Angel in My Pocket

How do I break this weird news to you all.........well here goes: ...this excellent family film was released in Australia for ONE WEEK in March 1970 on a double feature with the equally excellent but radically different COLOSSUS THE FORBIN PROJECT...as a double feature (!) in a crumbling 2500 seat palace called the Capitol. There was NO display advertising, just a directory listing and the whole program was whisked away never to surface again.

What a weird thing for Universal to do! I guess they were just played off and wasted.........well I was one of the few there that fateful Saturday morning and thought both films were a big surprise. ANGEL as others will tell you here is a rural charmer and belongs to the YOURS MINE AND OURS or WITH SIX YOU GET EGGROLL type of family film. COLOSSUS of course is literally a scary and fantastic political drama. See both if you can find them. I did and I was still very happy about it 34 years later.

Angel in My Pocket is a delightful family friendly comedy about a newly ordained minister who is sent to a small-town Kansas church dominated by two feuding families. Most of the comedy results from Andy Griffith's interactions as the minister with these two groups. Griffith is ably backed up by a cast that includes Lee Merriweather, Jerry Van Dyke, and a cast of character actors very familiar to anyone who watched TV in the 1960;s. Lee Merriweather is excellent as Griffith's very pregnant wife. Jerry Van Dyke and Kay Medford are very good as Griffith's neer do well brother in law and meddlesome mother in law, both of whom are supported by Griffith.

All in all, its a very uplifting comedy that can be enjoyed over and over by young and old.

We just loved this movie and have been searching for a very long time for the DVD or VHS copy of this. Can you, please help us find it, or transfer our deep wish to get this? We viewed this with our children way back when and they also would like to get it.

We loved the story and the actors were so perfect for the characters. It is so wholesome and family appealing. It moved along and kept our interest and our children also.

Is Andy Griffith hindered legally in making this movie available in DVD or VHS? Can we help in any way to request this to the original source? We would at least like to see it on our television channels and maybe that is the route we should take.

We will so very much appreciate your help in any way. This is a great movie !!

Thank you, Marian Hess

This is an overlooked, but endearing, Andy Griffith movie. After he and Don Knotts achieved fame on TV both made movies that drew on their Mayberry personas. Knotts's movies became tiresome but Griffith's turn here is terrific. Griffith is Rev. Samuel Whitehead, fresh out of seminary and sent to a small Kansas town where two warring families dominate the church and the town. Every other minister at the church has been driven out or has fled (of course Whitehead isn't told any of this). Very quickly Whitehead finds himself in the middle of the feud which leads to hilarious confrontations. The movie plays very well and has a very dramatic scene late in the movie when Whitehead's patience is finally at an end and the church has been literally destroyed. The movie suddenly shifts from a comedy to a drama and is very poignant. It makes me wonder if the story would've been as good if it had been a drama from the start. The supporting cast is excellent with Miss America Lee Merriweather as Sam's wife and Jerry Van Dyke as his useless brother-in-law. Of course Jack Dodson (Howard Sprague, the Mayberry town clerk)is instantly recognizable and he actually does a very good job. Another thing that makes this movie stand out is that it is such a positive portrayal of someone trying to follow a Christian walk. How many movies have been made in the last couple of decades where ministers or priests are portrayed so realistically and so positively? Rev. Sam Whitehead is such a great character that his story could've easily have carried a TV series.

I saw this on Turner Classic Movies. Andy Griffith is a wanna-be pastor. He's got the education, the maturity, a family, and is even an ex-marine, but no church. Well, this particular church has an ornery congregation (a Hatfield/McCoy situation), and they keep chasing away the pastors. So finally, the Bishop digs through his old file and tries Andy Griffith.

Andy and his family are totally idealistic and naïve, expecting to help people and spread the love of the Lord. This congregation does not want to be helped, nor do they want the love of the Lord. They want to control the town, the finances, and have the pastor be their yes-man.

There are a lot of interesting characters, played by many familiar faces from 1960's sit coms. "Uncle Joe" from Petticoat Junction plays the mean mayor. "Howard Spragug" from Andy Griffith show plays a star-crossed lover. The band "Wildcats" which appears in many sitcoms plays at this church's social. Margaret Hamilton plays a vindictive gossip. There were many faces that I recognized, but I could not place them.

Andy tries to stand up to the feuding congregants, but they just call the Bishop and get him into trouble. Andy does not give up, and he keeps doing what is knows is the right thing, and they keep turning up the heat to cause more conflict. Being a family film, it does have a happy ending where everything works itself out anyway, which is nice.

One thing I really liked about this movie was that it involved a church, but was never preachy. Most of TV and movies pretend that no one has any faith at all, but most people believe in something. This accepted that church is a normal part of many American's lives.

The story supposedly took place in Kansas, but it had rolling hills and eucalyptus trees. I suspect they filmed it in California's Central Valley, or maybe in Fillmore.

I recommend it for any family that wants some good, old-fashioned fun, without worrying about something popping up that might be offensive for the kids.

(For the super-sensitive: there is one scene where Andy goes to a burlesque place to talk to the owner, and they do have spicy but corny showgirls doing a routine, but that is it. They are more covered up than women you see on the beach today. The movie still has a "G" rating.)