AniInterview Sorry, this movie sucks

Inclubabu Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.

Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good

Platicsco Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Richie-67-485852 A visit to the other side of the tracks is what to expect here keeping mind that this could be the story of anyone young, misguided and lost without direction and surrounded by temptation and hopelessness. With that mind, watch how everything can wrong (Murphy's law) and then some. This movie also takes us to the fine line of choice and how in a moment of weakness or impulse, one bad choice can bring your whole life crashing down. Can't happen to you...you say? That's who visits with first. Also anyone that has lived knows the truth of this statement. How many times have we all said to ourselves: there go I but for the grace of God? The movie drives this point home too. Ten cents or ten million, all face the same problems and at the same time all of us have the same remedy too i.e. HOPE. If you add prayer to that and a sincere effort, you can rise above just about anything. Why? We were not put here to be defeated. Some really good dialog and scenes that try to reach for your emotions. Let them! One more thing. If someone has nothing and they offered anything and that offer should be respected even if your ...

RanchoTuVu Perhaps if the halfway house the Hoodlum Priest envisioned as a way of diverting ex-cons away from criminality and recidivism had been built in time, Keir Dullea wouldn't have died in Missouri's gas chamber in one of most memorable execution scenes ever. The movie starts with Dullea's release from prison and reunion with a former partner in crime. They plot a robbery of a St. Louis strip joint in a seedy part of the city. Don Murray as the Hoodlum Priest offers another avenue for Dullea, and it looks good for him after he meets the daughter of one of the city's wealthy families at a cool poolside party where Murray solicits contributions for the nation's first halfway house from St. Louis's wealthy matrons. Pushing the other side of the agenda is not law enforcement but a newspaper reporter who's job is to sensationalize crime in order to sell more papers and generate ad revenue. It's all well-captured and presented, though a bit preachy at times, in authentic scenes from the streets of St. Louis by should-be-better-known director Irvin Kershner.

FilmSocietyMtl After having just viewed a nice sharp B&W 16mm theatrical print of this fine film, I must say; Don Murray's production of HOODLUM PRIEST really deserves to be given serious consideration by cinephiles looking for hard-hitting drama about an important social issue that still has relevance today. It surpassed my expectations for a film having a title better suited to cheaper exploitation fare. Even within a very tightly budgeted film, ace cinematographer Haskell Wexler was able to impart some really nice arty touches with seedy shadowy lighting schemes and the occasional off-kilter frame compositions. There were solid performances all around with the two standouts being Don Murray and Kier Dullea. Irvin Kirshner proves once again that he is quite a solid director with a marked talent for mixing heavy drama with realism. The near final scene in the prison is such a gut-wrenching experience, you'll feel as if you are really there witnessing a mind-numbing horror played so effectively by the young Dullea. So, please dismiss the weaker reviews here and seekout HOODLUM PRIEST, a real hidden gem.

Robert W. Anderson I was 13 when this film came out and while I don't know for sure why I never got to see this. I'm guessing, morals being what they were at the time; this was probably judged to rough a movie for a boy my age. It probably would have been a R rated movie in it's day. So when I saw it listed on Turner Classic Movies I thought great, I finally get a chance to see this old film. Well now that I've seen it I'm amazed this film gets so much buzz. I found it to be way to melodramatic, over acted and just plain hammy. I'm not sure how this could have ever been relevant. I know that Father Clark did great work in his time; but this seems a poor way to tell his story. Almost everyone in this movie is over acting. I'm guessing that's the fault of the director, but that doesn't make it any easier to sit through. I'm sure many will be drawn to this film by Keir Dullea's name in the cast. Dullea's fame comes from 2001 a film whose uniqueness at the time; pulled along most of the actors who happened to be in it. Like the Hoodlum Priest there were no great performances in that film either. A film for film school students, theater majors, and nostalgia buffs. A corny waste of time.