A young, priest falls irredeemably from grace in this Irish drama that is comprised of two films put together. He is defrocked and sent to a home for troubled priests. There he meets a bishop who has come home after being exiled to remote missions overseas after he too stumbled and fell. The younger priest, an alcoholic child-molester, encourages him to tell his story. When the bishop was but a young pastor himself and stationed on a lonely island, he was confronted with a suicidal lass whom he took into his household as a servant and later into his bed as a secret lover. They were quite happy until they realized that she was pregnant. He then confessed his actions to his parishioners; the ensuing scandal caused the girl to flee the island, and he lost his parish. Later he was promoted to bishop. Much of the bishop's downfall was filmed silently in sepia-tones; his present-day story was filmed in black and white with dialogue.
~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide