The First Legion

(Douglas Sirk, US 1951, 86 min., 35mm)

UCLA Festival of Preservation. “All is not well in the hushed spaces of Jesuit Saint Gregory’s Seminary. Dominated by conservative older men, the institution is sometimes suffocating to younger initiates such as Father John Fulton (Wesley Addy), whose spirituality is stimulated more by music concerts outside of the walls, than by prayer and study within. . . . Trafficking in the parochial concerns of a complex subculture, director Douglas Sirk evokes powerful, universal emotions with this fascinating independent production, completed before his celebrated, decade-long run as a director of melodramas at Universal Pictures.” – Shannon Kelley, UCLA

Preservation funding provided by The Louis B. Mayer Foundation and The Carl David Memorial Fund for Film Preservation.

35mm preservation print courtesy of the UCLA Film & Television Archive.