- Also Known As:
- Unknown
- Year:
- 1960
- Country:
- Predominant Genre:
- Drama
- Director:
- Outstanding Performances:
- Premiss:
- Fast-talking traveling salesman with a charming, loquacious manner convinces a sincere evangelist that he can be an effective preacher for her cause.
- Themes:
- Alienation
- Atheism
- Christianity
- Compassion
- Destiny
- Emotional repression
- Empathy
- God
- Loneliness
- Mercy
- Narcissism
- Original Sin
- Personal change
- Redemption
- Self-expression
- Solipsism
- White culture
- Similar (in Plot, Theme or Style) to:
- Unknown
- Review Format:
- DVD
Selling God
Movie about religious revivalism in a godless Western, Christian world and the bigotry, hypocrisy and sanctimoniousness attendant in a religious circus-tent - replete with clown.
The debate surrounds whether religion could ever successfully adopt/adapt the principles of marketing in order to evangelize for faith or whether it is simply impossible to use such methods to promote the spiritual life; especially regarding a revealed faith. The film subtly explores these issues without saying all these Christians are self-centerd or that the atheists have all the answers.
Burt LANCASTER steals the show as a sinner compelled towards the light by the very fact of his sinfulness. The patent sincerity in Jean SIMMONS’ performance undercuts any suspicion that she is engaging in flim-flam for cash. The other characters’ lovelessness leaves us lost for words.
Copyright © 2014 Frank TALKER. Permission granted to reproduce and distribute this posting in any format; provided mention of the author’s Weblog (Esthetics) is included: E-mail notification requested. All other rights reserved.
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