Martin Luther (1953)

Directed by

Irving Pichel

Genre

drama film, biographical film

Country

Germany, United States

Runtime

1h 45m

Rating

7.3 of 10 from 14 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

This 1953 film tells the story of Martin Luther, the 16th century monk who challenged the Catholic Church and ignited the Reformation. It follows his spiritual crisis, his break with church authorities, and his role in shaping Protestantism.

earnestslow-movingsolemninformativerestraineddevotionalspare

What happens

A 1953 biographical film of Martin Luther was directed by Irving Pichel, who also played a supporting role, with Niall MacGinnis as Luther. It was produced by Louis de Rochemont and RD-DR Corporation in collaboration with Lutheran Church Productions and Luther-Film-G.M.B.H. A notice at the beginning of the film describes it as a careful and balanced presentation of Luther's story: "This dramatization of a decisive moment in human history is the result of careful research of facts and conditions in the 16th century as reported by historians of many faiths." The research was done by Reformation scholars Theodore G. Tappert and Jaroslav Pelikan, who assisted Allan Sloane and Lothar Wolff. The National Board of Review named the film the fourth best of 1953. It was nominated for two Oscars, for Best Cinematography (Black-and-White) (Joseph C. Brun) and Art Direction/Set Decoration (Black-and-White) (Fritz Maurischat, Paul Markwitz). The music was composed by Mark Lothar and performed by the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra. It was filmed at the Wiesbaden Studios in Hesse, West Germany. The film was commercially very successful. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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