A Man Called Peter

Richard Todd and Jean Peters were the best choices for the roles of Peter Marshall and his wife, Catherine. Based on the best selling biographical novel (by Mrs. Marshall)the movie is both inspirational and well acted. The two main actors (Peters and Todd) have been very underrated by the Hollywood fanzines and - along with Marjorie Rambeau - they give Oscar deserved performances.

Why this film, which educates us in good morals and allows us to appreciate religious beliefs on a grand scale, has not been given more publicity is a puzzlement. It approaches audiences from an adult level and offers a piece of Americana that is rarely seen on the screen. I highly recommend this film. See it with the entire family and perhaps you too will be totally fullfilled - as my family was. I believe A Man Called Peter is the best film of its kind. A great, although hardly publicized movie!

You'd think 20th Century Fox would have better sense. In a time when Mel Gibson racks up $400 million for a Christian movie in Aramaic, this good film about a minister that they already own would be out on DVD in a double-disc set. The sermon scenes ("full of heart and fire" to quote a contemporary review) wouldn't offend Jon Stewart. Richard Todd earned an Oscar nomination for his warm portrayal of a beloved minister in Washington, DC. The VHS has been available for a long time, but this one really is too good to bury...

Peter Marshall was the Pastor of the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church during the forties. His sermons were so popular that they had to install loudspeakers to send them to the crowds waiting outside. He was chaplain of the US Senate. Marshall's rolling Scots burr and warm "friendship with God" are still appealing. His wife Catherine wrote the book on which the film is based, and several other books besides. Jean Peters gives an engaging performance as Catherine, making the film less a religious tract and more a portrait of a family you wish to know. It's a joy to spend time with these people. They are better ambassadors for Christianity than many you may have seen lately.

If there was someone at Fox with a marketing sense, they'd re-release this one with great fanfare - the timing couldn't be better.

He made you feel like you were listening to the real Peter Marshall!

I can`t say enough about this movie. Peter Marshall knew the Lord I think like few people ever do, and Todd brought this to the screen. If you get a chance to see this movie don`t pass it up. It is well worth your time.

This is an outstanding movie. Unfortunately, it is not available in a widescreen or letterbox format. Usually, this doesn't bother me, but the pan-and-scan technique in the movie is absolutely dreadful, at numerous times a very noticeable and annoying distraction from an otherwise exceptional film. There are far too many scenes that simply don't work in a TV-screen format. Perhaps someday it will be available in letterbox. Nonetheless, a film very much worth seeing.

I have seen this film a few times, the first when I was about 15 yrs old. I admit that my interest was initially stimulated by the fact that I am a native of Coatbridge where Peter Marshall came from. I live just up the road in Airdrie which is only a couple of miles away. My dad remembers when the film was made as it was a 'big thing' then in the old town. In fact my old school is only a few yards behind where the camera was situated in the street during the opening scenes: Muiryhall Street. Sadly there is no official memorial to Peter Marshall in his home town and very few people here would know about him today. Coatbridge has lost all the old iron and steel works which gave it her nickname: the Iron Burgh. Peter would not recognise the old place today although it desperately needs someone of his vision and faith in this cynical and secular age. Coatbridge has a population of around 46,000 and is 12 miles east of Glasgow. Most of the people are nominally Roman Catholic; 60% of the population due to immigration from Ireland in the late 19 c and early 20 c, including my own antecedents. I am not certain if there are any of Peter's family still around though there must surely be. If the film was true in essence then it is absolutely clear that Coatbridge and Scotland's loss was certainly Washington's and the USA's gain.