Clifton Webb is quite effective here as a catholic priest "Fr. Bovard" who must reconcile his rather optimistically dogmatic faith with the arrival of his more worldly and pragmatic assistant "Fr. O'Banion" (William Holden) and the rise of the Communist party as exemplified by his former student "Chung Ten" (Robert Lee) who takes some pleasure in making his erstwhile friend suffer whilst violating their new young cook "Siu Lan" (France Nuyen). What now ensues is a battle of wills that increasingly polarises both men of principle with an underwhelming Holden treading the middle ground. The fre…
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