Karry Best movie of this year hands down!

PiraBit if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

Jonah Abbott There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Kamila Bell This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

MartinHafer Marjoe Gortner is a guy pretty much forgotten today. Back when he was a young boy, his parents toured the country with him...billing him as the world's youngest preacher! He was preaching sermons and marrying folks when he was 4! Years later, he wrote a book in which he admitted that the healings and other charismatic things he did in God's name was all a lot of hogwash--blowing the lid off this industry. Soon after this, Marjoe starred in a documentary about all this ("Marjoe"). And, because of the film's success, he soon went Hollywood and appeared in a variety of TV shows and movies. But this new life was rather short-lived and he has since faded into obscurity. "The Gun and the Pulpit" is one of those projects he worked on for Hollywood during this period.When the film begins, Ernest Parson (Gortner) is about to be hung. Whether or not he deserved this, you never know...but he is able to escape and the posse is in hot pursuit. Later, he finds a dead preacher out in the wilderness. He assumes the man's identity and heads to the super-crappy town in Arizona which called this preacher to preach. Since the folks don't know him, he figures, he can at least hide out there a while. But two problems arise--a nasty guy, Ross (David Huddleston) is running roughshod over the town and Ernie does NOT like this at all and one of the locals recognizes him! What's next....especially after the preacher shoots one of Ross' gunman dead right in the middle of a church service!? What follows is much like films like "High Noon" where you have a do-gooder who stands up for what's right...and a craven town which has to be shamed into even considering standing up for themselves.This is a decent film with a very convoluted Biblical message to say the least! It is entertaining and different--which is nice as most westerns have a certain sameness about them. There are a few clichés (such as the shootout in the town square) but otherwise worth seeing.

Ed in St. Louis 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.

Woodyanders Former real life child evangelist Marjoe Gortner gives a solid and engaging performance as Ernie Parsons, a shrewd gunslinger who's forced to assume the identity of a dead minister in order to elude being captured by an angry posse. Parsons winds up in a dusty little hamlet where the cowed townspeople are under the cruel reign of evil powerful despot Mr. Ross (a wonderfully wicked David Huddleston). Director Daniel Petrie, working from a clever and witty script by William Bowers, keeps the offbeat narrative lively and engrossing throughout. Richard C. Glouner's handsome, agile photography, George Aliceson Tipton's rousing, flavorsome score and several exciting gunfights are all likewise up to par. The bang-up cast constitutes as another major plus: Estelle Parsons as a feisty widow, Pamela Sue Martin as Parson's sweet pretty young thing daughter, Slim Pickens as a rascally old coot, Geoffrey Lewis as a formidable rival gunfighter, Jon Lormer as the local undertaker, and Jeff Corey as the ornery posse leader are all uniformly excellent. A really fun and satisfying little made-for-TV sagebrush flick.

roger_nt I've seen this movie about 4 times, under various circumstances, including a night in the hospital when I couldn't sleep. I have always liked Marjo Gortner in his limited career, and this movie was a lot of fun. It reminds me of the old TV westerns like "Maverick" in its humour and characterizations. I can't believe it's not had 5 votes yet.