The Ceremony (1963)

Name: The Ceremony
Genre: Crime, Drama
Released: 1963-12-18
Duration: 105 min
Rating: 5.6
Cast: Laurence Harvey, Sarah Miles, Robert Walker Jr., John Ireland, Ross Martin

The Ceremony (1963), directed by Laurence Harvey, starring Laurence Harvey and Sarah Miles.

12/18/1963 BR Crime and Drama 1h 45m

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Quiz about this movie

Shocking! Savage! Sensual! This is the Ceremony!

Synopsis

A man has an affair with his condemned brother's girlfriend while plotting his escape in Tangier.

Oswald MorrisCinematography
Laurence HarveyDirector, Producer
Ralph KemplenEditing
Carlo MartelliOriginal music

About the film

The Ceremony is a 1963 American neo-noir crime film directed by Laurence Harvey and written by Ben Barzman. The film stars Laurence Harvey, Sarah Miles, Robert Walker Jr., John Ireland, Ross Martin, Lee Patterson, Jack MacGowran, Murray Melvin and Noel Purcell. The film was released on December 18, 1963, by United Artists.

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Plot

The story is set in Tangier when it was an internationally controlled territory separate from Morocco during the years leading towards Morocco regaining its independence.

Sean (Harvey) is held in a castle prison awaiting execution after a bank guard has been killed during a robbery. The robbery may have political implications. Various administrative officials want Sean to say where the money is and the execution is politically important to show that the administration is upholding the law.

Sean, an atheist, refuses to see a priest, Fr O’Brien.

Outside Sean’s girlfriend, Catherine, is drawn into an escape plot and intimacy with Sean’s brother, Dominic. Catherine visits Sean and tells him to see a priest. Dominic arrives at the prison impersonating a priest and with the help of a guard they escape.

Sean and Dominic are reunited with Catherine but they are traced by armed forces. Dominic gets to a car and leads the police away from the others as a decoy. He is chased until he is forced off the road and engulfed in his flaming car. Disfigured and thought to be Sean, he is brought back to prison for execution. Fr O’Brien finds Sean and reveals Dominic is awaiting execution telling Sean that his sacrifice is proof that God exists. Most of the firing squad are disgusted at the execution and fire into the sky but Dominic is executed just before Sean arrives. Sean lifts up his body and declares to the other prisoners that his brother has died to save him.

Cast

Laurence Harvey as Sean McKenna

Sarah Miles as Catherine

Robert Walker Jr. as Dominic McKenna

John Ireland as Prison Warden

Ross Martin as Lecoq

Lee Patterson as Nicky

Jack MacGowran as O'Brian

Murray Melvin as First Gendarme

Noel Purcell as Finigan

Carlos Casaravilla as Ramades

Fernando Rey as Sanchez

Fernando Sancho as Shaoush

José Nieto as Inspector

References

External links

The Ceremony at IMDb

The Ceremony at the TCM Movie Database (archived)

The Ceremony at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films

Text from The Ceremony (1963 film) on Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ceremony_(1963_film)

Trivia

It premiered on December 18, 1963, a Wednesday.
It runs 1h45 — a typical feature length.
This film's quiz has 12 questions — enough to play more than once without repeats.