April 10: A Film for All Seasons

Welcome to the American Catholic Daily Reader podcast. Today is April 10th, and our story is A Film for All Seasons. What makes A Man for All Seasons one of the greatest movies of all time? For starters, there's the story upon which it was based, St. Thomas More's refusal to betray his conscience and church at the whim of king and country. There also is the cast. Paul Schofield, Orson Welles, John Hurt, Wendy Hiller. A director couldn't ask for more. Best of all, there's Robert Bolt's witty, erudite, and quintessentially Catholic screenplay.

A screenplay that made A Man for All Seasons perhaps the most quotable Catholic movie of all time. Case in point, the following exchange between the Duke of Norfolk and more. Norfolk says, oh, confound all this. I'm not a scholar. I don't know whether the marriage was lawful or not, but damn it, Thomas, look at these names. Why can't you do as I did and come with us for fellowship?

Moore replies, and when we die, and you are sent to heaven for doing your conscience, and I am sent to hell for not doing mine, will you come with me for fellowship? Then there are these classic lines from Moore. When a man takes an oath, Meg, he's holding his own self in his own hands, like water. And, if he opens his fingers then, he needn't hope to find himself again. I think that when statesmen forsake their own private conscience for the sake of their public duties, they lead their country by a short route to chaos.

I die the king's good servant, but God's first. For all those reasons and more, A Man for All Seasons proved a film for all seasons, receiving six Academy Awards on April 10, 1967, Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actor, Schofield, Best Cinematography, and Best Costume Design.

In a world full of compromise and expedience, St. Thomas More's steadfastness is a challenge to live faithfully, even when doing so comes at great personal cost. More shows us that conscience is not a private matter. It shapes society when we refuse to betray the truth. Courage and conscience are gifts we can cultivate, especially when tempted to choose comfort over conviction. Identify one area in your life where you might be compromising your principles. Pray for the courage to act according to conscience this week.

Thank you for listening to the American Catholic Daily Reader podcast. Join us tomorrow, April 11th, for another story of faith and courage in America.