Mission Month Comes to an End with The Left Hand of God

The Left Hand of God (1955)

Movie Churches is of the opinion that Humphrey Bogart is the greatest movie star of all time. (We usually confine ourselves to opinions about clergy in films, but this is such an obvious truth, it barely merits discussion.) Still, he has a serious flaw. Unlike, say, Robert Duvall (arguably one of the greatest film actors, which is different from a movie star) who appeared in many church-related films, Bogie never played a clergyman.

He came closest in 1955’s The Left Hand of God (directed by Edward Dmytryk), where his character pretends to be a priest. The film is set in a remote region of China, and it opens with Bogie -- in clerical garb -- arriving at a mission awaiting a priest. Bogie claims to be that priest, “Father O’Shea.” Dr. David Sigmund (E.G. Marshall) runs the mission hospital. He and his wife, Beryl (Agnes Moorehead) are assisted by nurse Anne "Scotty" Scott (Gene Tierney). 

The first sign that Father O'Shea is not who he claims is the gun among his belongings (if you don’t count the sign that he’s played by Humphrey Bogart.) The morning after he arrives, the “priest” is awakened by altar boy John Wong (played by Victor Sen Yung, one of the few major Chinese roles in the film played by someone of actual Chinese descent.) Bogie is obviously startled when John says, “Good morning, Father, you say Mass?” 

The new priest looks at the crucifix above his bed and seems to remember where he is and who he’s supposed to be.

John explains that he has been carrying on the work of the church as best he could, but a priest is needed for many duties. When Bogie asks what needs to be done, John says, “42 marriage. Many months since priest came. 36 baptisms. Should be more, but maybe more come now that you are here… Many people want confessing.”

Before doing any of these things, the “priest” says, “I would like to take a look around the village.” Scotty the nurse takes him on a tour, and he makes an un-priestly remark about going on a walk with an “attractive woman” (a comment that could easily get a man in trouble these days, not just priests). Scotty is taken aback by the remark, but he explains, “I wasn’t born a priest, In fact, I can remember when I was voted loudest dresser in college.”

The villagers seem so surprised by a priest walking around the town that we wondered if the previous priest ever left the Mission. One of the villagers asks "Father O'Shea" to bless his sick grandfather, and Bogie blesses the old man, making the sign of the Cross as he does so. He then asks the old man to give him a blessing -- to the pleasure and astonishment of all around.

As the ersatz priest continues to be pressured to give Mass, he goes to the mission library to find a “Selected Sermons” book from which to crib. He pretty much just reads from First Peter for his sermon (which is not a bad idea), then he amazes the congregation by addressing them in what seems to be the local Chinese dialect.  

Though most in the community are impressed by the new priest's work, Dr. Sigmund is not (though he does admit, “Father Coleman didn’t accomplish as much as you have in this short time.”). The doctor claims  “there is no earthly reason to keep it open.” 

Bogart responds, “Not earthly ones, but spiritual.” 

The doctor says with the threats of local warlords and the communists there is too much danger to continue the work. He asks “O’Shea” to talk to the Bishop about closing the Mission. 

Bogie responds testily, “The Bishop and I aren’t exactly buddies. You aren’t talking to your ... patients.” 

This angers the doctor and he says, “Don’t depend too much on that collar!” 

Bogie seems ready to rumble, asking, “Do you want me to take it off?”

Fortunately for the priest's reputation and the doctor's health, his wife Beryl intervenes and calms them.

Things become even more awkward at the mission when it becomes obvious that Scotty is falling for the man she thinks is a priest, and he doesn’t know how to deal with it. Beryl advises him to go to talk to the local Protestant missionary, Rev. Marvin (Robert Burton). He does and admits his true identity. 

His real name is Jim Carmody, and he had been an American pilot during World War II. When his plane crashed, a local warlord, Mieh Yang (played quite unconvincingly by Lee J. Cobb), rescued him and then put him to work in Yang's criminal activities. When one of Yang’s men killed a priest (the real Father O’Shea), Carmody decided to escape by taking O’Shea’s identity. Marvin marvels at the story but urges Carmody to come clean to the officials in the Catholic Church.

Things take a dark turn when one of Yang’s men discovers that Carmody is impersonating O’Shea. Carmody's betrayal angers the criminal, and he threatens not just the pilot, but also the mission and the village. When his gang surrounds the Mission, the doctor feels they have no choice but to fight back. But the “priest” has another idea. He will talk to Yang.

When Carmody had worked for Yang, they had often shot craps together. Carmody convinces Yang to let Carmody bet his freedom for the lives of those in the Mission and the village. And Carmody wins with a series of unlikely throws of the dice.

Then he goes back to the Mission and confesses his story to the doctor, the Catholic superiors, and eventually Scotty. But not to the villagers. Two new priests come to the Mission to take Father O’Shea’s place, and Carmody leaves after receiving a great outpouring of love and affection from the villagers for “Father O’Shea.”

So who should we give Movie Churches’ Steeple ratings? We probably shouldn’t give it to Jim Carmody since he wasn’t really a priest. (Though he does say, “Maybe there’s a little bit of a priest in every man.”) It doesn’t sound like the priests that preceded him were any great shakes since a gangster does a better job at priesting than they did, and we don’t learn enough about the new priests to give them a rating. But the Protestant missionary, Reverend Marvin, is a good listener for Carmody’s story and gives good advice, so we’re giving him Four Steeples, our highest rating.

Missionary Month is on Wings of Eagles

On Wings of Eagles (2016)

The phrase “based on a true story” works extra hard in 2016’s On WIngs of Eagles (aka The Last Race). The film is a sequel to 1981’s Best Picture winner Chariots of Fire (which tells the story of Scottish runner Eric Liddell, culminating in his victory in the 1924 Paris Olympic Games. That victory is followed by a title card that notes that Liddell went to China as a missionary and died in a Japanese concentration camp. The sequel tells the story of that part of Liddell's life. Sort of.

The film opens with a recap of Liddell’s life, especially what was portrayed in Chariots of Fire. This is done with visuals of newspaper clippings and a voice-over by what seems to be a radio or newsreel announcer’s voice but with very unlikely text: “News from around the world: the 1924 Paris Olympics are history. Eric Liddell, the man who snatched the gold medal was offered the American dream. The famous athlete, despite multiple sponsorship offers, has respectfully said "no" to one and all. He has joined the London Missionary Society and married the love of his life, the Canadian nurse Florence MacKenzie. They will go to China where they will live a productive life, teaching and raising a family.” “American Dream”? He’s a Scot! How do they predict he will “live a productive life?” This is how no newsman ever talked (on top of that, Liddell and his wife were married ten years after he won Olympic gold.

We soon switch to another omniscient narrator who will talk us through the rest of the film. Xu Niu (Bruce Locke provides the voice of old Niu, Shawn Duo plays young Niu) reminisces, “With any luck, you will meet someone who will make you a better person. This happened for me many years ago when I met The Flying Scotsman. His name was Eric Liddell.” It is likely the real Liddell would cringe over the use of the idea of “luck” over God’s providence.

The film then follows the broad outlines of Liddell’s story. He lived with Florence in the city of Teinstin where he worked as a teacher. The film indicates that he taught the poor, when in fact he worked at a school for the children of wealthy families. He believed that those students would, in time, have a greater influence on the whole population.

Liddell continues to serve as Japanese troops invade China, though his pregnant wife and two daughters go to Canada to stay with her parents in hopes that he will soon join them. Things take a turn for the worse when the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor and the United Kingdom declares war on Japan. Liddell is arrested and sent to an internment camp. There he serves his fellow prisoners but dies of a brain tumor just months before the war’s end. These broad historical outlines are accurately portrayed in the film. It’s the little incidents that are largely imaginary.

When the Japanese invade, Eric Liddell (Joseph Fiennes) is portrayed as calm and faithful. Niu’s voiceover explains, “Even though the Japanese army had looted and taken over his home, he still prayed for his enemies.” (Throughout the film, moral lessons are explained in the voiceover. The filmmakers seem to be firm believers in “tell” over “show”.)

Liddell is arrested while performing a wedding in a church and, along with the entire bridal party, is taken to an internment camp where the commander explains that the prisoners they are there for their own good, “Our Emperor will protect you. You will be kept out of danger until the end of the war.” 

Liddell protests when the guards try to separate the couple he has just married, shouting, “What God has put together, let no man put asunder!” 

A prison official responds, “The Emperor is the only god here.” 

Liddell retorts, “We will not serve false gods.”

We see Liddell caring for children in the internment camp, teaching them and taking them for runs. The narrator explains, “He was running not just for himself but for us.” (This seems to be a real thing, Liddell did teach and provide activities in the camp, everything from chess tournaments to model boat construction to square dancing.)

When asked why he didn’t leave the country with his family, Liddell replies, “I was born here. Surely that makes me Chinese, too.” (It seems there are many who agree with him. There are some record books that hold Eric Liddell as the first Chinese Olympic Gold Medal winner.)

The most fanciful episodes in the film seem to be an attempt to tie into the success of the preceding film. The commander of the camp challenges Liddell to a running race. Liddell accepts, hoping to win privileges for others in the camp, but Liddell is malnourished from sharing his food with the children in the camp. He stumbles during the race and the commander wins. Later in the film, Liddell challenges the commander to another race to secure medicine for a fellow prisoner. Against all odds (and with a music score that hints at the iconic music of the first film), Liddell wins that race. I could find no evidence that anything like these races occurred in history.

But we then see Liddell cough blood, movie shorthand for “this guy is going to die.”(Although coughing blood usually means consumption rather than a brain tumor, doesn't it? We don’t claim to be medical experts here at Movie Churches.)

Though this isn’t really a good film, it does seem to accurately portray Eric Liddell as a good man. A fellow internee in the camp, Norman Cliff, said Liddell was “the finest Christian gentleman it has been my pleasure to meet. In all the time in the camp, I never heard him say a bad word about anyone.” 

Another internee, Langdon Gilkey, said, “He was overflowing with good humour and love for life, and with enthusiasm and charm. It is rare indeed that a person has the good fortune to meet a saint, but he came as close to it as anyone I have ever known.”

I think the real Eric Liddell would probably have talked much more about Jesus than the Liddell in the film. Though the filmmakers were obviously trying to portray a favorable -- even hagiographic -- representation, it seems the real Eric Liddell was a better man than the character in this film. Nonetheless, missionary Eric Liddell as portrayed in the film earns our highest rating of Four Steeples.

Missionary Month Begins on The Mosquito Coast

The Mosquito Coast (1986)

Harrison Ford is synonymous with blockbusters. Star Wars and Indiana Jones are two of the biggest franchises of all time, and there were had plenty of one-offs, too. Witness, The Fugitive, and Air Force One were big action films that brought in big bucks. Through the years, though, he occasionally did things a little outside the mainstream, and The Mosquito Coast is one such film.

Based on a novel by travel writer Paul Theroux and directed by Peter Weir, The Mosquito Coast tells the story of Allie Fox (Ford), a man who believes America has lost its way and become consumed with and corrupted by commercialism. He takes his family to begin a new, simpler life in Central America, on the coast of Nicaragua and Honduras. Allie’s wife (Helen Mirren) and children love and respect Allie, but over time, they begin to suspect he is going mad.

Fortunately for Movie Churches, on the boat ride from North to Central America the Fox family encounters a family of missionaries. The Reverend Spellgood (played by Andre Gregory, the title character of My Dinner with Andre) is making a return trip to the Mosquito Coast. Spellgood makes a point of shaking hands and introducing himself to everyone on the ship.

When the Foxes and Spellgoods share a meal, the Reverend prays a blessing over the food, much to the disdain of the religiously hostile Fox. But Fox isn’t ignorant of Scripture and in their discussion (argument), the inventor corrects the pastor when he misquotes the Gospels.

Spellgood tries to win over Fox with a present, “Ah, Mr. Fox, I’ve got a gift for you. It’s the latest. The Blue Jeans Bible. It was designed by a psychologist.” 

Fox considers this version of the Bible another example of sick American corporate culture, saying, “Take a look, kids. It’s just what I’ve been warning you about. ‘Of making many books there is no end. Much study is a weariness of the flesh'. Ecclesiastes.”

Spellgood responds with a Scripture mash-up, “In my Father’s house there are many rooms, but I am the door.”

Fox: “Well, don’t slam it on the way out.”

Spellgood: “May God forgive you for your sin.”

Fox (Sarcastically): “Have a nice day.”

Spellgood (Genuinely): “Well, thank you, brother.”

Fox’s teen son, Charlie (River Phoenix), and Spellgood’s teen daughter, Emily (Martha Plimpton) get along much better. She tells Charlie that she prefers America, “It’s a whole lot hotter than this in the jungle.” She explains to Charlie, “My father has two churches: one’s in Guampu and the other’s in Baltimore. It’s a drive-in.” 

“What kind of drive-in?” Charlie asks. 

“There’s only one kind of drive-in,” Emily answers, “You know, cars? Gosh, you’re stupid.” (Okay, maybe they don’t get along a lot better.)

When the boat arrives at their port, Spellgood and his family are greeted by his congregants singing, “He’s Alright! (What do you think about Jesus).” They seem genuinely happy to greet the family. Fox wishes him well, “Happy hunting, Reverend!”

When Fox’s family asks where they’re going, he tells them that he’s bought a town by the name of Jeronimo. And when he gets there, he plans to build an ice factory, which, in his opinion, is a cornerstone of civilization.

Soon, Fox has his family and the residents of his town building a house for the family and the ice house. The Reverend comes to visit the town and spots many who have been a part of the church. He spots an elderly woman working and praises the completed construction, “Well done, well done. Mrs. Kennewick, is that you? We haven’t seen you in God’s house for quite a while.” (Mrs. Kennewick is played by Butterfly McQueen, best known for playing Prissy in Gone With the Wind.)

Fox is not happy to see the missionary. “State your business, Reverend,” he says -- while holding a hammer as if it were a gun.

Spellgood: “It’s the Lord’s business that I’m about, Mr. Fox.”.

Fox: “Oh, is that so? I didn’t know the Lord was franchising in the neighborhood.”.

Spellgood: “The Lord sent me here, Mr. Fox.”

Fox: “That’s what I love about you people, your complete lack of presumption. The Lord hasn’t any idea this place exists. If he did, he’d have done something for these people a long time ago. But I did.”

Spellgood: “This river doesn’t belong to you, brother.”

Fox: “No, but this land does, and I didn’t give you permission to come ashore.” 

Fox says to his workers, “If any of you wanna go listen to this man across the Jeronimo state line I won’t stop you. Any takers?” The locals laugh.

Spellgood replies, “And Pharoah said, ‘Who is the Lord that I should obey his voice, let my people go!’”

Fox: “Exodus 5, now get off my land!”

And off Spellgood goes.

Things don’t go well for Fox and his family after that. He does build an ice factory to the delight of the villagers and surrounding tribes, but an attack by a Communist guerrilla group destroys his village and he and his family end up escaping on a boat down the river.

As the Fox family, hungry and exhausted, floats down the river, they hear singing. It's the hymn, “Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us.” One of the Fox daughters asks, “Are those angels, Mommy?”

Mother Fox realizes it must be the Spellgoods' camp and says, “The missionaries, they could help us.” 

Her husband replies, “We don’t need help.”

As the family gets out of the boat, they hear the voice of the missionary, “Well done, choir, well done!”

The children are happy to be back in civilization of sorts. “Look, they have real houses!” 

“They have basketball!” 

“They have toys! Can we play with them?”

The family follows the sound of Spellgood’s voice to the chapel, but when they look inside, Spellgood isn’t there. The pews are full, but instead of Spellgood at the pulpit, there is a television set. On the TV, Spellgood is saying, “Prayer is as simple as making a phone call.” He is using a telephone prop for his conversation with God. His congregation is transfixed.

Though the Rev. Spellgood isn't there, his family is in the village. They’re eating dinner in their own house, watching their own TV. Charlie finds Emily, and she tells them their drive-in church in the States was closed, so they’re living full-time in the village. She offers the family Jeep so the Foxes can make their way back to help and the United States, but Fox doesn’t want to leave. He is also upset about how he feels the missionaries have corrupted the natives.

So Fox sets the chapel on fire. The natives come to the missionary, “Father, Father, the TV’s on fire!”

Spellgood goes out to assess the situation, holding a rifle. He sees that Fox started the fire, and he shoots and kills Fox. The rest of the Fox family escapes in the Jeep at the film’s conclusion.

Fox’s family will return to the States. The Spellgoods will remain on the Mosquito Coast.

Here at Movie Churches, we have a hard and fast rule that murderous clergy get our lowest Steeple Rating of one Steeple, but even without the killing, the Reverend Spellgood probably wouldn’t have rated too high. His seems to be the worst kind of paternalistic view of the people he works with, viewing the people as children rather than as grown men and women made in the Image of God.

(I suppose I should also note there is now a The Mosquito Coast series on Apple TV. And I have now reported the sum total of my knowledge about the show.)

Missionary Month End of the Spear

End of the Spear (2005)
I knew that the missionaries of 2005’s End of the Spear were likely to earn our highest rating of Four Steeples. The film tells the story of Jim Elliot, Nate Saint, Ed McCully, Peter Fleming, and Roger Youderian, five missionaries who tried to reach Waodani people deep in the Ecuadorian rainforest and the aftermath of the missionaries' deaths.

Years ago I read their story in Through Gates of Splendor, written in 1957 by Elisabeth Elliot, the widow of Jim Elliot. After Jim and the others were speared by Waodani tribesmen, Elisabeth and Nate Saint’s sister Rachel went to live with the Waodani people in order to show God’s love for them. Their examples of love and self-sacrifice have long been an inspiration to me.

Told from the perspective of Nate Saint's son, Steve (who was a child when his father was killed) and Mincayani, the Waodani man who killed Nick Saint, the film tells the story of friendship that developed between the two.

It's not just that, though. The film makes a point of telling why the missionaries wanted to contact the Waodani at the time they did. The tribe was quite violent, attacking any and all outsiders, as well as fighting among themselves to the point that the tribe was nearing extinction. Ecuador's government was considering taking action. The missionaries decided to reach the people quickly while there was still an opportunity.

They used their plane (which the Waodani called a “wood bee”) to drop off gifts in the remote village, and eventually landed their plane on the bank of the river nearby. Men from the tribe met the missionaries when they landed and attacked, killing all five. Life Magazine did a pictorial spread on the deaths, bringing world attention, but the families of the victims remained to serve the tribe and show God’s love.

The people of the tribe asked why the missionaries hadn't defended themselves. They had guns. They could easily have overpowered the men with spears. Rachel Saint was asked, “Why didn’t the wood bee men shoot us?”

She responded, “They came to tell you Waengongi has a Son. He was speared, but He didn’t spear back so the people spearing Him would one day live well.”

The missionaries (both the murdered and their families) did bring peace to a warring tribe. The film itself is a little cheesy, the music is sappy, and some of the acting is wooden. (Bonus for animal lovers, though: the film has monkeys, parrots, and bats.) But we're writing about the clergy in the film, and I guessed right going in.

As anticipated, the missionaries of End of the Spear earned 4 Steeples.

Missionary Movie Month: What the Devil?

The Devil at 4 O'Clock (1961)
Yes, the priest’s drinking is worrisome. As is his violent temper. And his lack of faith. But what really bugged me was his begging.

In this 1961 film, Spencer Tracy plays Father Matthew Doonan, a missionary on the (fictional) island of Talua in French Polynesia. Directed by Mervyn Le Roy, based on a novel by Max Catto (Mister Moses) it's a disaster film with one of the most cinematic natural disasters: a volcano.

Father Doonan has been serving on the island for 16 years. His ministry began well; many of the French transplanted to the island attend his church and he wins many native converts as well. But something went wrong, and when the film begins, his ministry is no longer prospering. We see him wake in the morning and begin his day with a drink. Early in the film, we see him shoving an official. His disregard for the Mass disturbs Father Joseph (Kerwin Mathews), the priest who has come to Talua to take Father Doonan’s place.

But what really bothered me was seeing Father Doonan go from business to business, house to house, begging for things for the hospital. He asks for money, of course. But he begs a woman for clothes. And a barber for dirty magazines. He persuades some to give, but they mock and insult him along the way.

Asking for money comes up a lot when you talk to people about what bugs them about churches and ministries. Jesus received money from people for His needs and His ministry, but we don’t see him pleading for money. George Muller, a famed evangelist who ran orphanages, committed himself to ask only God for money and provisions, never people. 

Father Doonan begs because he really cares about the hospital up the mountain. We learn that the hospital led to the downfall of his ministry in town.

The hospital is for children -- children with leprosy. (The hospital's doctor clarifies that the disease, a dark secret on the island, is properly called Hansen’s disease.) Tourism is one of the island's primary sources of revenue, and leprosy isn't exactly something that draws tourists. When Father Doonan began the work at the hospital, the people in town began to shun the church. That’s when the priest began to drink. And apparently, beg. 

We hear this story about the hospital from the doctor, an atheist who used to argue faith with the priest through the night, but the priest's life has begun to fall apart. He seems to have lost his faith. The doctor says, “I had to watch a good man, not a saint, but a good man, crumple apart at the seems… Drunk, crazy, awful temper… He is a great man.”

Father Doonan tells Father Joseph, “I’ll bring you together with some of the noble Christians of the town, the loyal brethren,” but Father Joseph wasn’t alone on the plane that brought him to the island. Three convicts on their way to prison in Tahiti were on the plane, and because the pilot takes a break on the island to see his girlfriend (he has a different girlfriend on every island), the convicts are available to do work at the hospital.

Did I mention that one of the convicts, Harry, is played by Frank Sinatra? He’s the tough guy who was an altar boy when he was young, before he took to a life of crime. When someone tells Harry, “Go with God.” Harry responds, “Who’s God?” (Another convict suggests, “He’s a way to swear.”)

So what changes things around for Father Doonan? What brings him back to faith? 

All it takes is a volcanic eruption which threatens the children of the hospital. Father Doonan prays for someone to help him rescue the children, and the convicts prove to be the answer to that prayer. The priest apologizes to God for his lack of faith. The journey to save the orphans brings the convicts to faith.

What kind of Movie Churches Steeple rating should Father Doonan get? That drinking and fighting (he nearly strangles Ol' Blue Eyes to death) and begging -- especially the begging -- lose Father Doonan a steeple, but he still earns 3 out of 4 for being willing to sacrifice everything for those leper children.

Missionary Movie Churches Month Begins with: The Darjeeling Limited

The Darjeeling Limited (2007)
“The Call" is a term used in some Christian circles. It's generally short for “the call to ministry,” particularly to the mission field. Notice that little word “to,” because it’s important.

It’s a positive word. Going “to” God’s work -- as opposed to running “from” something. People do that, too -- take up missionary work to get away from something else.

Going off to join the French Foreign Legion is an old movie cliche, and not just in films like Beau Geste. Many films and cartoons mention it as a option when a man is besieged by problems, but the Legion was never an option for people who don’t like guns and sand. For most of the institution’s history, it wasn't an option for women. So where else could a person go to get away from it all? How about the mission field?

Becoming a missionary was the escape of choice for characters in both versions of Murder on the Orient Express we watched here at Movie Churches, and it also seems to be the choice of Patricia (Anjelica Huston), the mother of grown sons, in Wes Anderson’s 2007 film, The Darjeeling Limited.

The film tells the story of Francis (Owen Wilson), a troubled man, who asks his two brothers, Peter (Adrien Brody) and Jack (Jason Schwartzman), to join him on a spiritual journey to explore the holy sites of India. He has quite the itinerary, with stops at such places as the Temple of a Thousand Bulls (“probably the most spiritual place in the world”), but Francis hasn't told his brothers his true goal: finding their mother.

He eventually tells them, “I hired a private detective to track down mom. She’s living in a convent in the foothills of the Himalayas. She became a nun, you know how she is. She’s probably suffered some kind of mental collapse.”

The brothers were quite upset when their mother didn’t attend their father's funeral after his sudden, accidental death. (The brothers didn't attend the service either, which is a story at the heart of one of the film’s flashbacks.) Peter and Jack aren't certain Francis should have tried to contact their mother once the detective found her. And they don't like that he sent her a message saying they're coming to visit her.

Their mother responds with this letter: “Dear boys: Bad timing. This morning I received the details of your travel plans in a document from a man named Brendan. Unfortunately, I cannot receive you now. A neighboring village requires our urgent assistance due to an emergency, not to mention the arrival of a man-eating tiger in the region. You should come in the spring when you’ll be safe. You must know how sad I am to experience this long separation. I hope you’ll eventually understand and forgive me. God bless and keep you with Mary’s benevolent guidance and the light of Christ’s enduring grace. All my love, your mother, Sister Patricia Whitman”

This letter seems to have many religious bells and whistles, but what seems to be lacking is genuine love and concern for her grown sons.

They come to see her anyway, finding her at a convent that also seems to serve as an orphanage. She greets her sons with these words, “Didn’t you get my letter? I told to come back in the spring. Welcome, my beautiful boys.”

We see her teaching children and even worshiping with them (as they sing “Praise Him in the Morning.”) The place is decorated with crosses (interestingly, not crucifixes.) The children play and seem to be happy.

The sons ask her why she didn’t come to their father -- her husband’s -- funeral. She answers, “I didn’t want to. I live here, these people need me.” But she tells her sons they must enjoy the time they have together (“Let’s make an agreement. We’ll enjoy ourselves and stop feeling sorry for ourselves because it’s not attractive.”) She takes their breakfast orders for the next day (actually making assumptions about what each of her sons desire), and leaves them for the night.

And the next morning, the boys find that she's gone. It's a little difficult to believe she was in India because people needed her. She runs so easily.

Paul’s instructions for the qualifications for church leadership discuss handling personal affairs well and being attentive to one's own children. That doesn’t mean having to look after grown children, particularly the annoying grown men that are Patricia's sons. But a leader should be making decisions with honesty, openness, and integrity, which doesn’t seem to be the case with this woman. Instead of being called to the mission field, it seems like she's just running from her family.

That’s why Patricia the Nun received only 2 out of 4 Steeples in our Movie Church clergy rating.

Robert Mitchum Month: Mister Moses

Mister Moses (1965)

Our preference is to see films in the most optimal of conditions. Ideally, that’s in the way movies were made to be seen: in a movie theater with excellent projection and sound. We do that on occasion, as we did last month when we watched Lady Bird. If that’s not possible (and it usually isn’t), we stream a film from one of the many services available (Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, etc.) or we get a DVD (Redbox, the public library, or our personal library). Sometimes, sadly, viewing conditions are even less optimal.

Which is how we watched Mister Moses.The film wasn’t available on any of the conventional streaming services. Netflix DVDs and the public library didn’t have the DVD. I could have bought a DVD from online second hand dealers, but the best price was $20. I ended up watching it on Youtube.

Someone had taped a screening of Mister Moses from an independent station in Los Angeles. The station’s logo appears frequently in one corner of the screen; the commercials were edited out (but it’s quite clear where they’d been); and some of the content seems to have been edited out as well (the film on YouTube is shorter than sources say it should be). We work with the version of Mister Moses we have (which is also the version available to you).

But really, during Robert Mitchum month, this isn’t a film we want to miss. Mitchum plays a character named “Moses” who acts as a Moses, for crying out loud!

This 1965 film, directed by Robert Neame (Scrooge, The Poseidon Adventure), tells the story of an African tribe whose homeland is about to be wiped out by a flood waters created by a new dam. A bureaucrat offered to bring an airplane and fly the people to their new home, which meant leaving their livestock behind. The tribe objected.

The tribe is served by a missionary, Rev. Anderson (Alexander Knox), whose daughter is engaged to Robert, the bureaucrat. Robert asked to speak to the chief, but Rev. Anderson said,“The chief and I have good talks.” He obviously knows the language and values the people’s culture, in contrast with government officials who see the people as a barrier to progress and as a problem to be dealt with.

Meanwhile, a confidence man named Mister Moses (Robert Mitchum) arrives; he’s “persuaded” (or blackmailed) by the missionary’s daughter into leading the tribe and their animals to their new homeland. The daughter, Julie, had deduced that Moses has criminal past.

In church, Rev. Anderson told the people the story of Noah, but the chief objected that the people need instead to follow the example of the story of Moses. The chief and the people of the tribe seem to know Bible stories well, which speaks well of Rev. Anderson’s service with them. We see a worship service where people sing “Hark the Herald” in their own language (maybe Swahili? Earlier, someone said, “Jambo.”) Everyone seems to participate.

The Reverend treats the people of the tribe with respect, and he also treats Moses with respect, though the man quite obviously has an unsavory past as a patent medicine salesman. (He is also a diamond smuggler, but that is not common knowledge.) That balance of trusting God and respecting people’s choices proves quite effective in Rev. Anderson’s ministry. In the end, Moses does lead the people (and their animals) to the promised land.

In many contemporary films and literature, missionaries are presented as condescending know-it-alls who believe they are superior to the people they are sent to serve. In Mister Moses, the Reverend Anderson is a true servant, humbly bringing the Word of God. He earns a Movie Churches rating of Four Steeples.

Romantic Movie Churches Month: Christian Mingle

Christian Mingle, 2014

The 2014 film Christian Mingle has something very much in common with the Transformers film series. Not because it’s a romantic comedy populated by giant robots, though that would be awesome, but because both films have product placement right there in the title. Transformers was promoting the toys that turn from robots to cars (among other things) and Christian Mingle refers to a dating website of that same name -- and the film actually has Christianmingle.com television commercials.

I’m sure this all made the financing of Christian Mingle quite interesting, but the very premise of the film, what keeps it from being merely product placement, an utter shill, is that the website is an easy vehicle for fraud. It’s about a woman named Gwyneth (Lacey Chabert, Gretchen of Mean Girls who tried to make the term “fetch” happen), the last single woman in a group of friends, who in desperation turns to a Christian online dating site even though she isn’t a Christian.

If someone can lie so easily about their faith on a dating website, surely worse forms of fraud (and adulterers and predators) can’t be far behind. But, since this is a romantic comedy, we simply have Gwyneth (“Don’t call me Gwennie!”) trying to convince unsuspecting born-again suitor Paul Wood (Jonathan Patrick Wood) that she is a Believer.

Director Bernsen & Lacey Chabert at film's premiere

The movie was written and directed by Corbin Bernsen and has enough cameos from TV and film to fill a modern day Love Boat. David Keith (An Officer and a Gentleman) and Morgan Fairchild (Falcon Crest) are Paul’s parents! Stephen Tobolowsky (Groundhog Day’s Ned Ryerson) and John O’Hurley (Seinfeld’s J. Peterman) are Gwyneth’s employers! And Bernsen himself (L.A. Law) is the bicycle repairman.

Of course, this blog is all about how churches and clergy are presented in films, and though Christian Mingle includes no clergy, we do see not one, not two, but three churches in the film! Though none of the churches are named in the film, they are each quite distinct.

The first is the church Paul’s family attends. Inside the church we see statuary and a crucifix which would suggest a Catholic or at least a very liturgical congregation, but we never see any clergy or any of the worship service, just the exterior of the church before the service and the interior. Still, the Bible study Paul attends with people from the church seems to be quite Evangelical, and when Gwyneth attends lunch with the Wood family at “Steak and Cake” after church, they seem practically Fundamentalist. They seem scandalized when Gwyneth doesn’t end grace with “in Jesus’ name.”

The oddest thing about the church seems to be the way they handle missions trips. Paul, his family, and everyone in his Bible study go off on a trip to Mexico to repair a church that was damaged in a great storm. Gwyneth doesn’t learn about the trip until the day before they depart. She’s angry at Paul, who she’s just started to date, for not telling her earlier that he’s be gone for a month. So Paul calls Gwyneth from Mexico and asks her to come on down and join the group.

Now I’ve been on missions trips; I’ve been a counselor on missions trips; I’ve even planned, organized, and led missions trips. On all of those trips, there was some degree of training for the group to prepare for ministry and cross cultural interaction. People were not invited to join the group just before departure, let alone once the trip has begun. (And another thing, how does Paul think Gwyneth is going to get off work? I guess since he works for his father’s construction company he doesn’t have to worry about such things. Gwyneth has her friend at work lie for her, the friend who later claims to be a Christian.)

Another strange thing about this Mexico missions trip is that the church group hangs banners throughout the town with Scripture verses -- all in English. When they lead a worship service with villagers, Paul’s father sings in English (without translation). Fortunately, there is translation to Spanish in a Bible study led by Lacie, Paul’s mother. Unfortunately, there is something else truly horrible in that Bible study.

Lacie has begun to suspect that Gwyneth is not a Christian, so when a young Mexican woman asks a question in Spanish, she directs the question to Gwyneth, who doesn’t speak Spanish. Eventually, Lacie (who does speak Spanish) translates the question, “Why would a loving God allow the destruction that happened to our village in the storm?” Somehow, Gwyneth not having a ready answer to this question shows she is not a Christian. I would have a different take. Answering such a difficult question quickly and glibly shows a rather shallow understanding of the Scripture and the Christian faith.

Even worse, the Bible study has centered on I John 4: 7 - 8, “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” Because Lacie’s goal is to humiliate Gwyneth, according to this Scripture, Lacie is the one who seems to be failing the Christian test.

Another church in the film is the Mexican church which the mission team comes to repair. The priority seems to be get the bell up and working again. There seems to be a school in the church, and an odd thing about that school is that they bring in a teacher that doesn’t speak Spanish (only English). But the people in the church seem nice.

There is one other church. When Gwyneth is exposed as not a Christian (at least not the kind of  Christian who know the proper formulas for praying and answering Bible study questions), Paul breaks up with her.

Gwyneth finds a storefront church where she’s greeted with love and friendship. There is great Gospel music at the church and good teaching. (Gwyneth learns she needs to receive Jesus as her Lord and Savior at the church.) And the church serves meals to the poor, and Gwyneth joins in on serving.

Gwyneth compares her church to Paul’s church, “I like this church I’m going to. This church is totally chill and laid back.  Does that make it less Christian than this (Paul’s) church? No. But it does make it more me. It doesn’t make it right or wrong, but it’s how I relate to God.”

So I’m giving Gwyneth’s church Four Steeples. The other two churches only get Two Steeples each.

Movie Missionary Month: Silence

Silence (2016)

I wonder if Martin Scorsese considered using this quote from Julie Roys (from her editorial in The Christian Post) for a promotional blurb for his film, Silence: “Though the film certainly has important redeeming qualities...it is deeply disturbing -- and potentially hazardous to one’s spiritual health.” Too wordy for a poster of course, so perhaps he could use just use “Hazardous to One’s Spiritual Health!”

I’m not about to discount the idea that films can have a negative effect on people. I’m always amused by people in the film industry who proudly proclaim that their pet project will make great inroads in social justice, further the causes of tolerance, justice, and truth -- and then deny that, say, a violent act might have been motivated by a film, because, after all, “It’s just a movie.”  Film, like all other art, can have an impact on the way we think, feel and, yes, our “spiritual health.”

Roys’ problem with Silence is that it presents a seemingly impossible moral and theological dilemma and doesn’t offer a solution (at least not, she writes, “a biblically viable one.”)

So I’m going to write about that dilemma; in order to do so, I’m going to have to reveal much of the plot of the film (based on historical events), so if you don’t want the film “spoiled” for you, read no further.

Silence is based on the 1966 novel by Japanese Catholic writer Shusaku Endo, which he based on historical events in 17th century Japan. The Catholic Church sent many Jesuit missionaries to Japan, and it is estimated that at one time there were as many as 300,000 Christians there. The government was not pleased with this and began a widespread persecution of the church.

The film opens with two young priests, Father Rodrigues (Andrew Garfield) and Father Garupe (Adam Driver) being sent on a mission with a dual purpose: to minister to the persecuted faithful and to search for the missionary priest (and the young priests’ former mentor), Father Ferreira, who was no longer in communication with the Church.

Arriving in Japan, the priests are greeted warmly by faithful Catholics in a small village.  They hide the priests in a remote cabin and urge them to only come out at night. The village believers are thankful to have the priests to perform the sacraments, and they share with their scarce food and provisions with the priests.   

The authorities learn there are priests in the area, and thay take three villagers as hostages, threatening their lives unless the priests are turned over. The authorities also force those in the village to renounce their Christian faith, asking all to step on an image of Christ and some to spit on a cross.

Rodrigues and Garupe disagree on how believers should deal with such persecution. Garupe argues the believers should not compromise in their faith in any way, whereas Rodrigues argues it’s not worth losing one’s life for not desecrating something that is, after all, just an image. “Trample, trample,” he urges believers asked to step on the image of Christ.

The priest flee in hope of bringing relief to the village, but the persecution continues.

The priests split up, but eventually Rodrigues is captured and turned over to the Inquisitor. Rodrigues tells the man that even if he is tortured and killed, he will not renounce his faith. The Inquisitor agrees with Rodrigues that this is probably true, he probably could endure much torture for himself. They tried that on priests before, “but we have learned from our mistakes.”

He tells the Rodrigues that instead, he must watch other Christian believers tortured for their faith.

The Inquisitor tells Rodrigues that if he is a good priest, he will renounce his faith to save his flock from further persecution. He argues that if the priest clings to his faith to the detriment of his people, he is a bad priest. This is the impossible moral quandary that Roys bemoaned. It reminded me of Paul’s desire to save the Jewish people (“For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, those of my own race.”)

Rodrigues learns that Garupe has been captured as well and given the same options. But Garupe chooses to die, seeking to rescue a believer being drown in the sea, he drowns himself.

The film presents many images of Christians dying courageous deaths, at times singing praise to God in their deaths. (The authorities of the time practiced a wide variety of creative means for torture and death and many of these gruesome means are portrayed in the film.)

Rodrigues is then presented with a special visitor, Father Ferreira (Liam Neeson), who has indeed turned apostate, renouncing his faith after many sessions of torture and after watching scores of others tortured and killed for their Christian faith. (It’s worth noting that often the Japanese believers were tortured and killed even after they renounced their faith.) Ferreira has even gone so far as to write a scholarly work (in Japanese) to present the Christian Gospel as  a wicked deception.

Eventually, Rodrigues too renounces his faith. He takes a Japanese wife, the widow of a Christian martyred for his fatih. He joins Ferreira in the work of examining imports to Japan to prevent Christian words or images from entering the country. He is regularly required to renounce the Christian faith. And eventually he dies, the last Christian priest in Japan at a time when it seems the church itself in Japan is dead.

This is certainly a different kind of story than what is typically presented by Christian filmmakers where not only does everyone become a Christian, but the Christians win “the big game” at the end.

So does it harm a Christian’s faith to consider the choices faced by believers of other times and places? Especially to consider those who choose to deny Christ when Jesus said in Matthew 10:33 “whoever disowns Me before men, I will disown before the father in heaven?”

I don’t think so. My favorite character in the film is the man who serves as a guide for the priests at the beginning of their journey. Kichijiro is a drunk and a traitor. He at times denies he is a Christian and at other times admits that he believes. We learn that he betrayed his own family of Christian believers, and, in time, he betrays the priests.  But he also continually returns to the priests asking for an opportunity for confession and forgiveness. I don’t know if Kichijiro ever reaches the 7 times 70 limit of requests for forgiveness, but he seems to press it.

At one point in the film, he says, “Why couldn’t I have been born in a time without persecution?” Those of us who live in times and places of great freedom should consider the blessings we have and consider how we make compromises under much less pressure.

And we should consider what I think Endo ultimately suggests in his work, that God is not silent, He suffers alongside both the martyrs and the apostates.

Scorsese dedicates his film “For the Japanese Christians and their pastors,” adding the words “Ad majorem Dei gloriam” which is the motto of the Jesuits, “For the greater glory of God.” Though the Inquisitor in the film argues that Japan is a swamp in which the Christian Gospel can never take root, the church in Japan endures.

So giving a Steeple rating is difficult for this film. The Apostate Priests probably would rather not be given any steeples. But for the martyrs of the Church in Japan, we give Four Steeples.