Aimee Semple McPherson: Finally A Film

The Controversy Continues

Edited by Madelyn Miller, the TravelLady

The Aimee Semple McPherson story remains one L.A.'s most compelling mysteries.  The 1974 TV movie "The Disappearance of Aimee," starred Faye Dunaway and Bette Davis, covered the sensational aspects of her life.  The film "Elmer Gantry" which starred Burt Lancaster, was based on David Hutton, Aimee's third husband.  Several attempts have been made to bring the story to the big screen, a feat Richard Rossi finally achieved.

Controversy followed the woman who many referred to simply as "Sister" and the same holds true for the film.  Although the International Church of the Foursquare gospel, which Aimee Semple McPherson founded, has released a statement saying it does not endorse the film, the feature brings great acting pedigree to the screen.  With newcomer Mimi Michaels in the lead, the film also stars Rance Howard, Ron Howard's father and Kiera Chaplin, Charlie Chaplin's granddaughter. The film was written and directed by Richard Rossi, who also co-stars.

During the late 1920s and early 1930s, Aimee Semple McPherson was arguably America's best-known preacher. Founder of the famed Angelus Temple, she became a national news story when she claimed she was kidnapped for 39 days and held for a ransom of 500,000 dollars.  Months later Aimee would be tried on charges of adultery and perjury.  Although the charges were eventually dropped for lack of evidence, during that period, her name appeared on the front page of America's leading newspapers on a weekly basis.

Rossi's Next Film: BANG! A Love Story

Richard Rossi's current project is the film adaptation of "BANG! A Love Story," the award winning novel by Anthony Mora.  Long-awaited in softcover, the controversial novel "BANG! A Love Story" is finally being re-released in paperback (Dragonon, Inc.).

Poised to place his indelible stamp on Los Angeles the way others have done for New York, Mora joins a canon which includes Fante and Chandler. BANG!'s characters grapple with the realities of a timeless yet somehow post-apocalyptic Southern California, complete with cults, gurus, guns, human frailty and the dangers inherent in connection. 

Anthony, who has written three books, has been featured in such media as CNN, Newsweek, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and other media.  BANG! A Love Story is his first novel.