What an ironic line to find the very forceful Mercedes McCambridge telling "Paul Husband" (George Hamilton) in her attempts to unsuccessfully seduce him in an effort to consulate their unloving marriage of convenience. She's a fire and brimstone religious woman who picked Hamilton out of the church choir as a youth, married him and has controlled him every step of the way as he rose to becoming one of the top traveling tent evangelists in the south. Over a decade later, she provided the voice of a demon in one of the most popular supernatural horror films ever.
The character of Angel (Salome Jens) is tossed onto the traveling show by her mother who finds her kissing rebel Burt Reynolds and wants them to cure her of sin. Drunken organ player Joan Blondell sees a light shining over her, and introduces her to Hamilton who encourages her to begin her own style of preaching which promotes the love of God, not fear.
But McCambridge is instantly jealous of Jens, and if there's any person who needs cleansing, it's her, reminding me of Constance Ford as Sandra Dee's nasty mother in "A Summer Place". Ford, however, added subtleties to her horrid character, while McCambridge chews up the scenery like she had swallowed the whole Bible, including the apocryphal.
The best performances come from Blondell and Henry Jones who join Jens on the tour that turns her into an evangelical star, rivaling Aimee Semple and the Jean Simmons character from "Elmer Gantry". Jens, however, isn't the star of Simmons' stature, and comes off as an unsuccessful knock-off of Joanne Woodward combined with a bit of Geraldine Page, minus the charisma. Many elements of this come off as unintentionally camp, and watching Reynolds and Hamilton duke it out is one of the funniest bits of them all, topped by McCambridge fondling herself in an effort to seduce Hamilton.
The character of Angel (Salome Jens) is tossed onto the traveling show by her mother who finds her kissing rebel Burt Reynolds and wants them to cure her of sin. Drunken organ player Joan Blondell sees a light shining over her, and introduces her to Hamilton who encourages her to begin her own style of preaching which promotes the love of God, not fear.
But McCambridge is instantly jealous of Jens, and if there's any person who needs cleansing, it's her, reminding me of Constance Ford as Sandra Dee's nasty mother in "A Summer Place". Ford, however, added subtleties to her horrid character, while McCambridge chews up the scenery like she had swallowed the whole Bible, including the apocryphal.
The best performances come from Blondell and Henry Jones who join Jens on the tour that turns her into an evangelical star, rivaling Aimee Semple and the Jean Simmons character from "Elmer Gantry". Jens, however, isn't the star of Simmons' stature, and comes off as an unsuccessful knock-off of Joanne Woodward combined with a bit of Geraldine Page, minus the charisma. Many elements of this come off as unintentionally camp, and watching Reynolds and Hamilton duke it out is one of the funniest bits of them all, topped by McCambridge fondling herself in an effort to seduce Hamilton.