Aimee Semple McPherson

In the film, Liz glides around in what Lewis describes as, quote, white muslin caftans resembling floating shrouds.

This costuming reminded me of the white nightgowns Libby was described as wearing at the Smith-Reynolds inquest in 1932, which had reminded me of the 1931 Frank Capra film The Miracle Woman, in which Barbara Stanwyck wore a sheer white shroud in a 1930s eroticization of the not-diaphanous white gowns worn by celebrity evangelist Amy Semple McPherson.

Liz even pairs her final white costume, a night dress which becomes her death dress, with a white bow in her lush black hair, as Libby did when being interrogated on charges that she had murdered Smith.

Would Joseph Losey have known that Taylor's costume would look to those in the know as a direct reference to Libby Holman's costume for her appearance at the inquest into the death of her first husband? I doubt he would have cared, but Tennessee Williams would have known and probably cared, and certainly Libby would have too.

On the other side of my family, my dad's Grandpa, my dad's grandpa, my great grandpa, also in Portland, Oregon, didn't know the Lord.

Someone invited him to an Amy Semple McPherson meeting.

If you've ever heard of Amy Semple McPherson, wild evangelist in the 1920s.

He went to that meeting, heard the gospel.

She invited people down front to receive Jesus.

Depend on what they think.

So you take, for instance, Amy Semple McPherson, who divorced, right? She was not accepted in the assemblies of God.

But because of that, she founded a new church.

That's the Four Square Church.

One of the earlier generals of the charismatic movement, a man among whom they call one of God's generals.

Now, charismatic movement, they have lots of God's generals that they refer to them as, like John Alexander Dowie and Charles Fox Parham and William Seymour and Amy Semple McPherson, Smith Wigglesworth, even William Branham and Catherine Coolman and some of those people.

But another one was a man named John G.

Lake.

It's time for us to give life to prophecy.

Let it not just be that in the days of Smith Wigglesworth, in the days of M.P. Semple McPherson, it is the same God.

Yesterday, today, they have joined the cloud of witnesses.

Now it's our turn and we cannot afford to fail.

Yes.

Amy Semple.

Amy Semple McPherson.

Yes.

You see?