Murder in the Cathedral (film) Murder in the Cathedral (film) Murder in the Cathedral is a 1951 British drama film directed and produced by George Hoellering and co-written by Hoellering and T. S. Eliot based on Eliot's 1935 verse drama of the same name and starring Father John Groser. The film competed at the 12th Venice International Film Festival and received the award for Best Production Design, given to Peter Pendrey. It was released in the United Kingdom in 1952. Archbishop Thomas Becket (Father John Groser) deals with his temptations before his murder in the Canterbury Cathedral in 1170. "Murder in the Cathedral" premiered at
The Family Reunion that apart from the chorus of baffled uncles and aunts, "one looks elsewhere in vain for any articulate philosophy." "The Times" commented on the lack of drama in the play, but concluded, "But the play as a whole, though it lacks something of stage force, is still one which Mr Eliot may be proud to have written." The director of the play, E. Martin Browne summed up the critical response: In 1951, in the first Theodore Spencer Memorial Lecture at Harvard University, Eliot criticised his own plays, specifically "Murder in the Cathedral", "The Family Reunion", and "The Cocktail Party". Eliot