The Keys of the Kingdom

A priest (Gregory Peck) spends his life growing a Catholic mission in China.

The Keys of the Kingdom is a very well made, albeit a bit talky, drama, featuring a great performance by Gregory Peck.

The script by Joseph L. Mankiewicz and Nunnally Johnson has a lot of exposition, which makes for a rough start. Instead of showing us, the film tells us how Gregory Peck’s character had to work twice as hard as everyone else did, and how he tried and failed at several perishes. To make matters worse, the things the film does show early on, such has Peck’s character’s somewhat traumatic childhood, are ruined by stiff performances. You’d have thought Roddy McDowell was in a library given how weakly he cried out for his parents when they were in jeopardy.

Still, the story’s epic scope and the film’s good production compensate for the opening missteps, as do the performances by Peck and Thomas Mitchell.

It’s hard to believe The Keys of the Kingdom was only Peck’s second film. He commands the screen with a veteran’s ease, and seems tailor made for the role.

Supporting Peck is the chronically underrated Thomas Mitchell, who’s equally convincing as Peck’s character’s long time atheist friend. The very presence of Mitchell’s character balances the movie, keeping it from teetering to pure melodrama and sentiment. Also, there’s Vincent Price, who turns in a fine, if a bit overdone, performance as another of Peck’s character’s childhood friends, albeit one with much more ambition.

What makes The Keys of the Kingdom work though, is its epic nature. The film covers Peck’s character’s entire life, and clocks in at 137 minutes. By the time the credits roll, the breath of difference Peck’s character made hits you, and it’s that final emotional punch that makes The Keys of the Kingdom worth it.