The Angel Wore Red

The Angel Wore Red, also known as La sposa bella in its Italian version, is a 1960 Italian-American MGM/Titanus coproduction war drama starring Ava Gardner and Dirk Bogarde. It was directed by Nunnally Johnson and produced by Goffredo Lombardo from a screenplay by Johnson based on the 1953 novel The Fair Bride by Bruce Marshall. Giorgio Prosperi wrote the dialogue for the Italian version. The music score for the American version was written by Bronislau Kaper and by Angelo Francesco Lavagnino for the Italian version. The cinematography was handled by Giuseppe Rotunno. Plot Young Catholic priest Arturo Carrera sympathizes with the poor in the Spanish Civil War but finds that his fellow priests have little concern for the poor because they support the Nationalist rebels. He resigns from the priesthood. Hours later, the city is bombarded and he takes shelter with a mysterious, beautiful woman named Soledad. As night falls, Loyalist speakers induce a mob to torch the church, and its ranking cleric moves to hide the Blood of St. John relic by giving his deputy the task of taking it to Franco's Nationalists. Both the deputy and Arturo become hunted men. Arturo seeks shelter in a local cabaret, where he again meets Soledad, who is revealed to be a prostitute.