In The Gun And The Pulpit, Marjoe Gortner stars as an outlaw running from a hanging party, who stumbles upon the body of a deceased preacher. Assuming his identity and his assignment, he ends up inciting the townspeople of an oppressed community against villainous big-wig David Huddleston and cleaning up the town of Huddlestons cronies.The endlessly glib Gortner, who was no doubt cast due to the fact that he was (no joke) a real life fraudulent Pentacostal minister, is charismatic and well cast as the gun-fighting conman and heads a great supporting cast of character actors including Slim Pickens and Pamela Sue Martin.This has probably the most clever script ever in a seventies TV movie western (by Academy Award nominated screenwriter William Bowers) with excellent tongue-in-cheek humor and wordplay in some fantastic scenes. One of which involves a miracle gunfight and an excellent cameo appearance by Geoffrey Lewis.Great fun.

In order to elude authorities, western outlaw Marjoe Gortner (as Ernie Parsons) assumes the identity of a traveling preacher. Mr. Gortner takes up residence in parson-needy Castle Walk, Arizona; there, at a funeral, he and sexy teenager Pamela Sue Martin (as Sally Underwood) are mutually attracted. Soon, Gortner's shady past threatens his budding relationship with young Ms. Martin. Sidekick Slim Pickens (as Billy One-Eye) and mother Estelle Parsons (as Sadie Underwood) lend their support.Even in this slightly above average television production, Gortner has star quality to burn. Taken as a screen test, "The Gun and the Pulpit " miraculously elevates the former evangelist to convincing western hero. Pamela Sue Martin is excellent as Gortner's barely legal leading lady; her glances are more sensual than a strip tease. Director Daniel Petrie handles the assignment admirably. Gortner's star quality was evident since the riveting documentary "Marjoe" (1972), which revealed his evangelical movement to be a money-grubbing scam. In hindsight, it seems Marjoe Gortner was too hot for Hollywood to handle. ****** The Gun and the Pulpit (4/3/74) Daniel Petrie ~ Marjoe Gortner, Pamela Sue Martin, Slim Pickens, Estelle Parsons

Take "Shane", put him in a collar, make the kid a teenage girl instead of a little boy, and you have "The Gun and the Pulpit." Marjoe Gortner is an interesting actor, but the bad guy could have used more of the menace that Jack Palance brought to "Shane". The cheapness of the typical '70's made for TV movie shines through, so it's hard to give this more than a five out of ten.But I like Marjoe. I hear he's running charitable events involving golf in Hollywood these days. It's too bad his acting career never took off.I also liked the gunfight where both gunfighters miss. That's something I'd never seen before in a Western. There was some thinking going on here.

I picked up this flick as part of a double film DVD offer along with "The Hanged Man" for just a buck, and truth be told, both movies were a whole lot better than either had a right to be for the price. The title on this one was "The Gun and The Cross", close enough to the original to get the message across. The title character wields both, as Marjoe Gortner is revealed to be gunfighter Ernie Parsons, masquerading as a preacher after he finds a real one who was bushwhacked. Donning the clothes of the dead minister, he arrives at the town of Castle Walk just in time to help the local folk deal with nasty town boss Ross (David Huddleston). It's fairly formulaic, with nods to 1952's "High Noon" and 1973's "High Plains Drifter", along with a preview of 1985's "Pale Rider". However with it's own spin on things, it comes across both interesting and entertaining, particularly with the inclusion of Pamela Sue Martin as Gortner's love interest. Their scenes together are played both for romance and camp value, and I got a kick out of Sally (Martin) explaining how she wouldn't be the youngest widow in town if Parsons were to meet his demise.Along with the principals, you have some fine supporting players doing character portrayals you might have seen before; Slim Pickens as a sidekick of the preacher, Geoffrey Lewis as a hired gun, and Estelle Parsons, who starts out somewhat annoying as Sally's mom. but then settles down a bit to accept the preacher and his mission. The ending comes as just a bit of a surprise, and you have to fill in your own blanks as to the town's reaction, especially Sally's, when Gortner's character realizes Billy's (Pickens) advice is correct. Though it's not likely to show up on TV again, it wouldn't hurt to check out the bargain bins at your local store every now and then to see if this one turns up.