''The Ceremony'' is a 1963 American

crime film Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combin ...

directed by

Laurence Harvey Laurence Harvey (born Zvi Mosheh Skikne; 1 October 192825 November 1973) was a Lithuanian-born British actor and film director. He was born to Lithuanian Jewish parents and emigrated to South Africa at an early age, before later settling in th ...

and written by

Ben Barzman Ben Barzman (October 12, 1910 – December 15, 1989) was a Canadian journalist, screenwriter, and novelist, blacklisted during the McCarthy Era and best known for his screenplays for the films ''Back to Bataan'' (1945), ''El Cid'' (1961), and ''Th ...

. The film stars Laurence Harvey, Sarah Miles, Robert Walker Jr.,

John Ireland John Benjamin Ireland (January 30, 1914 – March 21, 1992) was a Canadian actor. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance in ''All the King's Men'' (1949), making him the first Vancouver-born actor to receive an Oscar nomin ...

, Ross Martin,

Lee Patterson Lee Patterson (March 31, 1929 – February 14, 2007) was a Canadian film and television actor. Life and career Patterson was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, as Beverley Frank Atherly Patterson. He attended the Ontario College of Art and ...

Jack MacGowran John Joseph MacGowran (13 October 1918 – 30 January 1973) was an Irish actor, probably best known for his work with Samuel Beckett. Stage career MacGowran was born on 13 October 1918 in Dublin, and educated at Synge Street CBS. He establi ...

, Murray Melvin and Noel Purcell. The film was released on December 18, 1963, by

United Artists United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the stu ...

Plot

The story is set in Tangier when it was an internationally controlled territory separate from Morocco during the years leading towards Morocco regaining its independence. Sean (Harvey) is held in a castle prison awaiting execution after a bank guard has been killed during a robbery. The robbery may have political implications. Various administrative officials want Sean to say where the money is and the execution is politically important to show that the administration is upholding the law. Sean, an atheist, refuses to see a priest, Fr O’Brien. Outside Sean’s girlfriend, Catherine, is drawn into an escape plot and intimacy with Sean’s brother, Dominic. Catherine visits Sean and tells him to see a priest. Dominic arrives at the prison impersonating a priest and with the help of a guard they escape. Sean and Dominic are reunited with Catherine but they are traced by armed forces. Dominic gets to a car and leads the police away from the others as a decoy. He is chased until he is forced off the road and engulfed in his flaming car. Disfigured and thought to be Sean, he is brought back to prison for execution. Fr O’Brien finds Sean and reveals Dominic is awaiting execution telling Sean that his sacrifice is proof that God exists. Most of the firing squad are disgusted at the execution and fire into the sky but Dominic is executed just before Sean arrives. Sean lifts up his body and declares to the other prisoners that his brother has died to save him.

Cast

as Sean McKenna * Sarah Miles as Catherine * Robert Walker Jr. as Dominic McKenna *

as Prison Warden * Ross Martin as Lecoq *

as Nicky *

as O'Brian * Murray Melvin as First Gendaime * Noel Purcell as Finigan *

Carlos Casaravilla Carlos Casaravilla (12 October 1900 – 17 February 1981) was an Uruguayan actor. He appeared in 85 films between 1934 and 1978. He starred in the film '' El Lazarillo de Tormes'', which won the Golden Bear at the 10th Berlin International Fi ...

as Ramades *

Fernando Rey Fernando Casado Arambillet (La Coruña (Spain), 20 September 1917 – Madrid (Spain), 9 March 1994), best known as Fernando Rey, was a Spanish film, theatre, and television actor, who worked in both Europe and the United States. A suave, i ...

as Sanchez (dubbed by

Robert Rietti Robert Rietti, (born Lucio Rietti; 8 February 1923 – 3 April 2015), was an actor, and Oscar-nominated director of Anglo-Italian descent. With over 200 credits to his name, he had a highly prolific career in the American, British and Ita ...

) *

Fernando Sancho Fernando Sancho Les (7 January 1916 – 31 July 1990) was a Spanish actor. Biography He was born in Zaragoza, in Aragon, Spain on 7 January 1916 and died at Hospital Militar Gómez Ulla in Madrid on 31 July 1990 from a liver failure during o ...

as Shaoush * José Nieto as Inspector

References

External links

* 1963 films 1963 crime films American black-and-white films American crime films American prison films Films about capital punishment Films about brothers Films set in Tangier United Artists films 1960s prison films 1960s English-language films 1960s American films {{1960s-crime-film-stub

Plot

Cast

See also

References

External links