While Hollywood may sometimes seem like the furthest thing from a place that nurtures the Catholic faith, the influence of Catholicism is undeniable in the American film industry and abroad.
Just a few weeks ago, the nominations for this year’s Academy Awards were announced, and it was of little surprise that the controversial film, “Conclave” was among the “Best Picture” nominees.
The movie, which features Ralph Fiennes as the cardinal at the Vatican leading a Papal conclave, landed eight Oscar nominations. “Conclave” is far from the first film surrounding the Catholic faith to land in the Best Picture category at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences award show. While it has stirred much discussion for its controversial ending, many other Hollywood blockbusters depicting Catholicism have also made it to the Oscars.
The 1943 movie, “The Song of Bernadette,” based on the Franz Werfel novel of the same name, tells the story of visionary Bernadette Soubirous, in Lourdes, France. The film depicting the Marian apparitions in France during the mid-1800s won four of 11 Oscar nominations. Actress Jennifer Jones, who portrayed Bernadette, won an Oscar for “Best Actress,” and as a result, was catapulted to stardom.
The following year, the musical comedy “Going My Way” starred Bing Crosby in the title role as a Catholic priest, Father Charles "Chuck" O'Malley. Father Chuck is sent to take over a parish in Manhattan and is met with resistance. The film was the highest-grossing picture of 1944 and received 10 Academy Award nominations, for which it won seven including Best Picture.
While the 1940s boomed with Catholic influence in Hollywood, the nominations for faith-based films were just beginning. For the third year in a row, a film depicting the Catholic religion was nominated at the Oscars yet again. This time, it came in the form of a sequel. “The Bells of St. Mary’s” starred Bing Crosby once more, as he reprised his role as Father Chuck O’Malley.
This time around, the superstar Ingrid Bergman, known best for her role in the 1942 film “Casablanca,” starred alongside Crosby as a Catholic nun and the headmistress of a Catholic inner city school, Sister Mary Benedict. The movie received eight nominations at the 18th Academy Awards and won one Oscar.
The Golden Age of Hollywood continued its portrayal of Catholicism, making waves and stars out of the actors who took part in these films.
Hollywood in the 1950s saw movies such as “The Robe” (1953), “The Ten Commandments” (1956), and “Ben-Hur” (1959), make stars out of Charlton Heston and Richard Burton. The 1960s were just as impactful with films such as “The Sound of Music” and “The Agony and the Ecstasy,” both from 1965 and “A Man for All Seasons” in 1966.
However, looking past the Golden Age of Hollywood, one can still see the influence Catholicism has had on the U.S. film industry by looking at Oscar nominations throughout the years up until the present day.
Taking it back to 1973, an unorthodox film was nominated that year for 10 awards at the Oscars, for which it won two. Not only was that film based on a novel written by a devout Catholic, but it was also in the horror genre, which very few films of that genre have ever made it to the Oscars.
That film was “The Exorcist.” William Peter Blatty, who wrote the 1971 novel of the same name, adapted his book into the screenplay for the film. It went on to win an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.
It is said that the scenes in the movie depicting possession and exorcism were so authentic that audiences were left shocked and one movie-goer just said “I believe, I believe,” as he left the theater. While the movie and novel were based on a real-life exorcism case of a boy in St. Louis, Missouri, Our Lady of Fatima and St. Michael the Archangel, who both played a big role in the real-life exorcism, were left out of the movie.
In the 1980s, movies like “The Mission” (1986) helped see the growth of the careers of young actors Liam Neeson, Jeremy Irons, and Robert De Niro. The historical drama tells the story of Jesuit missionary priests in the jungles of South America. It was nominated for 7 Academy Awards and won one.
The movie has parallels to Catholic filmmaker Martin Scorcese’s 2016 passion project, “Silence”, which similarly tells the story of Jesuit missionary priests, but this time in Japan. “Silence” also received a nomination at the 89th Academy Awards.
When looking at 21st-century cinema, no one can deny the grip that the brutal yet raw and honest scenes of the 2004 “The Passion of the Christ” had on all of us that year. Not even Hollywood could deny it, as the film received three nominations at the 77th Academy Awards for cinematography, makeup, and its original score.
Even last year’s acclaimed “Killers of the Flower Moon,” another Martin Scorcese film, dealt with Catholicism at the center of its plot and conflicts. The crime drama focuses on a series of murders of Osage members after oil is discovered on the tribal land. The main character, Mollie Kyle, whose family owns oil headrights and is Osage, is a devout Catholic.
The film’s characters attend Mass regularly and are mostly all Catholic, as the Osage nation adopted Catholicism as a strategic move to affirm their sovereignty and advocate for self-governance. The film deals with the struggles of good versus evil that many Catholics can relate to on a daily basis. While “Killers of the Flower Moon” received a whopping 10 nominations at last year’s Academy Awards, it went home without any wins.
With the 2025 Oscars quickly approaching, one will have to wait and see if the Academy deems the controversial “Catholic” film, “Conclave”, worthy of any awards, but for now one can dive into many other motion pictures that depict the beauty of the Catholic faith more reliably. It is important to note that there is a staunch difference to the faithful between movies such as “The Song of Bernadette” and “The Passion of the Christ” which are Catholic in their nature, and movies such as “Conclave” or even 2015’s “Spotlight” which deal with the subject of Catholicism but are not Catholic films per se. While art may be subjective, Catholicism simply is not.