The Prisoner

Try as she might, author Boland couldn't convince anyone that she hadn't gotten her inspiration for her play and screenplay from the real-life saga of Hungarian Cardinal Mindszenty, a real hero. In 1944, Mindszenty (then still a bishop) was jailed by the Nazis for not allowing his Catholic parishioners to say a mass and sing a Nazi-ordered Te Deum in honor of the liberation of Budapest from the Jews. He remained incarcerated until Hungary was liberated by the Allies. Then, in 1948, he rebelled against the Russian domination and was tossed into solitary confinement--an action that helped spur the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. Eventually, Mindszenty was granted asylu...