Marjoe (1972)

Marjoe Gortner was a child preacher. He came from a family of evangelists, and was performing marriage ceremonies and traveling the country telling congregations to give up their money to Christ before he was old enough to shave. As a teenager, he gave up that life for a while, then returned to it as a young adult because he needed the money. This film profiles him in those latter days of his preaching career, as he recounts his troubled childhood and exposes the tricks of his trade to the documentary crew.Marjoe cuts a fairly sympathetic character for somebody who made a living manipulating gullible people into thinking that Jesus could heal their cancer. His body language while addressing the flock is closely modeled after Mick Jagger's, and after this film was released, he became an actor and had a decent run on Hollywood's B-List. Nowadays, he produces celebrity charity events. So his story is not without hope, but there are times at which this film verges on dark comedy, as Marjoe sells people again and again on the patently un-Christian notion that they can simply buy their way into Heaven.For the record, when a man asked Jesus what he must do to be saved, he said, "Sell all your possessions. Then come follow me." The evangelism industry is still alive and well in America, which makes this film as relevant as ever. I feel for Marjoe. I hope that some of his followers might have eventually realized that what you do outside of church matters more than what you do in church. Highly recommended.

Watched this documentary for the first time last night after coming across Marjoe's name. I was laughing at videos of Jimmy Swaggart on youtube and then decided to look into other cases of Exposed Evangelist's. Obviously in this case though, The exposed has exposed himself! I could tell within the first 5 minutes i was going to enjoy the documentary a great deal, especially an early scene of Marjoe "prepping" all the film crew in the hotel before hand. Overall, the film flows nicely with shots back and forth of "The Preacher" Marjoe & "The Real" Marjoe. I feel I could have two views on Marjoe as a person really. 1 is that I see him as a kind of Michael Jackson-Esq figure who's had his childhood basically torn away from him and this life forced upon him by his parents and that he cant be held responsible for his actions. Or 2, a very friendly conman as obviously later on in life he went back to preaching as an Adult and that was his choice knowingly ripping people off and taking their money. But, on the other hand as well, I personally don't believe in Religion and If you're blatantly going to just believe that good things will be blessed onto you by God just 'coz you've thrown $20 in a bucket then i think you deserved to be ripped off!Personally, The one and only let down in this documentary (and if included would have been 10/10) is the fact that you don't get to see the reactions of his parents after hes admitted he doesn't believe what he is preaching. They probably knew all along anyway but i think it would have just added to the film. I've tried finding out about the aftermath online and cant even find anything so maybe they just declined any interviews or their views on the matter. Either way, a really good doc worth checking out!

"Marjoe" is an exposee apparently orchestrated by the evangelist, Marjoe Gortner, as a way to say goodbye to this life by tossing a figurative Molotov Cocktail into the traveling evangelist profession. He had begun his ministry at age 3 and worked in it, off and on, many, many years. With this film, he is declaring his independence and walking away from that life.I thought it was a very fascinating but ill-focused film. Instead of talking about his fascinating life (which I wish we'd heard far more about in the film), much of the documentary shows Marjoe preaching at various venues--and there is way, way too much footage of this and the apoplectic reactions of many in his audience. It was interesting (especially for someone not too familiar with the Pentecostal movement)--but so much in the film seemed repetitive and slow. Because of this aspect alone, I am a bit surprised that this documentary won the Oscar in this category.I think there is a lot people can take out of this film. Of course, there is some great first-hand information about the hucksters in the traveling evangelism business, but I also thought it was interesting to see these Pentecostal services in action as they are FAR removed from mainstream Christianity. Some might also just see it as a broad attack on Christianity and religion--thought I didn't take that from the film. Probably in light of my background in the mental health field, I thought the film was a great portrait of a very charismatic sociopath. I noticed that although Marjoe did this film to expose the industry, they sure showed him counting a lot of money! Later, he says how it's all fake and says he is sorry for deceiving people...though he did not, I notice, refuse to take all the people's money or offer to give any of it back! As a result, I was appalled by Gortner, as he seemed to be saying he was turning over a new leaf---yet still swindling people in the process--and probably laughing at them! I would love to have heard him explain this and when someone in the film asked him if he was a con-man (which, of course, he was) he didn't actually answer the question! This is, I think, the point that the film SHOULD have focused on--but as Gortner seemed to be running the production, this angle was not explored further. I would really love to see a followup film to both see where he is today and to explore his life and the way he used others. Interestingly, although he has given up this old life, he still seemed to have a strong need to be liked and to be the center of attention in this film--so maybe there is less difference between his old life and the new! Maybe Marjoe the professional actor of the 1970s and 80s isn't that much removed from the evangelist!Worth seeing but quite flawed in its style and lack of clear focus.

In 1948 Hugh Marjoe Ross Gortner of Long Beach, California became an ordained preacher for the pentecostal church. He was four years old. A gifted preacher, Marjoe reached some fame and notoriety in the American South and earned his parents an estimated $3,000,000 before the novelty had worn off in his teen years. It was around this time that Marjoe became part of the Hippie movement and took stock of what had happened to him, his childhood and the money he never saw. At twenty and struggling to get by, Marjoe fell back on his greatest talent and again began to preach. He wasn't a true believer, but they believed in him. They flocked to see his Jagger swaggering sermons and paid well for the privilege.This documentary joins Marjoe in 1971 when he is 23 years old. A crisis of conscience has led him to not only give up preaching for good, but also to show us the preaching racket as it really is. We follow Marjoe for one final tour with a documentary crew under the guise of promoting the church. The film introduces the real Marjoe through a series of interviews interspersed with footage of the sermons he holds. The contrast between the two sides of his character is quite startling and to have this captured on film is quite special, some might say it's a small ironically occurring miracle. The content here was so powerful that at the time it wasn't distributed in many of the southern states. That didn't stop it taking the 1972 Best Documentary Oscar and although it did fade into obscurity for a while, in 2002 the original negative print was found and recaptured for digital release.Marjoe is a charismatic lead, talking us through his life story and giving us a window into this world. He has an implicit understanding of preaching techniques and the lucrative business behind the scenes. What is shown here feels like full disclosure, we see Marjoe briefing the crew on how to act when in church or that they should cut their hair to fit in. We see his home life and relationships, his real life outside the church and his on stage persona. I read that he was looking to become an actor (and did, sort of) and to leave this life behind him and game some publicity this film was made. Utterly unique and as relevant as ever. Even today it embarrasses the born again crowd better than Jesus Camp and that's saying something. Of course when it comes to the religious right nothing has changed, it's only gotten bigger.