Religion in films is rare, holiday or not

If you watch closely the scene in "Rocky Balboa" in which the boxer prepares to head for the ring, you'll notice that writer-director-star Sylvester Stallone makes a quick sign of the cross.

It's a gesture I'm not sure I've seen in a new movie since it occurred in the first "Rocky" 30 years ago.

Except for the obvious example of "The Nativity Story," you sure can't find a hint of religiosity in any of the soulless, strictly secular Christmas movies of recent vintage. God forbid. The Scrooges certainly do.

Did someone say, "To hell with all that," or what•

Faith and the overt practice of religion, so prevalent in Hollywood movies from the 1920s through the mid-'60s, has vanished to such a degree that films no longer represent mainstream tastes nor reflect the behavior, habits and beliefs of average folks.

Dozens of fine movies do depict faith in poignant ways. Here are 10 that endure especially well:

• "The Nun's Story" (1959) was directed by the Jewish Fred Zinnemann and stars the Protestant Audrey Hepburn as the Catholic Sister Luke. Robert Anderson's screenplay, adapted by Kathryn Hulme's novel, is the most intelligent and penetrating portrait extant of a religious vocation and the struggle with conscience.

• "A Man for All Seasons" (1966), also from Zinnemann, catches St. Thomas More (Paul Scofield) in the debate of his life -- and for it -- against all who represent Henry VIII (Robert Shaw).

• "Becket" (1964) by Peter Glenville ranks among the most literate of all movies. An ideological chasm widens between young roisterers Thomas a Becket (Richard Burton) and Henry II (Peter O'Toole) as they mature and refuse to compromise.

• "Going My Way" (1944), directed by Leo McCarey, in which diplomatic young priest Bing Crosby ("Dial O for O'Malley") must ease responsibilities away from curmudgeonly old pastor Barry Fitzgerald.

• "The Bells of St. Mary's" (1946), also by McCarey, has Crosby returning with Ingrid Bergman as an extremely popular, strong-willed nun whose illness leads to difficult choices to which she isn't privy.

• "True Confessions" (1981), directed by Ulu Grosbard, features priest Robert De Niro and cop Robert Duvall, brothers with conflicting streaks of cynicism, grappling with the behavioral patterns that bind them at the core.

• "Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison" (1957), in which uneducated World War II Marine Robert Mitchum hides with nun Deborah Kerr on a Japanese-occupied island in John Huston's film. No, Bob, she can't just ...

• "The Cardinal" (1963) is from Otto Preminger, the director most identified with challenging censorship norms in the 1950s. It depicts episodically the difficulty of a young priest in the 20th century.

• "Ben-Hur" (1959), directed by William Wyler, concerns a slave whose life builds toward a close encounter with Christ. Sequences range from a spectacular chariot race to a family reunion at a leper colony.

• "Miracle of the Bells" (1948) directed by Irving Pichel. It's hard to find critical praise for this film , a warm and inexplicably disparaged movie. Hollywood press agent Fred MacMurray brings the body of deceased actress Alida Valli back to her native coal mining town and encounters Father Paul (Frank Sinatra), who offers a disarming explanation for what parishioners want to interpret as a miracle.

  Some others worth ferreting out: "Keys of the Kingdom" (1944); "The Bishop's Wife" (1947); "Black Narcissus" (1947); "The Diary of a Country Priest" (1950); "A Man Called Peter" (1955); "The Prisoner" (1955); "The Ten Commandments" (1956), and "The Devil at Four O'Clock" (1961).

  Also: "The Greatest Story Ever Told" (1965); "The Gospel According to St. Matthew" (1966); "The Shoes of the Fisherman" (1968); "The Chosen" (1981); "The Preacher's Wife" (1996); "The Passion of The Christ" (2004), and "Facing the Giants" (2006).