Don't Mess with the Missionary Men (and Women)
Martin Scorsese's new film Silence (2016) follows two Jesuit priests in Japan in the seventeenth century. They are just the latest in a long line of cinematic missionaries. Which of those missionaries might tempt you to convert?
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- DirectorJohn HustonStarsHumphrey BogartKatharine HepburnRobert MorleyIn WWI East Africa, a gin-swilling Canadian riverboat captain is persuaded by a strait-laced English missionary to undertake a trip up a treacherous river and use his boat to attack a German gunship.Katharine Hepburn as Rose Sayer
Robert Morley as Rev. Samuel Sayer - DirectorHector BabencoStarsTom BerengerJohn LithgowDaryl HannahMartin and Hazel Quarrier are small-town fundamentalist missionaries sent to the jungles of South America to convert the Indians. Their remote mission was previously run by the Catholics, before the natives murdered them all. They are sent by the pompous Leslie Huben, who runs the missionary effort in the area but who seems more concerned about competing with his Catholic 'rivals' than in the Indians themselves. Hazel is terrified of the Indians while Martin is fascinated. Soon American pilot Lewis Moon joins the Indian tribe but is attracted by Leslie's young wife, Andy. Can the interaction of these characters and cultures, and the advancing bulldozers of civilization, avoid disaster?John Lithgow as Leslie Huben
Daryl Hannah as Andy Huben
Aidan Quinn as Martin Quarrier
Kathy Bates as Hazel Quarrier - DirectorMichael PowellEmeric PressburgerStarsDeborah KerrDavid FarrarFlora RobsonA group of nuns struggle to establish a convent in the Himalayas, while isolation, extreme weather, altitude, and culture clashes all conspire to drive the well-intentioned missionaries mad.Deborah Kerr as Sister Clodagh
Flora Robson as Sister Philippa
Jenny Laird as Sister Honey
Judith Furse as Sister Briony
Kathleen Byron as Sister Ruth - DirectorBruce BeresfordStarsLothaire BluteauAden YoungSandrine HoltIn the 17th century, a Jesuit missionary nicknamed Black Robe by the natives and his small party of companions try reaching the Huron tribe in Canada all while facing mistrust, Iroquois warring parties and harsh winter conditions.Lothaire Bluteau as Laforgue
- DirectorHugh HudsonStarsBen CrossIan CharlesonNicholas FarrellTwo British track athletes, one a determined Jew and the other a devout Christian, are driven to win in the 1924 Olympics as they wrestle with issues of pride and conscience.Ian Charleson as Eric Liddell
Cheryl Campbell as Jennie Liddell - DirectorDon MurrayStarsPat BooneErik EstradaJacqueline GirouxLong before faith-based films became a regular feature of mainstream movie theaters, there was "The Cross and The Switchblade," the story of Pastor David Wilkerson and gang member Nicky Cruz.Pat Boone as David Wilkerson
- DirectorJim HanonStarsLouie LeonardoChad AllenJack GuzmanTwo people come to the end of a spear in order to realize that the divisions between them are not real.Chad Allen as Nate Saint
Sean McGowan as Jim Elliot
Stephen Caudill as Ed McCully
Matt Lutz as Pete Fleming
Patrick Zeller as Roger Youderian - DirectorRichard DutcherStarsMatthew A. BrownRichard DutcherJacque GrayLife as a Mormon missionary isn't what 19-year-old Brandon Allen expected: so many rules and so few successes. Los Angeles is as unrepentant as Sodom and Gomorrah. He's forced to share a small apartment with five young prank-loving missionaries and, to top it off, his first companion, 29-year-old Marcus Dalton, proves to be a harsh mentor. After only one day as a missionary, Allen is ready to hang up his necktie and go home. His point-of-view changes, however, as he begins to see the struggles and sacrifices that the other missionaries endure: Dalton, he soon learns, is fighting a losing battle with cancer. Banks, an African-American missionary, was disowned by his family when he joined the Mormon church. Kinegar, a fifth-generation Latter-Day Saint, finds himself doubting under the intellectual attacks of anti-Mormons. Working and living with these young men, Allen becomes a part of the drama occurring under the everyday surface of missionary life. After only a few intense days, Allen finds faith he didn't know he had, and courage he didn't know he lacked. He learns that the time has come to put away childish things, and to become more than just a man--to become a man of God.Matthew A. Brown as Elder Allen
Richard Dutcher as Elder Dalton
Desean Terry as Elder Banks
Michael Buster as Elder Kinegar - DirectorJoseph L. MankiewiczStarsMarlon BrandoJean SimmonsFrank SinatraIn New York, a gambler is challenged to take a cold female missionary to Havana, but they fall for each other, and the bet has a hidden motive to finance a crap game.Jean Simmons as Sarah Brown
- DirectorGeorge Roy HillArthur HillerStarsJulie AndrewsMax von SydowRichard HarrisAn American missionary and his wife travel to the exotic island kingdom of Hawaii, intent on converting the natives. But the clash between the two cultures is too great and instead of understanding there comes tragedy.Julie Andrews as Jerusha Bromley
Max von Sydow as Rev. Abner Hale - DirectorJohn HustonStarsRobert MitchumDeborah KerrDuring World War II, an American marine and an Irish nun form an unlikely friendship after being stranded on a South Pacific island. They find comfort in one another while hoping for a rescue, as they try to avoid capture by the Japanese.Deborah Kerr as Sister Angela
- DirectorMark RobsonStarsIngrid BergmanRobert DonatCurd JürgensA tenacious British woman becomes a missionary and runs an inn for travelling merchants in China during the Japanese invasion and the tumultuous years leading up to the Second World War.Ingrid Bergman as Gladys Aylward
- DirectorJohn M. StahlStarsGregory PeckThomas MitchellVincent PriceA young priest is sent to China to establish a Catholic parish.Gregory Peck as Father Francis Chisholm
- DirectorRoland JofféStarsRobert De NiroJeremy IronsRay McAnallyEighteenth-century Spanish Jesuits try to protect a remote South American tribe in danger of falling under the rule of pro-slavery Portugal.Jeremy Irons as Father Gabriel
- DirectorRichard LoncraineStarsMichael PalinMaggie SmithTrevor HowardIn the early 20th Century, devout Reverend Charles Fortesque returns to England from his missionary work in Africa and, despite plans to marry his childhood sweetheart, receives a most unusual assignment: minister to the local prostitutes.Michael Palin as The Reverend Charles Fortescue
- DirectorPaul CoxStarsDavid WenhamKate CeberanoJan DecleirThe true story of the nineteenth century priest who volunteered to go to the island of Molokai, to console and care for the lepers.David Wenham as Father Damien
- DirectorLuis BuñuelStarsFrancisco RabalMarga LópezRita MacedoA priest in a poor community lives a charitable life in accordance with his religious principles, but many others do not return the favor.Francisco Rabal as Padre Nazario
- DirectorFred ZinnemannStarsAudrey HepburnPeter FinchEdith EvansAfter leaving a wealthy Belgian family to become a nun, Sister Luke struggles with her devotion to her vows during crisis, disappointment, and World War II.Audrey Hepburn as Sister Luke (Gabrielle van der Mal)
- DirectorMitch DavisStarsChristopher GorhamAnne HathawayJoe FolauJohn Groberg, a farm kid from Idaho Falls, crosses an ocean to become a missionary in the remote and exotic Tongan islands during the 1950s.Christopher Gorham as John Groberg
- DirectorJim GoddardStarsSean PennMadonnaPaul FreemanShanghai, 1938: A missionary woman hires a fortune hunter to help her find 1100 lbs. opium lost, as wounded need the morphine. Adventure and romance follows.Madonna as Gloria Tatlock
- DirectorFranco RossiStarsTerence HillBud SpencerJean-Pierre AumontTwo unusual missionaries in NW Venezuela help their flock sell their crop and are never afraid of a fight to protect their flock from an evil, corrupt governor.Terence Hill as Father/Padre J.
Bud Spencer as Father/Padre Pedro