1940s, appear, but all too briefly, and Anne Revere is also glimpsed.

Of course I was watching to see Vincent Price in a fairly early role. He plays a boyhood chum of Gregory Peck’s, who in real life was five years younger than Price so close enough. Price appears twice, once fairly near the beginning and again fairly near the end, by which time he is a Catholic Monsignor who is pompous, arrogant, and not very considerate, for instance wanting to take a long walk when the Peck character has a bad leg. The Peck character later terms him “stuffy.” It was interesting seeing Vincent Price in religious raiment after watching him as the Devil (The Story of Mankind), a Satanist (The Masque of the Red Death), and just plain sinister (too many to name).

As for the movie overall, I found it a bit slow and I was not heavily invested in the characters or their story. Peck did his best with the material and is always entertaining to watch. Viewers will have to decide for themselves about the portrayal of the Chinese. I thought it was all right and not nearly so objectionable as in many old movies. They do find themselves in the middle of a war so there is some violence, and one shooting in particular is very sad.

On the question of whether it is okay for kids to watch, there is nothing in it too objectionable for them to see. There are a couple of sad moments, but overall I think most kids would be bored with it and not stick through the whole movie which is a little over two hours but seems longer.