Entertaining Angels: The Dorothy Day Story

Looking astonishingly like the women she portrays Moira Kelly gives a great performance as Dorothy Day who with the Catholic Worker movement managed to combine Karl Marx and Jesus Christ. She came to believe that man shall not live by bread alone, but bread was certainly essential. A radical doctrine for that hidebound institution known as the Roman Catholic Church.

When we first meet Dorothy Day she's a most militant suffragette and she's out there hanging out with a crowd that Warren Beatty introduced us to in Reds. They all went their separate ways be it John Reed to Russia, Eugene O'Neill to the theater. At some point Day came to believe that humankind had a soul and a spiritual hunger that the Communist Manifesto was not addressing.

She will never be considered for sainthood, she was not the type to whom sainthood is granted. She had her share of lovers, she had a child and it's not too clear whether she was married to Lenny Von Dohlen or not when their daughter was born. But if deeds is the measure she should qualify.

Brian Keith has a role and he's simply identified as the Cardinal. In fact he's Cardinal Patrick Hayes of the New York Archdiocese and while not 100% supportive was indulgent. Cardinal Hayes did quite a lot spending much of the Archdiocese's own funds to help in relief. He died in late 1938. His successor was Cardinal Francis Spellman who had he been in charge no doubt would have squelched her movement. But Catholic Workers was a fait accompli when he took over and he gave her a wide berth and her do her thing while he did his vigorous anti-Communist thing.

In fact in their scene Keith does mention that he is distressed she associates with these anti-clerical elements who are sympathetic to the Spanish Republic. She doesn't give an inch. The scene with Keith and Kelly is the high point of the film.

No sainthood for Dorothy Day, but the love and respect of millions whom she served. Really fine biographical film.

This may be the best film no one has seen, despite the brief but important performance of rising star Heather Graham. {Perhaps the awkward title kept people away). "Entertaining Angels" does what few movies have: explore inner, spiritual conflict dramatically and intelligently. This is an engaging, challenging work for everyone. The film overall is not preachy, yet the religious dimension here is real, just as it is real in the lives of millions of Americans, whether the Hollywood inner-circle likes it or not.

Wow. Those of you who haven't had a chance to see Moira Kelly are really missing out on a truly great talent. Ever since I first saw her on The Cutting Edge, I've really looked up to her admirable character and her obvious acting talent. As Dorothy Day, she manages to take upon a tremendously difficult role and she succeeds beyond all expectations. The screenplay is well written, and while it does lead off the main drive of the story at times, Kelly is always there to provide a cohesive nature to to it which keeps the entire thing together. I really enjoyed this film -- I really didn't find the religious overtones to be a problem as a few of the reviews out there seemed to suggest. I hope you give it a try. You'll be glad you did. And, oh yeah... she's got a nice singing voice, too.

...and as good an introduction as I could hope to someone who had to have been a complex person.

I'd only heard of Dorothy Day before I viewed this movie at a Catholic retreat house run by the Redemptorists.

I suspect the producers felt they could go only so far with the subject matter, but they paid attention. The fact that they even tried reflects well on them.

Moira Kelly credibly kept my attention throughout. I could recognize Melinda Dillon, Heather Graham, Brian Keith and Martin Sheen among the other players, but that's not to slight the large cast that truly worked as an ensemble.

I'll doubtless learn more, and plan that by reading Day's autobiography "The Long Loneliness" and her account of the Catholic Worker movement, "Loaves and Fishes".

Any film that inspires me to learn more about its subject earns my respect.

I liked this film. It tells the real-life story of Dorothy Day, who founded the "Catholic Worker" newspaper and relief agency for the poor in New York City during the Depression. Moira Kelly gives a very good performance as Day. The story follows her quest to find her way in life, ultimately leading to her helping thousands of people and providing a role model for activists.

The film contains a scene where Kelly says one of the most quotable lines ever: "If you feed the poor, you're called a saint. If you ask why they're poor, you're called a Communist." Kelly says this during a scene when she is responding to people who resist her search for the truth through her newspaper. Americans who are concerned with political freedom and justice should keep this statement in mind - it is especially salient today.

That said, there are flaws in "Entertaining Angels." Kelly's performance as the younger Dorothy Day is great, but in the film Day is supposed gradually to look older, and this aging process isn't convincing. Martin Sheen also has a part as a wandering, Christ-like, populist preacher. He's OK here, but his Inspector Clouseau-like French accent won't be on his career retrospective videotape. Also, the film might have bitten off more than it can chew. It could have used a bigger budget and a more professional cast.

Overall, though, this one is well worth a rental. I'm a big Moira Kelly fan, too. I hope she will be around a long time.