BEFORE: A question that I'm occasionally asked - do I take requests/suggestions for what movies to watch? No, for the most part, but tonight is a rare exception, recommended by my friend Amy - and it only took me about three years to work it into the schedule! OK, so maybe each friend gets to make one recommendation. (Andy, "The Stunt Man" is on the list, and I'm working my way towards it...)
Another question I'm occasionally asked - do I accept advertising? Absolutely not, I would never lower myself to cheap promotional tactics - I only mentioned the name of some notable BBQ restaurants the other day because I really, really believe in them and I was careful to NOT mention the name of the restaurant that had an unsatisfying collection of combination plates. I pimped for HBO's "True Detective" because we were so caught up in the storyline that watching it became part of our routine, and it changed our lives.
Now, if I were to accept advertising, I'd tell you to check out "Fargo", Tuesdays at 10 pm on FX. But that would be a really weaselly thing for me to do, so I won't. But, I picked up a new show, it looks like - if this goes well, maybe this summer I can try to catch up on one of the shows I've been missing out on, like "Mad Men" or "Lost".
Linking from "The Scapegoat", Bette Davis was also in "All About Eve" with Hugh Marlowe.
THE PLOT: A fast-talking traveling salesman with a charming, loquacious manner convinces a sincere evangelist that he can be an effective preacher for her cause.
AFTER: Of course, a day after Easter, I hit the film about a preacher. I think I've made my views on religion sort of clear before, so if I transition from the crime films, specifically a pair of films about deception, to a film about religion, well, make of that what you will. This film does draw a distinction between church-based services and evangelical tent-based meetings, but to me it's all part of the same racket.
And a racket it is - Elmer Gantry is a shyster salesman, and that's a background that serves him well when he transitions into being the warm-up act for a well-known lady preacher. He hustles his way into her inner circle, always looking for an angle, ready with a joke (or a passage from the Bible) and a hearty laugh to help sell his point. Does it really matter in the end whether you're selling vacuum cleaners or salvation? The principles are the same, it turns out. "I use this product myself..." is just as effective as "I'm a sinner, just like you..."
I was raised Catholic, but always had a bunch of unanswered questions where religion is concerned - "If God is everywhere, then why do I have to go church?" "If God knows everything, then why do I have to confess my sins to a priest?" "If God loves us and wants us to be saved, then why did he put us on a planet surrounded by hungry animals and natural disasters?" I became an altar boy in the 5th grade, and maybe it's because I saw behind the curtain, so to speak - but a few years later I started acting in stage plays, and I couldn't help but notice the similarities between the Church service and a theater production. How do I know the priest isn't just putting on an act, reading lines and telling everyone what they want to hear?
I fell out of touch with the Catholic Church when I went to college, but then sort of fell in with a Presbyterian Church in Brooklyn when I got married the first time. But to get the marriage sanctioned by the Catholic diocese, I had to take a pre-cana class, and answer questions about how I intended to raise my (theoretical) children. In order to get the diocese's approval, I had to tell them I would raise children as Catholics, even if that wasn't true. So, the priest was subtly encouraging me to lie, and I always thought there was a commandment against doing that. If I had any doubts about turning my back on the church, that sealed the deal - and then when I got divorced, I knew I wasn't welcome back as a Catholic, and that was just fine with me.
Anyway, back to the film. What's amazing to me is that this film predates the scandals of the 1980's that involved evangelists, (or "televangelists") like Jim Bakker, Jimmy Swaggart, and so on. Though it's set in a fictional Midwestern city named "Zenith", I think the film was amazingly prescient, and predicted real-world events that would take place just a few decades later. When Gantry's connection to a prostitute named Lulu comes to light, it's a scandal - but he told people all along he was a sinner! Why were they so surprised when confirmation of that fact came to light?
Also starring Burt Lancaster (last seen in "Birdman of Alcatraz"), Jean Simmons (last seen in "Divorce American Style"), Arthur Kennedy, Dean Jagger, Shirley Jones, Patti Page, Edward Andrews, with a cameo from Max Showalter (last seen in "Sex and the Single Girl")
RATING: 6 out of 10 Gideon bibles
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