Angel Baby

And here, all I remembered of "Angel Baby" was Mercedes McCambridge as a lady evangelist offering her wisdom to poor misguided George Hamilton. That plus, of course, a *quite* young Burt Reynolds playing a thuggish local lad.

Believe me, watching this crew was a spiritual experience...

Evangelist faith-healer Paul Strand (George Hamilton) travels the American south with his wife Sarah (Mercedes McCambridge), Mollie Hays (Joan Blondell), and Ben Hays (Henry Jones) to preach to the masses in a tent. Angel Baby (Salome Jens) has been mute since childhood. She is drawn to the meeting where Paul somehow heals her. The group takes her under their wings and turns her into an orator. Her boyfriend Hoke Adams (Burt Reynolds) gets jealous.

It is interesting that the film starts with text saying this may not be suitable for impressable children. I can imagine some blowback from the religious community. Many characters are drawn too broadly. Burt Reynolds is in his first movie and he is probably one of those broad characters. I would like less of the romantic melodrama. There are some interesting elements, but the film does struggle in the mix.

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.

This may have been actress Salome Jens first movie roll, and although when it was released in 1961 she did not receive star billing over more recognized names such as George Hamilton (Reverend Paul Strand), Mercedes McCambridge (the cold fish wife Sarah Strand), and the two hucksters Joan Blondell (Mollie Hays) and her husband Henry Jones (Ben Hays), Salome Jens was not only more deserving of star billing, her role as Angel Baby, the mute beautiful young women who once again finds her voice, and through this miracle she finds God the healer.

I sometimes wonder why some films receive praise (mainly because of a singular performance by a great actor/actress) and other great films with a unique story line and stellar performances by the entire cast such as in the 1961 film Angel Baby are totally ignored. Maybe because stories regarding Evangelist and/or religion are perceived as "subliminal messaging".

The message I received from this film was simply it was a superb film with an interesting story line, and with the leading actress Salome Jens stealing every scene she appeared in.

I rate this classic film an excellent 8 out of 10 IMDb rating.