The Scarlet and the Black

Based on J. P. Gallagher's book The Scarlet Pimpernel of the Vatican initially published in 1967, The Scarlet and the Black tells the story of Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty (1898-1963), an Irish Catholic priest who saved thousands of Jews and escaped Allied POWs in German-occupied Rome. SS functionary Herbert Kappler (1907-1978), head of the German security police and SS security service (Sicherheitspolizei and SD) in Rome, suspects O'Flaherty of wrongdoing, but he eventually turns to him for help when the Allies march toward Rome. At the time of its release, CBS distributed more than 500,000 scripts of The Scarlet and the Black to students in elementary and high schools throughout Italy to be read in-class to stimulate student interest in English and history.