MARTIN LUTHER

Considered the best of several films on the life of Martin Luther (Niall MacGinnis), this 1953 black-and-white classic reveals the Europe of Michaelangelo firmly under the thumb of the Roman Catholic Empire. While still a professor of theology at the University of Wittenberg  and a Augustian monk, Martin called for sweeping reforms of the Roman Catholic Church. Martin`s preaching and writings, in particular his Ninety-Five Theses in 1517, led to a clash with Pope Leo X (Phillip Leaver) and Holy Roman Emperor Charles V (Hans Lefebre) resulting in Martin`s excommunication and eventually to the Protestant Reformation.

The stories place in time is the same period as "The Agony And The Ecstasy", and though Enry Iggins made the more stylish pope, the contrast of Italian and German settings and the financial woes bemoaned by both versions of the papacy (they were all worried about paying Michaelangelo and Raphael) made both of these movies more interesting.