Angel in my Pocket
Encyclopedia
Angel in my Pocket is a 1969 film
starring Andy Griffith
and directed by Alan Rafkin
. The movie was one of three originally planned by Universal Pictures
to star Griffith, and also featured Lee Meriwether
, Jerry Van Dyke
, Kay Medford
, Henry Jones
, Edgar Buchanan
, and Gary Collins
. This film has never been released to home video in any format.
Samuel D. Whitehead, ex-Marine
, bricklayer
, and recent seminary
graduate, is ecstatic to receive his first "calling," or assignment as Pastor
of his own church. But the Church of the Redeemer in Wood Falls, Kansas
, will prove a challenging assignment and nearly his undoing.
The trouble begins almost immediately after he drives into town with his family. A political
rally connected with the upcoming mayor
al campaign, has erupted into a no-holds-barred, knock-down, drag-out brawl, which the sheriff
will not stop. Sam attempts to intervene and succeeds only in getting struck in the face, so he drives on to see the church. There he learns that the church sorely needs major renovation, which has not been done in decades because the two founding families, the Sinclairs and the Greshams, have been running a feud
for decades and cannot agree on the simplest decision that would benefit the church (or on anything else, either). Worse yet, Sam delivers his first sermon
by preaching against physical violence—only to discover most of the brawlers in attendance, including one who blames him for making him vulnerable to someone else's assault.
Thereafter Sam spends most of his time trying to improvise to provide for the church needs, speak out on various problems in the community, and, ever more frequently, to run interference between the Sinclair and Gresham families. Each of these endeavors brings him trouble. First, his project to secure a new organ
for the church leads to a confrontation with the church board when two town gossip
s witness him obtaining the organ from a house of Burlesque
. Sam's brother-in-law, called "Bubba," offers to help the caretaker
repair the superannuated boiler
--but unknown to Sam, the two men turn the boiler into a still
and start producing raisin jack, a variety of moonshine
. Next, he takes his children out of school after seeing the appalling conditions there—which prompts his Bishop
to warn him not to interfere in town affairs. Finally, he performs a marriage between a Sinclair and a Gresham—and when the secret gets out at a church social (after "Bubba" spikes the church punch with some of his raisin jack), Sam must physically restrain the heads of the families from brawling in the church fellowship hall, and then send everyone home. Not long afterward, the Bishop informs him that he is removed from his pastorate.
In one final attempt to save his situation and the community, he persuades his one remaining friend, Attorney Art Shields, to run for mayor as a write-in candidate
, with the election
two days away. That leads to a confrontation along the main street among three different political parade
s, including Art's. Then the church's old boiler explodes, and the church burns down to its foundations as a result—and the attempt by the fire department to fight the fire turns pathetic when the fire hose springs multiple leaks. When the Sinclairs and the Greshams argue yet again about who was responsible for the faulty equipment, Sam roars at them to "go someplace else, yell your heads off, and let this poor church die in peace!"
The next day, the Whiteheads are moving out—when Art Shields joyously announces that he is trouncing the opposition in the election and will definitely be the next mayor. Art offers Sam a job with the town, but Sam declines, saying that he needs to find another church. But as he is about to leave town, Will Sinclair and Axel Gresham—reconciled at last, and at the head of a procession of building-material trucks—intercept him, tell him that they intend rebuilding the church, and beg him to stay on.
that makes great fun of small-town secrets, family feuds, politics, and gossip. The constant bickering between the Sinclairs and the Greshams, and the spectacle of the mayor's office bouncing back and forth between the two families, suggest a satire on the Democratic
and Republican
Parties. That, during the immediate past Federal election, Presidential Candidate George Wallace
famously said, "There's not a dime's worth of difference between the two parties," might or might not be a coincidence.
The movie never identifies the denomination to which the "Church of the Redeemer" is supposed to belong. The presence of a Bishop
, the vestments that Sam Whitehead wears, and Sam's prefacing of his sermon with a well-known Anglican
collect
strongly suggest that the denomination involved is the American Episcopal Church--except that the title given to the senior minister in an Episcopal parish is "rector," not "pastor."
to feature Andy Griffith in the wake of his television series' success. Griffith's disappointment in this film led to a cancellation of the project. Hence, the other two films were never made.
report that the film did poorly at the box office, and that the poor reception might have ended Andy Griffith
's career in feature films despite his much earlier powerful performance in A Face in the Crowd (1957). NBC Television telecast it as part of their Saturday Night at the Movies
program. The film has appeared on television only infrequently after that, and has never been released to home video.
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
starring Andy Griffith
Andy Griffith
Andy Samuel Griffith is an American actor, director, producer, Grammy Award-winning Southern-gospel singer, and writer. He gained prominence in the starring role in director Elia Kazan's epic film A Face in the Crowd before he became better known for his television roles, playing the lead...
and directed by Alan Rafkin
Alan Rafkin
Alan Rafkin was an American Emmy Award-winning director, producer, and actor for television.-Biography:Born in New York City, Rafkin attended Admiral Farragut Academy in Pine Beach, New Jersey....
. The movie was one of three originally planned by Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures
-1920:* White Youth* The Flaming Disc* Am I Dreaming?* The Dragon's Net* The Adorable Savage* Putting It Over* The Line Runners-1921:* The Fire Eater* A Battle of Wits* Dream Girl* The Millionaire...
to star Griffith, and also featured Lee Meriwether
Lee Meriwether
Lee Ann Meriwether is an American actress, former model, and the winner of the 1955 Miss America pageant. She is perhaps best known for her role as Betty Jones, the crime-solving partner in the long-running 1970s crime drama, Barnaby Jones. The role earned her two Golden Globe Award nominations in...
, Jerry Van Dyke
Jerry Van Dyke
Jerry Van Dyke is an American comedian and actor. He is the younger brother of comedian and actor Dick Van Dyke, and made his acting debut on The Dick Van Dyke Show with several guest appearances as Rob Petrie's brother, Stacey...
, Kay Medford
Kay Medford
Kay Medford , was an American character actress and comedienne.She was born Margaret Kathleen O'Regan in New York City to James and Mary O'Regan, first-generation Irish-American parents, both of whom had died by the time she was 15 years old...
, Henry Jones
Henry Jones (actor)
Henry Burk Jones was an American actor of stage, film and television.Jones was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of Helen and John Francis Xavier Jones. He was the grandson of Pennsylvania Representative Henry Burk...
, Edgar Buchanan
Edgar Buchanan
Edgar Buchanan was an American actor with a long career in both film and television, most familiar today as Uncle Joe Carson from the Petticoat Junction, Green Acres and The Beverly Hillbillies television sitcoms of the 1960s...
, and Gary Collins
Gary Collins (actor)
Gary Ennis Collins is an American film and television performer.-Early life and career:Collins was born in Venice, California, to a waitress/factory worker mother. After attending Santa Monica City College, he enlisted in the U.S...
. This film has never been released to home video in any format.
Plot
The ReverendThe Reverend
The Reverend is a style most often used as a prefix to the names of Christian clergy and ministers. There are sometimes differences in the way the style is used in different countries and church traditions. The Reverend is correctly called a style but is often and in some dictionaries called a...
Samuel D. Whitehead, ex-Marine
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
, bricklayer
Bricklayer
A bricklayer or mason is a craftsman who lays bricks to construct brickwork. The term also refers to personnel who use blocks to construct blockwork walls and other forms of masonry. In British and Australian English, a bricklayer is colloquially known as a "brickie".The training of a trade in...
, and recent seminary
Seminary
A seminary, theological college, or divinity school is an institution of secondary or post-secondary education for educating students in theology, generally to prepare them for ordination as clergy or for other ministry...
graduate, is ecstatic to receive his first "calling," or assignment as Pastor
Pastor
The word pastor usually refers to an ordained leader of a Christian congregation. When used as an ecclesiastical styling or title, this role may be abbreviated to "Pr." or often "Ps"....
of his own church. But the Church of the Redeemer in Wood Falls, Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
, will prove a challenging assignment and nearly his undoing.
The trouble begins almost immediately after he drives into town with his family. A political
Politics
Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...
rally connected with the upcoming mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
al campaign, has erupted into a no-holds-barred, knock-down, drag-out brawl, which the sheriff
Sheriff
A sheriff is in principle a legal official with responsibility for a county. In practice, the specific combination of legal, political, and ceremonial duties of a sheriff varies greatly from country to country....
will not stop. Sam attempts to intervene and succeeds only in getting struck in the face, so he drives on to see the church. There he learns that the church sorely needs major renovation, which has not been done in decades because the two founding families, the Sinclairs and the Greshams, have been running a feud
Feud
A feud , referred to in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, or private war, is a long-running argument or fight between parties—often groups of people, especially families or clans. Feuds begin because one party perceives itself to have been attacked, insulted or wronged by another...
for decades and cannot agree on the simplest decision that would benefit the church (or on anything else, either). Worse yet, Sam delivers his first sermon
Sermon
A sermon is an oration by a prophet or member of the clergy. Sermons address a Biblical, theological, religious, or moral topic, usually expounding on a type of belief, law or behavior within both past and present contexts...
by preaching against physical violence—only to discover most of the brawlers in attendance, including one who blames him for making him vulnerable to someone else's assault.
Thereafter Sam spends most of his time trying to improvise to provide for the church needs, speak out on various problems in the community, and, ever more frequently, to run interference between the Sinclair and Gresham families. Each of these endeavors brings him trouble. First, his project to secure a new organ
Organ (music)
The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
for the church leads to a confrontation with the church board when two town gossip
Gossip
Gossip is idle talk or rumour, especially about the personal or private affairs of others, It is one of the oldest and most common means of sharing facts and views, but also has a reputation for the introduction of errors and variations into the information transmitted...
s witness him obtaining the organ from a house of Burlesque
Burlesque
Burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects...
. Sam's brother-in-law, called "Bubba," offers to help the caretaker
Property caretaker
A Property caretaker is a person, group or organization that cares for real estate for trade or financial compensation, and sometimes as a barter for rent-free living accommodations...
repair the superannuated boiler
Boiler
A boiler is a closed vessel in which water or other fluid is heated. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications.-Materials:...
--but unknown to Sam, the two men turn the boiler into a still
Still
A still is a permanent apparatus used to distill miscible or immiscible liquid mixtures by heating to selectively boil and then cooling to condense the vapor...
and start producing raisin jack, a variety of moonshine
Moonshine
Moonshine is an illegally produced distilled beverage...
. Next, he takes his children out of school after seeing the appalling conditions there—which prompts his Bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
to warn him not to interfere in town affairs. Finally, he performs a marriage between a Sinclair and a Gresham—and when the secret gets out at a church social (after "Bubba" spikes the church punch with some of his raisin jack), Sam must physically restrain the heads of the families from brawling in the church fellowship hall, and then send everyone home. Not long afterward, the Bishop informs him that he is removed from his pastorate.
In one final attempt to save his situation and the community, he persuades his one remaining friend, Attorney Art Shields, to run for mayor as a write-in candidate
Write-in candidate
A write-in candidate is a candidate in an election whose name does not appear on the ballot, but for whom voters may vote nonetheless by writing in the person's name. Some states and local jurisdictions allow a voter to affix a sticker with a write-in candidate's name on it to the ballot in lieu...
, with the election
Election
An election is a formal decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy operates since the 17th century. Elections may fill offices in the legislature, sometimes in the...
two days away. That leads to a confrontation along the main street among three different political parade
Parade
A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, floats or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually celebrations of some kind...
s, including Art's. Then the church's old boiler explodes, and the church burns down to its foundations as a result—and the attempt by the fire department to fight the fire turns pathetic when the fire hose springs multiple leaks. When the Sinclairs and the Greshams argue yet again about who was responsible for the faulty equipment, Sam roars at them to "go someplace else, yell your heads off, and let this poor church die in peace!"
The next day, the Whiteheads are moving out—when Art Shields joyously announces that he is trouncing the opposition in the election and will definitely be the next mayor. Art offers Sam a job with the town, but Sam declines, saying that he needs to find another church. But as he is about to leave town, Will Sinclair and Axel Gresham—reconciled at last, and at the head of a procession of building-material trucks—intercept him, tell him that they intend rebuilding the church, and beg him to stay on.
Themes
This film is a comedyComedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
that makes great fun of small-town secrets, family feuds, politics, and gossip. The constant bickering between the Sinclairs and the Greshams, and the spectacle of the mayor's office bouncing back and forth between the two families, suggest a satire on the Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
and Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
Parties. That, during the immediate past Federal election, Presidential Candidate George Wallace
George Wallace
George Corley Wallace, Jr. was the 45th Governor of Alabama, serving four terms: 1963–1967, 1971–1979 and 1983–1987. "The most influential loser" in 20th-century U.S. politics, according to biographers Dan T. Carter and Stephan Lesher, he ran for U.S...
famously said, "There's not a dime's worth of difference between the two parties," might or might not be a coincidence.
The movie never identifies the denomination to which the "Church of the Redeemer" is supposed to belong. The presence of a Bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
, the vestments that Sam Whitehead wears, and Sam's prefacing of his sermon with a well-known Anglican
Anglicanism
Anglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising churches with historical connections to the Church of England or similar beliefs, worship and church structures. The word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to at least 1246 that means the English...
collect
Collect
In Christian liturgy, a collect is both a liturgical action and a short, general prayer. In the Middle Ages, the prayer was referred to in Latin as collectio, but in the more ancient sources, as oratio. In English, and in this usage, "collect" is pronounced with the stress on the first syllable...
strongly suggest that the denomination involved is the American Episcopal Church--except that the title given to the senior minister in an Episcopal parish is "rector," not "pastor."
Background and Production
This film was one of three originally planned by Universal PicturesUniversal Pictures
-1920:* White Youth* The Flaming Disc* Am I Dreaming?* The Dragon's Net* The Adorable Savage* Putting It Over* The Line Runners-1921:* The Fire Eater* A Battle of Wits* Dream Girl* The Millionaire...
to feature Andy Griffith in the wake of his television series' success. Griffith's disappointment in this film led to a cancellation of the project. Hence, the other two films were never made.
Reception
Information on the film's box-office reception is sketchy. Users commenting at the Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database
Internet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
report that the film did poorly at the box office, and that the poor reception might have ended Andy Griffith
Andy Griffith
Andy Samuel Griffith is an American actor, director, producer, Grammy Award-winning Southern-gospel singer, and writer. He gained prominence in the starring role in director Elia Kazan's epic film A Face in the Crowd before he became better known for his television roles, playing the lead...
's career in feature films despite his much earlier powerful performance in A Face in the Crowd (1957). NBC Television telecast it as part of their Saturday Night at the Movies
NBC Saturday Night at the Movies
NBC Saturday Night at the Movies, was the first continuing weekly prime time network television series to show relatively recent feature films from major studios in color...
program. The film has appeared on television only infrequently after that, and has never been released to home video.
Cast
- Andy GriffithAndy GriffithAndy Samuel Griffith is an American actor, director, producer, Grammy Award-winning Southern-gospel singer, and writer. He gained prominence in the starring role in director Elia Kazan's epic film A Face in the Crowd before he became better known for his television roles, playing the lead...
as The ReverendThe ReverendThe Reverend is a style most often used as a prefix to the names of Christian clergy and ministers. There are sometimes differences in the way the style is used in different countries and church traditions. The Reverend is correctly called a style but is often and in some dictionaries called a...
Samuel D. Whitehead, PastorPastorThe word pastor usually refers to an ordained leader of a Christian congregation. When used as an ecclesiastical styling or title, this role may be abbreviated to "Pr." or often "Ps"....
of the Church of the Redeemer, Wood Falls, KansasKansasKansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south... - Lee MeriwetherLee MeriwetherLee Ann Meriwether is an American actress, former model, and the winner of the 1955 Miss America pageant. She is perhaps best known for her role as Betty Jones, the crime-solving partner in the long-running 1970s crime drama, Barnaby Jones. The role earned her two Golden Globe Award nominations in...
as Mary Elizabeth Whitehead, his wife. - Jerry Van DykeJerry Van DykeJerry Van Dyke is an American comedian and actor. He is the younger brother of comedian and actor Dick Van Dyke, and made his acting debut on The Dick Van Dyke Show with several guest appearances as Rob Petrie's brother, Stacey...
as Emery or "Bubba," his shiftless and alcoholicAlcoholismAlcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
brother-in-law. - Kay MedfordKay MedfordKay Medford , was an American character actress and comedienne.She was born Margaret Kathleen O'Regan in New York City to James and Mary O'Regan, first-generation Irish-American parents, both of whom had died by the time she was 15 years old...
as Racine, his mother-in-law. - Henry JonesHenry Jones (actor)Henry Burk Jones was an American actor of stage, film and television.Jones was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of Helen and John Francis Xavier Jones. He was the grandson of Pennsylvania Representative Henry Burk...
as Will Sinclair, MayorMayorIn many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
of Wood Falls and head of one of the two founding (and feuding) families. - Edgar BuchananEdgar BuchananEdgar Buchanan was an American actor with a long career in both film and television, most familiar today as Uncle Joe Carson from the Petticoat Junction, Green Acres and The Beverly Hillbillies television sitcoms of the 1960s...
as Axel Gresham, head of the other founding family and Will Sinclair's principal opponent in the mayoral electionElectionAn election is a formal decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy operates since the 17th century. Elections may fill offices in the legislature, sometimes in the...
. - Gary CollinsGary Collins (actor)Gary Ennis Collins is an American film and television performer.-Early life and career:Collins was born in Venice, California, to a waitress/factory worker mother. After attending Santa Monica City College, he enlisted in the U.S...
as Art Shields, Attorney at law and write-in candidateWrite-in candidateA write-in candidate is a candidate in an election whose name does not appear on the ballot, but for whom voters may vote nonetheless by writing in the person's name. Some states and local jurisdictions allow a voter to affix a sticker with a write-in candidate's name on it to the ballot in lieu...
for mayor. - Parker FennellyParker FennellyParker Fennelly was an American actor who appeared in ten films, numerous television episodes and hundreds of radio programs.-Allen's Alley:...
as Calvin Grey, the caretaker - Jack DodsonJack DodsonJack Dodson Born John S. Dodson in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was an American television actor best remembered for the milquetoast character Howard Sprague in The Andy Griffith Show and its spin-off Mayberry R.F.D. From 1959 until his death in 1994, Dodson was married to television art director...
as Norman Gresham - Elena VerdugoElena VerdugoElena Verdugo is an American actress who began in films at the age of six in Cavalier of the West . Her career in radio, television, and film spanned six decades....
as Lila Sinclair, whose marriage to Norman brings the families to blows yet again. - Herbie FayeHerbie FayeHerbie Faye was an American actor who appeared in both of Phil Silvers's CBS television series, The Phil Silvers Show and The New Phil Silvers Show ....
as Mr. Welch