The Catholic times. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1951-current, 1953-12-04
BY Robert J. Welch. Ph.p.
Professor of Religion
State University of Iowa

Inc movie INDUSTRY Trying every ufck 10
recapture its lost audiences, has recently
been plugging development called Sd"
1t Is a gimmick which gives the illusion
of depth, third dimension, making the pie
ture seem more close to the reality to which
our eye is accustomed.
The film Martin Luther is another kind of
SD" II is not filmed in the new tech
nique but in a very old technique, first
used las ! recalD by the Serpent in the
Garden of Eden. It's sd" is deliberately
distorted dimension. In palmer language
one might have said simply that it does
not tell the truth, but that seems too neg
ative.
The Legion of Decency puts the film in
a special" classification. In doing 50 it
cast no reflection on the right of any
religious group to film the life of its found
er. The special category is selected because
"it contains theological and historical ref
erences which are unacceptable TO Catho-
lies" To me that seems far too weak IN view
of what the film really is. The Legion CT
Decency seems to suggest that the picture
Is merely misleading" To say that the
film is misleading would itself be mislesd-
ing. II might suggest that il is merely .
bit off-focus as far as Catholics are con-
cerned and that Catholics might not be
able to agree with its doctrinal content.
This might seem TO put the errors of the
film in the category of mere prejudice and
misunderstanding. That would miss the
whole point quite thoroughly.
II is better to say that the film lies. II
lies repeatedly, deSignedly and without
shame II is, in fact an unbelievable collec-
ton of falsehoods, distortions, and bald
caricatures about Luther and the Catholic
Church which so completely perveriS truth
as to make il one of the most brazen frauds
ever TO reach the screen.
Hollywood publicists have just about worn
out the word fabulous" in trying 10 hawk
their wares The word has finally found its
true expression in this work of Louis de
Rochemont. Webster says the word "fabui-
Gus" means fond Of or given 10, telling
lies" The film gives credit TO Lothar Wolf
az scriptwriter For all we know 1t would
be Aesop under an assumed name.
The film. we are told is a half.million
dollar production done in Germany and
sponsored by half dozen Lutheran groups
in the United States, II is made for an
American audience This is evident not
uETNlN from the idAA tHei us AndI AAlNih
speak English exclusively but from the fact
that the film presumes that Americans
are too far away or TOO uncritical or IN
informed to know where history leaves off
and falsehood begins.
No one can question the right Of these
people TO make q picture about Martin
Luther. The life of Luther, honestly
treated. Mould make an outstanding
n1oUiestory He tCds on outstanding
figure. certainly one of the great f1g
ures OF history. bg no means a coloTlesS
nobody mho tgould need ronunticteing 10
make him ideal for the screen.
The film has been hailed far In advance
with an avalanche OF publicity that has made
the Kinsey report hullsbaloo sound like
peanutstand operation. Booked into regu-
lar-run theaters the country over, II has
been heavily publicized through the secular
press and promoted extensively by not only
Lutheran but other Protestant groups.
Not the Work Of AmstsUrs
Dramatically the film win rank with the
best of the year. Factually II will rank with
the greatest hoaxes of history. To put IT
simply II is a pack of lies which insults
It's audience by presuming 10 be able TO
masquerade as fact
Let US make no mistake about IL. This is
not the work of amateurs. IL is a sklllfully
done thing, an intense and powerful film
which artistically ranks right al the top of
the list Gf you can divorce art from truth,
that is). II is forceful and subtle and will
do quite efficiently that which its produc-
ers want it to accomplish. In its bold sub
verting of truth to the demands of propa-
ganda IL is undeniably masterpiece Of
sorts. Although filmed entirely in black
and white, ii is nevertheless one OF the
most highly colored movies ever TO play
in any mans local theater. Its falsehoods
are so evident to the historian that Il is
quite amazing that its makers could hope
to get by with ii.
Harsh words? Seemingly so. but the pre-
else ones TO fit the oceasion-and precision
is necessary there There is no point in
using less blunt language. The situation de-
mands plain talk
AT the very outset the narrator of
the film tells us that this is carefully doc
umented film about Martin Luther, gather
ed from the researches OF men of all faiths.
That is calculated 10 make IL sound true,
scholarly, safe reliable, honest. Ii means
also that they claim to have searched out
Luther as historians OF all faiths have seen
him. II is their claim that they are not
ignorant Of history as il pertains 10 Luther,
that they do know the facts about him. They
have publicly put the film on the plane Of
scholarship. They claim TO know.
There is a naturally Christian inclination
to accept men a. sincere. That is Why this
big point about the film being based on
scholarly research is so unfortunate. Hav
ing thus boasted they cannot be let of
lightly on the grounds of ignorance, grounds
which might easily excuse those whom the,