Angel Baby

I was surprised at this story in how it was told; as well as the acting by several cast members. Thanks to TCM this 1961 version of Angel Baby was well scripted. I am a believer, but this film certainly would be for both believers and those who are not yet. This film shows the flaws in human nature as well as actors portraying those in real life that have a gift of healing. Even if you view the story for just the fine acting of Ms. Salome Jens, Joan Blondell, Henry Jones and surprisingly the acting of George Hamilton. I have not seen any of the remakes; that is something I doubt I will. So if you have the opportunity to view this film I don't think your time will be wasted.

Judging by this movie, you never would have guessed what lay ahead for Hollywood legend George Hamilton and future number one movie star in the world Burt Reynolds.

Plot In A Paragraph: A woman who believes she has been chosen by God to heal people is taken in by a greedy promoter and his wife to make the rounds of the rural South - she to save souls and heal the sick, he to make as much money as he possibly can.

I was not very entertained watching this, and I only made it all the way through because of George Hamilton and a young Burt Reynolds.

This was Burt Reynolds first role and I found the movie less interesting when he was not on the screen. Even if his character Hook Adams was the local thug in the picture.

That said Reynolds fight with Hamilton is awfully staged, and you can see their youthful inexperience.

In the wake of the success of Elmer Gantry in the previous year, Angel Baby with a considerably smaller budget came out in 1961. This story is a good deal trashier and it introduces Salome Jens in the title role of a faith healing evangelist who is sincere, but surrounded by sharks.

Young evangelist George Hamilton after healing her dumbness at a meeting falls big time for her. It was a hysterical dumbness after a traumatic experience. Jens decides that evangelism is for her.

Hamilton falls for her, but he's already married to much older woman Mercedes McCambridge. Jens has this good ole boy young Burt Reynolds panting after her. When she strikes out on her own in the evangelical profession Jens has her two leeching parents, Henry Jones and Joan Blondell. She also has a real snake for a manager in Roger Clark.

Angel Baby is pretty trashy stuff. But a good cast makes it interesting.

Angel Baby was originally bought by Columbia in 1960 and shelved for a year to insure the success of that studio's similar "Elmer Gantry." On its own merit it is an outstanding film with Oscar worthy performances by the leads, Salome Jens as Angel Baby, and George Hamilton as the evangelist who heals her. Mercedes McCambridge slightly overacts as his jealous wife and Burt Reynolds is a stinker as Angel's ex-boyfriend. He even requested his part in the picture be larger, adding a scene where he almost rapes her, one of the films demerits. The outstanding photography by Haskell Wexler who shot the film with a mini-camera while he roller skated on the set is by far his best effort. Henry Jones and Joan Blondell do fine in their supporting roles as Angel Baby's true believers.

My fondest memory or George Hamilton is Love At First Bite. I saw it in the theater upon its release, and he's been forever cemented in my memory for that role. It's only been the last ten years that I've been exposed to his cinematic body of work thanks almost totally to the TCM channel.

He does a surprisingly and satisfyingly good job in this film. Unfortunately, the only way to describe this movie is odd. Initially, I wanted to title my review as bizarre, but that's too good of an adjective.

I'm left wondering why in the heck did this film ever get greenlighted. The IMDB reviews seem to focus on Elmer Gantry and Burt Reynolds. Who cares? It feels in totality like a throw-away regardless.

I'm a huge Blondell fan, but she seems to blunder her way through this one.

This one's great for those who ponder the preposterousness of Hollywood as a whole. Released in the early 1960s, I can't imagine its box office draw. If I'd seen it in the theater, I'd have wondered why I didn't stay home to begin with.