The Scarlet and the Black 1983 Watch Online

The Scarlet and the Black Watch Online

In September 1943, the German army occupies Rome following Italy’s surrender to the Allies. Pope Pius XII meets General Max Helm and SS Head of Police for Rome Lieutenant Colonel Herbert Kappler. The Colonel expresses concern that escaped Allied prisoners may attempt to seek refuge in the Vatican, and requests permission to paint a white line across St. Peter’s Square in order to mark the extent of Vatican sovereignty. The Pope does not protest, but when the SS officers leave, he sees out of the window that the white line had already begun to be painted.

Opposing Forces

Opposing Kappler is Monsignor O’Flaherty, an Irish-born Vatican priest who establishes an underground organization which provides safe haven and escape routes to escaped POWs, Jews, and refugees in Rome. O’Flaherty is assisted in this enterprise by others, including locals such as O’Flaherty’s platonic companion Francesca Lombardo and her daughters Guilia and Emilia, and the clergy and members of the Vatican’s diplomatic corps. The Nazis attempt to destroy the group, but Kappler is frustrated by O’Flaherty’s successes, due to his cleverness, disguises, and his straining the limits of the Vatican’s neutrality.

Resistance and Sacrifice

The SS meet with the Jewish council leaders, which the Nazis set up to be mediators between the Nazis and the Jews, in Rome promising protection of the Jews in Rome if these leaders come up with 100 pounds of gold. O’Flaherty comes up with the gold but Kappler breaks his promise to deport the Jews to the work camps.

Met with continuous failure, Kappler begins to develop a personal vendetta against O’Flaherty, because the priest is protected by the Vatican. Despite O’Flaherty’s efforts, Kappler manages to recapture many escaped POWs, deport many Jews to death camps, and exploit and oppress the general population; a number of O’Flaherty’s friends are also arrested or killed, including Father Morsigne. O’Flaherty is himself the target of an assassination attempt instigated by Kappler, which however fails due to the monsignor’s boxing skills. The rescue organization also nearly collapses when an American soldier, Jack, a member of the organization’s committee and Guilia’s love interest, is captured and his code book seized. However, the group is able to quickly get the rest of those in hiding away before Kappler and his men find them. O’Flaherty is also able to get Jack released from prison by tricking Kappler into giving him his signature, pretending to want his autograph at the opera. O’Flaherty uses it to forge a release form. The organization then resumes, and succeeds in saving many lives.

Conclusion and Legacy

As the war progresses, the Allies succeed in landing in Italy and begin to overcome German resistance, eventually breaking through and heading towards Rome itself. Colonel Kappler worries for his family’s safety from vengeful partisans, and, in a one-to-one meeting with O’Flaherty, asks him to save his family, appealing to the same values that motivated O’Flaherty to save so many others. The monsignor, however, declines, refusing to believe that, after all the Colonel has done and all the atrocities for which he is responsible, he should expect mercy and forgiveness automatically without repentance, simply because he asks for it, and departs in disgust.

As the Allies enter Rome in June 1944, Monsignor O’Flaherty joins in the celebration of the liberation, during which Jack and Guilia announce their engagement, and somberly toasts those who did not live to see it. Kappler is captured in 1945 and interrogated by the Allies. In the course of his interrogation, he is informed that his wife and children were smuggled out of Italy and escaped unharmed to Switzerland. Upon being asked who helped them, Kappler realizes who it must have been, but responds simply that he does not know.

The film’s epilogue says that O’Flaherty was decorated by several Allied governments after the war. Kappler was sentenced to life imprisonment, and his only visitor was O’Flaherty, who came every month. Eventually, the former SS officer converted to the Catholic faith: The monsignor baptized him in 1959.

Watch The Scarlet and the Black online today and witness the incredible story of Monsignor O’Flaherty and Colonel Kappler during World War II.