O Diabo na Carne

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.

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.

About 1970 friends and I were on our way back to Sydney following a 2-weel driving vacation to Queensland. We stopped overnight in the small 'bush' town of Bourke (New South Wales). It was there we set up camp for the night and then decided to seek out a movie theater. We found such a theater in a beautiful outdoor garden setting . . .I can't recall its name.

Anyway, the movie showing that night was 'Angel Baby' which we hadn't heard about before. I remember the title not appealing to me at all but the theater setting was gorgeous as well as the night itself. The three of us (me, a friend and 11 year-old Peter) positioned ourselves on blankets on the lawn. Then, for the first time, we saw 'Angel Baby'. It impacted greatly on the 3 of us and we thought about it and talked about it for weeks after. We couldn't get out of our minds the miraculous healing of the cripple boy at the movie's conclusion.

Years later I became a Christian and had the opportunity to see that movie again on TV just a couple of years ago. I'd love to be able to thank the movie cast and particularly Salome Jens for having inspired me (us) back in 1970 and even today. Thanks!

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.

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...