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
Murder in the Cathedral given on 15 June 1935 in the Chapter House of Canterbury Cathedral. Robert Speaight played the part of Becket. The production then moved to the Mercury Theatre, Notting Hill Gate in London and ran there for several months. The play, starring Robert Speaight, was broadcast live on British television by the BBC in 1936 in its first few months of broadcasting TV. The play was later made into a black and white film with the same title. It was directed by the Austrian director George Hoellering with music by the Hungarian composer Laszlo Lajtha and won the Grand Prix at