Glory! Glory!

Fair look at the inside of televangelists and their henchmen. It was presented tongue in cheek, but I believe that behind the scenes many of these so-called Godly men harbor a longing for more and more money....all in the name of The Lord, of course. The language in this film is very salty at times making me feel uncomfortable because the subject matter didn't mix well with such vulgarity. I can see a good bit of realism here by watching the lengths that many churches will go to in order to "up the attendance"....all in the name of The Savior, naturally.

This movie is absolutely top-drawer. It was released right around the time when there were numerous scandals in the news regarding TV evangelists. The acting was wonderful and the writing was stupendous. I recommend viewing this movie if you ever have the chance to see it. I have been somewhat dismayed, however, to find that there is apparently nowhere to purchase this movie... and I have tried just about everywhere. If anybody out there has any pull with anyone, please see that this movie gets another chance to see the light of day!

Televangelists are fair game, but the subject is seldom handled with as much wit or salty glee as it is here. Bobby Joe can't quite seem to get the hang of it, he doesn't have his Daddy's gift. But when he sees Ruth (Ellen Greene) singing in a bar - and moving the audience - he gets an idea: use her to sell Jesus! Ruth has her own ideas, including the ever-popular sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll. What she doesn't expect is a genuine conversion...Or that her affairs will suddenly become public.

The cast is terrific, especially James Whitmore (who steals every scene he's in) with the exception of Ruth's lover, the newsman. It's a conventional role, but the actor doesn't bring much to it. In the minor role of Whitmore's henchman, Vincent, Mr. Buza is so good he deserves his own movie...

This is not for the soberly fundamentalist, but all the rest of you will have a good time.

Unfortunately this made for t.v. movie is not easy to come by and has not seen a lot of air time, but should you be lucky enough to watch it, you will enjoy the music, the story and the acting. It's listed as a comedy, though I have to say it seemed more like an off beat drama. Overall an excellent show to watch.

This 1989 HBO movie is one of my all-time favorites. This is about a televangelist who dies and leaves his "ministry" to his less than exciting son, played by Richard Thomas. James Whitmore is absolutely brilliant as the ministry's CFO and overall manager. With the ministry going down the tubes with Thomas at it's head, he stumbles across a rock performer (Ellen Greene) who is well into sex, drugs and rock'n'roll. He convinces her to come and perform at his services - which she agrees to when she discovers he is syndicated across the country. She becomes Sister Ruth and steals the entire show. The film unfolds from this premise into a truly hysterical satire of the entire televangelist communities. I crack up every time I watch this - and must say that the music and performances of Ellen Greene are great! The movie was originally presented in two parts for a total running time of 3 hours, 18 minutes. I, too, have tried in vain to find it commercially released. I DID find a VHS version of it on E-Bay, but they cut the film almost in half to fit on one VHS, so I didn't bother. I am very glad I taped it at the time it was aired, so I DO have the entire film on an old VHS tape. Not the greatest quality, but watchable. I just recently converted it to DVD to archive it before the tape turns to dust! Hopefully, HBO will actually release this gem some day on DVD! But if you get a chance to see it, don't pass it up!