University of Virginia Library

Christian Commercial

By STEVE WELLS

The acceptance of Christ into
one's life is a very personal thing,
and to try to make a film with this
as the central theme would require
a large and unique talent, a talent
which is nowhere to be found in
"Two a Penny."

Screenwriter Stella Linden and
director James F. Collier have
presented us with a love story based
on the old "eternal triangle"
formula, except in this case the
triangle is made up of one boy, one
girl, and God. The dialogue is often
clumsy, with lines like "If you want
me, God, you're going to have to
stand in line!" evoking laughs
instead of lending dramatic
credibility to the plot.

Yet the principal reason for the
categorical failure of the film stems
from its simplistic nature — both
artistically and spiritually. The girl
listens to Billy Graham speak for a
few minutes and she's converted to
Christianity, without any
explanation as to what it is in her
life that makes her need and/or
want to receive Christ. Her boy
friend leaves her, she prays "Our
father...my father," and — poof! —
he is back. The film is thus, in
many ways, a romanticization of
Christian truth, and given the
unimaginative handling of plot and
character, it's impossible to accept
the film on any level.

Cliff Richard portrays the boy,
and his acting gives one the
impression that he's trying (in vain)
to be another Ryan O'Neal, while
his physical appearance and
mannerisms suggest that he's an
escapee from "The Boys in the
Band." His square-faced,
anemic-looking, seemingly frigid
girl friend is played by Ann
Holloway in a Plain Jane manner
which compliments neither her nor
the film.

"Two a Penny," however, was
obviously not made primarily for
artistic reasons. It is, at its
transparent core, a propagandistic
film which is little more than a
commercial for Christianity,
complete with pamphlets, pledge
cards, and the works. It's a shame
that the makers of the film failed to
realize the simple psychological fact
that this hard-sell, almost
exploitative approach, wrapped up
in a hokey story, is more likely to
turn people off than on.

(Now at the Barracks Road)