Description

 Her passion gave them hope.  Her commitment changed their lives.

1996 – 110 minutes

 Dorothy Day is not saint.  She lives hard, makes mistakes, endures the consequences.  But the unquenchable fire burning within her cannot be contained.  Dorothy wants to make a difference.  During the Depression, she vows to house the homeless, feed the hungry, tend to the sick.  Easily said.  Not easily done when her total finances amount to 97 cents in a battered canister.  Yet Dorothy persists, walking on frequently stormy waters of faith.  Popular stars and important theme combine  in this compelling true story of the “American Mother Teresa,” filmed by Paulist Pictures (Romero) from a script by ER write and executive producer John Wells.  Moira Kelly plays Day, the impassioned New York journalist who launched the activist newspaper Catholic Worker and put the words she wrote into controversial action.  Martin \Sheen, Melinda Dillon and Brian Keith join Kelly in this moving saga of a faith not just believed, but lived.

Reverential yet reductive biopic chronicling the life of the influential Roman Catholic human-rights activist Dorothy Day. Day (Moira Kelly) began her career as a newspaper journalist covering the plight of the Depression-era working class. She later co-founded the Communist monthly The Catholic Worker, opened dozens of halfway houses and became an outspoken advocate of women's rights -- all the while remaining an active member of the Catholic Church. It's worthy material, and Moira Kelly delivers a solid performance as one of this century's lesser-known feminist trailblazers. But the movie is oddly unwilling to explore the contradictions between doctrine and politics in any great depth. The film's structure is awkwardly episodic, each phase of Dorothy's career presented as a discrete dilemma punctuated by a statement of moral purpose; this is, without doubt, a message film, meant to be easily digested. Executive producer Ellwood "Bud" Kieser, founder of Paulist Productions and himself a Paulist monk, helped create TV's long-running inspirational anthology series "Insight," and much of what transpires here bears that Sunday-morning feel.

Cast Information

Director Information

Director:         Michael Ray Rhodes

Producers:          Ellwood E. Kieser

Co-Producers:    Peter J. Burrell, Chris Donahue

Writer:               John Wells

Music:                Bill Conti, Ashley Irwin  

Miscellaneous Information

Country of origin: U.S.

Genre: Biography; Drama

Color or b/w: Color

Production Co(s).: Paulist Pictures

Released By: Warner Bros.

MPAA rating: PG-13

Parental rating: Acceptable for children

Running time: 112

 Produced by:

        Paulist Pictures  

Warner Home Video 1997