The Devil's Advocate, originally released as Des Teufels Advokat, is a 1977 West German English-language drama film, directed by Guy Green (his final theatrical film) and based on the 1959 novel of the same name by the Australian writer Morris West.
In 1958, the Catholic Church is investigating the case of a mysterious individual, Giacomo Nerone (Leigh Lawson), who is said to have performed miracles in a remote village in Southern Italy (Scontrone), before being executed by Italian Communist partisans in 1944. The process involves a "Devil's advocate", who is tasked with discovering any details about the subject's life which would indicate that canonisation would be inappropriate.
Monsignor Blaise Meredith (John Mills) is given this responsibility, shortly after he learns he has terminal cancer. Meredith discovers that Nerone was actually a British soldier named James Black, who had become detached from the British Army during World War II and was hiding in this village, where he began a relationship with a local woman.
The film touches on homosexuality, priests cohabiting, the Italian Holocaust, and other sensitive topics.
Morris West wrote the screenplay from his novel of the same name. In January 1976 J. Lee Thompson was announced as director.[4] Guy Green said it had the "possibility of being a great film" but "there was a fly in the ointment by the name of Morris West."[5]
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