in what movie did Walter Mathau play a priest?

Hello Irvingink-ga,  
 
Thank you for your question.


Walter Matthau played a priest in the 1988 movie Il Piccolo Diavolo
which means The Little Devil.

“The story: A little Devil escapes from hell and, after an exorcism,
becomes friend of a priest (Walter Matthau). He is only 400 years old
and knows nothing about world, sex and so on. Thousands of gags and
the little melancholy you can find in "life is beautiful" and "the
monster".
Source: IMDB
http://us.imdb.com/Title?0095869


“Il Piccolo Diavolo, with Roberto Benigni and Walter Matthau
Wasn't able to find this in an American catalogue; the title
translates as The Little Devil. Briefly, Walter Matthau plays a
drunken priest whose primary interests are his lover and Vatican
politics; one day he's forced to exorcise a fat Neapolitan woman, and
when everyone is gone the confessional collapses, revealing a
frightened, inept, and innocuous little devil who calls himself
Giuditta (Roberto). The priest has no choice but to take Giuditta
under his wing and in doing so redeems himself, to the dismay of
Giuditta's superiors.
Source: About.com
http://italianfood.about.com/library/weekly/aatp111501.htm


Search Criteria:
Walter Matthau plays a priest


I hope this helps. If anything is unclear please request clarification
and I'll be glad to offer further assistance.


Best Regards,
Bobbie7-ga

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Request for Answer Clarification by irvingink-ga on 16 Jul 2003 09:32 PDT

Thank you so much for help. But this wasn't the movie I was thinking
of. I may have the star wrong. It may have been the other half of the
Odd Couple, Jack Lemmon.

The plot involved a new young & energetic priest coming to a parish
headed by an old, worn-out priest, and the friction that resulted. It
also turns out that the young priest had a homosexual experience in
his past, which Bishop was going to use against him to get him
expelled.

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Clarification of Answer by bobbie7-ga on 16 Jul 2003 09:49 PDT

Hello Irvingink-ga, 

In Mass Appeal (1984), Jack Lemmon was a priest trying to help a young
homosexual with his faith.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/obituaries/story/0,3604,513835,00.html

"This aspect of the film is reminiscent of a line in an earlier film
with many parallels, Mass Appeal, in which Jack Lemmon plays the older
mentor priest to a young idealistic seminarian who admits that he,
too, once had liaisons with partners of both sexes. Lemmon says that
as a 13-year-old turning to the church he "wanted everyone to be
good." Like Fr. Greg, when he realized most people fall short of his
standards, he began compromising."
http://www.svtoday.com/svt/priest.htm


Mass Appeal
http://us.imdb.com/Title?0087688

I hope this is the movie!

--Bobbie7

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Clarification of Answer by bobbie7-ga on 16 Jul 2003 09:52 PDT

You may purchase a used copy of the movie Mass Appeal at Amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/stores/offering/list/-/6300184048/used/ref%3Dbuy%5Fpb%5Fu%5F/104-2017901-5284758

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Request for Answer Clarification by irvingink-ga on 16 Jul 2003 11:51 PDT

That's it! Thanks.

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Clarification of Answer by bobbie7-ga on 16 Jul 2003 11:52 PDT

Your welcome!