Headlined by a terrific Gregory Peck and Christopher Plummer, The Scarlet and the Black tells the true story of a holy institution besieged by an evil force, and the holy man who risked his life to save others.

It is a question often asked, yet never wholly answered to satisfaction: what did the Catholic Church do to fight against Hitler and the Nazi party? For some, no answer will be good enough. Yet a simple act of research will find that the Church, especially those within it, did quite a lot under a threat of violence from the Nazi’s that was ever present, and saw many Catholics – lay and clergy – killed.

The Scarlet and the Black tells the story of one man and his own heroic deeds during this time: Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty. Hailing from Killarney, Ireland, O’Flaherty cut a distinctive figure due to his tall height, glasses, and wide-brimmed height. He was also known for his boxing prowess and courageous nature towards what is right, damned be the political consequences.

It is of little wonder than that O’Flaherty is portrayed by Gregory Peck, the iconic actor who gave life to morally righteous characters in films such as To Kill a Mockingbird and Big Country. The Scarlet and the Black is indeed Peck’s last great performance (he would only do six more films and a miniseries before his passing in 2003), and it is one that many should watch, if not for this fascinating historical story alone.

The Scarlet and the Black portrays O’Flaherty’s efforts to save as many allied prisoners-of-war, Jews, and refugees from the Gestapo using his varied contacts within and out of the Church. This is done under the ever-suspicious eye of SS Colonel Herbert Kappler (Christopher Plummer). He has taken control of Rome’s occupied forces and views The Vatican as a real threat to upending his mission of capturing as many enemies of the state as he can, going so far as painting a white line where the Vatican’s boundary finishes.

A cat and mouse game develops between O’Flaherty and Kappler. O’Flaherty, ever the resourceful priest, uses various disguises to come and go from The Vatican under Kappler’s ever watchful eye. In many ways this true story plays out as a somewhat espionage thriller, with the caveat that these events are very true. Hidden in different parts of Rome is a resistance network that work alongside with O’Flaherty to aid allies and refugees from capture and certain death. To say the stakes are high is an understatement. Never have they been less than.

Peck inhabits O’Flaherty with the courage, bravado, and even cheeky spirit that the character, and indeed the man, deserves. Great too is Plummer as the SS colonel who believes himself the only authority in Rome, even over God. The real-life story about the friendship that O’Flaherty and Kappler n would develop after the events of the film are just as remarkable, and speaks to O’Flaherty’s character.

Directed by Jerry London (Shogun), this 143-minute TV-movie does an excellent job in portraying a little spoken part of WWII history. Uninformed and arrogant detractors of the Church often say The Vatican did nothing to combat the scourge of the Nazi Empire, yet The Scarlet and the Black, along with many other recently published publications, has put that false claim to rest.

For Monsigner O’Flaherty, the evidence is found in the 6,500 POW’s and refugees he saved through The Vatican. The Scarlet and the Black is a testament to that heroism.