Alex North

When Pope Julius II (Harrison) commissions Michelangelo (Heston) to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, the artist initially refuses. Virtually forced to do the job by Julius, he later destroys his own work and flees Rome. Eventually resumed, the project becomes a battle of wills fueled by the artistic and temperamental differences that form the core of this movie.

When a vindictive little girl is disciplined in an exclusive girl's school, the child twists an overheard comment into slander. She accuses her teachers of lesbianism and her gullible grandmother spreads the gossip. Outraged, Karen and Martha fight back in court, but a child's lie is hard to disprove.