How sad is this?

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

*Spoiler/plot- Marjoe, 1972. The biography of a family that made their small child into a lay preacher to make a living for the family's living.*Special Stars- Marjoe Gortner, Sarah Kernochan.*Theme- Children are very motivated to please their parents. *Trivia/location/goofs- Documentary. The film was not shown in most of the southern United States due to the distributor's fear of the outrage it would cause.*Emotion- A 'tongue-in-cheek' expose' of the traveling lay preacher life and motivation. A bit disappointing and tawdry realization for the general film audience about people trying to help themselves into trusting people's wallets through popular religion . *Based On- The faith preacher and tent meetings in the Mid-west and the South.

Former child evangelist Marjoe Gortner lays it on the line, presumably, in this riveting true story of his life as a traveling Pentecostal preacher in the early 1970s, long before cable TV and the "electronic church". Gortner, a tall, charming, and charismatic guy talks to a documentary film crew of counterculture hippies about his techniques and tricks of the trade. "If you're going to get into big time religion, this is the game you gotta play ... you work it as a business ... The (preachers) who are successful ... they're just businessmen; they're like Madison Avenue PR men".The camera follows Marjoe as he preaches in various settings, including an old fashioned big tent revival meeting. He shouts hallelujah a lot, prances back and forth in front of his prey, and spews out general gospel gibberish. And, of course, there's the inevitable request for ... "a love offering". At one meeting, he intones, earnestly: "Would you get out your checkbooks tonight; would some of you get out $5 or $10; bring what you would ... come on". After everyone has left, we see him sitting on his bed counting wads of cash.The film's technical elements are fine, although there's a tendency to dwell too long in some settings. We get the idea; truly, we do.To watch these swindlers is infuriating, in that their con is aimed at vulnerable people, those who are in varying conditions of physical and/or mental pain. Most of these victims are low-income, poorly educated folks who cannot afford to throw their money at flimflam artists. Accordingly, viewers must surely appreciate Marjoe's successful effort through this film to expose the motivations and manipulations of these "salesmen".Of course, a performance is a performance whether it's aimed at true believers in some revival tent, or at an audience watching a film documentary. In "Marjoe", Marjoe puts on a good show. But is his message credible? I think events of the last 35 years have shown that, for the most part, the answer is yes ... his message is credible.

I saw this in a theater when it was brand new. In 1972, it wasn't a new idea to do a movie about evangelism which is seamy, but in 1972, the idea of reality documentary was quite novel. (Think of "An American Family" -- a chronical of the Loud family done about the same time) The movie was well received. Marjoe Gortner received quite a bit of critical praise for the technical aspects associated with the movie as well as his acting ability. Marjoe got quite a bit of the "good" stuff in the movie by telling people he was filming a documentary -- the people didn't know the parts where they talked about how to do some scamming would also be in the final cut.As a result of this expose, Marjoe was offered a significant role in the 2-hour kickoff to the Kojak series. He played a nervous rapist-murderer.

Filmed before the televangelism phenomenon, this film, part biography, part expose, details the rise, fall, and self-exposure of Marjoe Gortner, a one-time child evangelist who became a church tent preacher. This film details the seamier side of what Gortner calls "the religion business", and even earned Gortner a number of death threats.A rare find, if you can locate it, but a worthy viewing.